I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
The Paleontologist by Luke Dumas Published by Atria Books on October 31 2023
Genres: Adult, Horror, Mystery
Pages: 368
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
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The nitty-gritty: A haunted museum is the setting for Luke Dumas’ latest, a solid mystery story with supernatural elements.
If you’re a dinosaur fan, and I mean if you love scientific facts about dinosaurs, you’ll probably enjoy The Paleontologist a lot. I thought I liked dinosaurs, but I have to admit parts of this book were downright boring to me, and I ended up skipping over some of the more dry observations of our protagonist Simon, who is obsessed with dinosaurs and has been ever since he was a young kid. Despite a few negatives, I loved the idea of dinosaur ghosts, and the museum setting was unique and fresh. Dumas did a great job at creating a creepy atmosphere, and while I wouldn’t call this book scary, there were definitely some unsettling moments.
The story takes place during the Covid pandemic in 2021, when things were starting to open up again but people were still required to wear masks. Dr. Simon Nealy has just accepted a job in Wrexham, Pennsylvania working for the Hawthorne Museum of Natural History. He grew up in Wrexham and hasn’t been back in twenty years, not since his little sister Morgan disappeared from the museum’s Hall of Insects and Animalia. Morgan’s body was never found, and Simon feels terrible guilt for letting it happen, since he was supposed to be watching her at the time. Now that he’s back, he’s drawn into the mystery of her disappearance (her case was never solved) and is determined to find out what happened to her once and for all.
Meanwhile, the board of directors has given Simon the task of completing the display of the museum’s prize set of bones, a Ceratosaurus fondly referred to as Theo. And when he starts hearing strange noises in the dark halls of the dinosaur exhibit and later sees something impossible, Simon begins to wonder if something is trying to send him a message. Is the answer to Morgan’s fate somewhere in the museum? And will Simon be able to discover the answers before the thing lurking in the shadows stops him?
OK positives first. As I mentioned before, I loved the museum setting for several reasons. Simon spends a lot of late nights working by himself, and museums at night—even without dinosaur ghosts—are pretty eerie. Add in some otherworldly elements and it’s a nice set-up for one of the mysteries: why are dinosaurs haunting the museum? What do they want? And what do they have to do with Morgan’s disappearance? I was also fascinated by the ins and outs of running a museum. Simon is at the mercy of the board of directors to fund his projects, and it was eye opening to see how much the museum is struggling to stay open, especially in the middle of the pandemic. One of Simon’s coworkers is a woman named Fran who is responsible for fundraising, and let’s just say I wouldn’t want that job. One of the museum’s biggest benefactors is an elderly woman named Evie who befriends Simon and helps with his search for Morgan, and I really enjoyed their scenes together.
A lot of time is spent with Simon trying to solve the mystery of Morgan’s disappearance, and although I wanted more dino ghost action than I got, I did enjoy Simon’s dogged search for the truth. Dumas goes to some dark places as Simon dives into the journals of the man who held the position before him, Dr. Albert J. Mueller, and uncovers some terrible truths about his connection to Morgan. The author reveals that Simon and Morgan had a very unhappy childhood, and this plays into the story in several ways. Simon has come a long way after surviving parental neglect and substance abuse, but he still has a lot of baggage to deal with.
Which brings me to Simon’s character. Simon is a mess. His boyfriend Kai just broke up with him, and he’s not handling it well. (Kai was tired of dealing with Simon’s frequent night terrors, especially since he refused to get help). Being back in his hometown brings all his feelings of guilt over Morgan to the surface and those emotions start to take over. I get that Simon had a tough childhood, but some of his reactions seemed over the top to me. Simon cries a lot in this story, and instead of feeling sorry for him, those moments just left me puzzled. Let’s face it: I was expecting a scary dinosaur story but what I got was a somber, emotional story about a man who is having trouble coping.
Once the mystery of Morgan is solved, Dumas tacks on another mystery at the end which felt rushed and unnecessary (although I can see why he added it, but it threw off the pacing). There’s a lot going on here: child abduction, murder, museum politics, dealing with the pandemic, relationship issues, not to mention the long history of the Hawthorne Museum and the intricacies of putting a dinosaur skelton together. I was surprised that it took me a solid week to finish this book, but even though some parts were thrilling and fast-paced, the story didn’t always hold my interest and I kept putting it aside.
Still, I’m glad I read The Paleontologist, even though it was sort of a mixed bag for me. I’m very interested in catching up with Luke Dumas’ A History of Fear, which I hear is fantastic, and I’ll be curious to see what the author tackles next.
Big thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy.
Nice post ✉️
Thanks:-)
Perhaps a bit busy but interesting. Maybe I’ll wait and see what you make of the author’s other book.
Lynn 😀
I am curious about his last book, it’s received lots of praise:-)
I like the sound of the museum setting and the ins and outs of running a place like that but I don’t think I’m interested enough in dinosaurs to want to read scientific info about them. Dinosaur ghosts on the other hand do sound pretty exciting 😀
Pages and Tea recently posted…Monthly Summary: October 2023
The ghosts were awesome, I wanted more of them!
The setting and the core mystery sound intriguing enough, what worries me are your comments about the uneven pacing and the “dry observations” of the main character… On the other hand… dinosaurs! 😉
Thanks for sharing!
Maddalena@spaceandsorcery recently posted…MUSIC MONDAY SciFi MONTH EDITION #SciFiMonth
Dinosaurs are hard to resist, especially since you don’t see them that often in speculative fiction:-)
I do love scientific facts about dinosaurs but I feel like I might as well pick up a nonfiction about dinosaurs if I want to read that, if that makes sense? But the museum setting and everything surrounding that sounds great. It’s just too bad it was less of a scary dinosaur story and more about the main character’s emotional journey. Sometimes a mixed bag can’t be helped in the end. Thanks for sharing, Tammy!
Stephanie @ Bookfever recently posted…Nonfiction November 2023: Choosing Nonfiction
It did have a lot of good qualities, but I was hoping for something a little scarier, to be honest.
Great review! I’m drawn to museum mysteries and dinosaur stories, but this does sound uneven. I’d probably consider giving it a try at some point, but it’s good to know more of what to expect.
Thanks Lisa:-)
Definitely not what I was expecting from the title, lol
Emma @ Words And Peace recently posted…Spell the month in books: November 2023
The main character is a paleontologist, so in a way it makes sense:-)
Bummer that this one was boring in parts. What you wrote actually reminded me of why I dislike Moby Dick. The in-depth scientific talk about whales bored me to death even though I thought Captain Ahab’s obsession with the white whale was fascinating. Following that line of thought, I probably wouldn’t love this book either, lol. Excellent review though.
Suzanne @ The Bookish Libra recently posted…Top Ten Tuesday – Book Titles That Would Make Great Newspaper Headlines
I thought dinosaur facts would be interesting but I guess it’s not my thing, lol.
I can certainly see the draw of a museum setting. As you said, they can be a bit eerie at night.
I can’t remember if I’ve ever read a book set in a museum, so it was a nice change of pace.
A haunted museum sounds cool. Will has to give this book a read.
It was a fun idea:-)
Oh man, that’s somewhat disappointing to hear. I don’t know that I can handle all the detail either, but at least I feel prepared now.
I was a little disappointed, I’ve heard such good things about Dumas.
Hmm, I do love all things about dinosaurs. Some of my favorite parts of the Jurassic Park books were all the facts and things, stuff left out of the actual movies, lol. Of course I read those while I was in college studying paleontology, etc. But this still sounds like one I need to check out. Great review!
Lisa Mandina (Lisa Loves Literature) recently posted…E-galley Review: Where It Begins (Pucked #0.5) by Helena Hunting