The Paleontologist: A Novel
USA TODAY BESTSELLER
2024 ITW Thriller Award Winner
Esquire “Best Horror Books of 2023” Pick
A haunted paleontologist returns to the museum where his sister was abducted years earlier and is faced with a terrifying and murderous spirit in this chilling novel.
Curator of paleontology Dr. Simon Nealy never expected to return to his Pennsylvania hometown, let alone the Hawthorne Museum of Natural History. He was just a boy when his six-year-old sister, Morgan, was abducted from the museum under his watch, and the guilt has haunted Simon ever since. After a recent breakup and the death of the aunt who raised him, Simon feels drawn back to the place where Morgan vanished, in search of the bones they never found.
But from the moment he arrives, things aren’t what he expected. The Hawthorne is a crumbling ruin, still closed amid the ongoing pandemic, and plummeting toward financial catastrophe. Worse, Simon begins seeing and hearing things he can’t explain. Strange animal sounds. Bloody footprints that no living creature could have left. A prehistoric killer looming in the shadows of the museum. Terrified he’s losing his grasp on reality, Simon turns to the handwritten research diaries of his predecessor and uncovers a blood-soaked mystery 150 million years in the making that could be the answer to everything.
2024 ITW Thriller Award Winner
Esquire “Best Horror Books of 2023” Pick
A haunted paleontologist returns to the museum where his sister was abducted years earlier and is faced with a terrifying and murderous spirit in this chilling novel.
Curator of paleontology Dr. Simon Nealy never expected to return to his Pennsylvania hometown, let alone the Hawthorne Museum of Natural History. He was just a boy when his six-year-old sister, Morgan, was abducted from the museum under his watch, and the guilt has haunted Simon ever since. After a recent breakup and the death of the aunt who raised him, Simon feels drawn back to the place where Morgan vanished, in search of the bones they never found.
But from the moment he arrives, things aren’t what he expected. The Hawthorne is a crumbling ruin, still closed amid the ongoing pandemic, and plummeting toward financial catastrophe. Worse, Simon begins seeing and hearing things he can’t explain. Strange animal sounds. Bloody footprints that no living creature could have left. A prehistoric killer looming in the shadows of the museum. Terrified he’s losing his grasp on reality, Simon turns to the handwritten research diaries of his predecessor and uncovers a blood-soaked mystery 150 million years in the making that could be the answer to everything.
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Community Reviews
As entertaining as it is as a mystery, “The Paleontologist” bites off a little more than it can chew, creating a story that feels a bit convoluted at times, resulting in a novel that feels like it isn’t sure what it wants to be.
I really loved the unique story, it’s not everyday you get to read a book about ghost dinosaurs! I also loved the detailed look at paleontologists and what goes into creating museum exhibits especially the struggles of non profits. The author did his research and it shows! I have always loved dinosaurs so when I heard there was a book about a museum haunted by dinosaurs I had to read it!
While I did enjoy The Paleontologist it did have it flaws. The story was a little messy with a slow moving plot and a poor twist that you kinda just have to accept and move on. The pacing was also very slow, with a big Dino ghost one moment then a slog of nothing for chapters.
If you’re into unique supernatural stories with some mystery I do think this one is worth checking out especially if you’re into ghosts or dinosaurs. If you can’t overlook a weak plot though you might not enjoy this one as much.
This one was so close to being a hit for me. I was admittedly first drawn to this novel by the title and cover art since I've been a dino-lover since I was young, and then drawn in by the lost sibling, haunting, mystery premise to the novel. I just feel that the story never really "took off" for me. The plot trudged along for a really long time and I felt that some of the issues presented by the story were not ever fully fleshed out. The resolution to the story, while partly satisfying because we finally found out the whole story, was super rushed and anti-climatic and I feel that this story just ended with a dud.
All that said, the story did still keep me entertained and I did become invested in Dr. Nealy and his pursuit of solving the mystery of his sister's disappearance, so this novel was not a huge miss.
All that said, the story did still keep me entertained and I did become invested in Dr. Nealy and his pursuit of solving the mystery of his sister's disappearance, so this novel was not a huge miss.
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