The Paleontologist by Luke Dumas
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
I was sold on The Paleontologist after the publisher’s synopsis noted it to be about a haunted paleontologist…
The full synopsis sounded gripping. There’s also a fabulous cover, plus, a short, simple, yet effective, title.
As a one-time Anthropology major, who focused in Physical Anthropology, I felt like this was the Horror novel I’d been waiting for. Sadly, it absolutely wasn’t.
In this story we follow Curator of Paleontology, Dr. Simon Nealy, who has returned to his hometown in Pennsylvania during the Covid pandemic to begin work at the Hawthorne Museum of Natural History, a museum he remembers well from his childhood.
It’s actually the last place he ever saw his little sister. Morgan was just 6-years old when she was abducted from the museum, at a time when she was purportedly to be under the supervision of Simon, who wasn’t much older.
Their mother was a real piece of work, and she’s the one who put them both in that position on that fated day. Simon has been haunted severely by the event ever since, whilst Mom seemingly feels zero responsibility.
As he returns now, the past is brought to the surface once again and poor Simon is left wondering if his sister’s spirit is still trapped at the Hawthorne somehow. He is seeing and hearing things he can’t explain. The museum is a cage of wonder and terrors.
I am not going to go on about this too much. It absolutely wasn’t for me and frankly, I’m super disappointed about it. IMO, this book is just one more thing that Covid ruined. The concept itself is great. The execution, not so much.
I was so anxious for this to end. I even switched from an ebook to the audio to try to make it go by quicker.
I don’t know, perhaps if you enjoy being reminded of Covid every third paragraph or so, you might enjoy it more than I did. An example would be, if you’ve ever wondered about the masking status of each and every character you meet, than this one may be for you.
It wasn’t just the pandemic chat that ruined this for me though, the MC, Simon, was also as dull as dirt, IMO. He was giving me nothing. But in fairness, neither was anyone else.
I wasn’t drawn in, compelled, or intrigued. Big meh energy.
I’m happy to move on. I’m not giving on this author. I will give them another shot. I’m just hoping this is a one-off.
Thank you to the publisher, Atria Books, for providing me with a copy to read and review. Even though this wasn’t my cup of tea, I definitely appreciate it.