Mount Dragon

By: Douglas Preston, Lincoln Child

Narrated by: David Colacci

Length: 15 hrs and 33 mins

Publisher's summary

Guy Carson is a brilliant scientist at GeneDyne, one of the world's foremost biochemical companies. When he is transferred to Mount Dragon, GeneDyne's high-security genetic engineering lab, his good fortune seems too good to be true.

Carson soon finds that it is. He learns that GeneDyne geneticists are tinkering with a common virus with an eye on the enormous profit to be had from a cure for the flu. Their cure involves permanently altering DNA in humans, and Carson's job is to stabilize the virus. But Carson starts to wonder if this is justifiable, even for the most noble medical cause. Altering genes is a risky job, and the possibility of creating another killer virus is very real. What's more, Mount Dragon harbors another secret that puts the world at horrifying risk.

©2008 Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child (P)2008 B00FO6WK0S

Liked the first half

I liked the first half of this novel, but the second half was one big long boring chase scene. I was also a tad bored with the author's soapboxing re: genetic engineering. It would've been more interesting if the characters had succeeded in genetically revising humanity's germ cells rather than just debating the ethics of such.

It started off with a bang and ended up being standard potboiler fare.

Great Book

I enjoyed everything about this book- from the actual story to the narrator. I really enjoy SciFi virus-type stories and this was right up my alley. I don't think it was too technical or not technical enough. If you want a good listen- these authors generally don't let you down.

very bad to very good

This the first time that I had to actually
wade thru the first part of the book I was so disappointed in the authors whom I had never read a bad book before But the second half saved the day It was up to their excellent selves and I enjoyed it immensly

Good story, average audio.

Would you consider the audio edition of Mount Dragon to be better than the print version?

No, both the same

What did you like best about this story?

Good thriller, moves along quite well

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

Yes, quite a lively narration

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

None really, just a good listen

Any additional comments?

The audio was not the best, not from the readers point, but the actual audio levels were very up and down, some parts were too soft and then others were too loud, it needed to be balanced better. This was a technical issue not a narration issue, but I wold have expected better audio production than this.

desert ,bugs and nerds

i staggered a bit with this one, at first too much science raving, but then it developed into an interesting story with a few surprises. worth a read but probably only once for me

Another Great One!

I’ve never read a book by Preston and Child that didn’t rate 5 stars and with the added bonus if David Colacci (one of my very favorites) it easily went beyond the 5 stars. I did, however, noticed 1 error and it really surprised me. The flu pandemic of 1918 was called the Spanish Flu. I’m not aware of any reference to swine but it might be. I didn’t have time to look it up. I live the tidbits of history I get from novels so just wanted to mention this in case anyone cares. It in no way detracted from this excellent novel.

Good Beginning, but it Got Looooong and Slow

The premise of this story was intriguing. . . and that's about the best thing I can offer. This one was about twice as long as it needed to be, especially the arduous, never-ending horse ride through the desert lava fields. I was desperate to see the finish of the story in sight! In all, there was so much redundancy in the story telling -- and very little, if any mystery at all! Anyone could predict the outcome for all the characters. . . none of whom were at all endearing. Average read or below, I think.

Great look horrible recording!

Out of the 300 books that I have listen to through audible this one was by far the worst recorded The book is well written and the plot line is exciting too bad we had to put up with the audio problems

Technically flawed

The ending credits state that this book had 3 technical advisors, but unfortunately the book still had many technical flaws. The reader is expected to believe plot setups that are totally out of character with the rest of the book. The story seesaws between overly technical details and transparently planted situations with no technical backup. Narration is reasonable, but the characters are so stereotyped that it seems they were invented specifically for narration. From the Texas drawl of the male lead to the British accent of the security chief, one wonders if the narrator invented these aspects of each character specifically because they were capable of the accented delivery. The premise of the story is very good, but the author fails to capture the full potential.

A Thinking Man's Thriller

I liked this 2008 work by Preston and Child. The plot was a bit freighted with bio-tech and IT jargon before hitting air speed about 1/3 of the way in. It's an exciting story, with unpredictable plot twists and an all-too-frightening resemblance to our modern world. If the reader is willing to devote time and patience as the book sets up, the subsequent ride is well worth the effort.

With a few exceptions, the protagonist Guy Carson and his friends and foes are well- placed, believable characters deftly manipulated by the authors to maximum effect. The sole exception is Guy's female sidekick, whose ethnic rants and extraneous social commentary were an irritating distraction after a while.

All in all, a great book and a good read too by David Colacci.