BOOKS. congo

i had read this one once when i was in junior high and really loved it. i was going through a stage where i wanted to read everything michael crichton wrote, which isnt a bad goal at all considering most of his stuff is pretty good!
the story follows a scientist who has been taking care of an ape that had been taught to speak using sign language. recently this ape, named amy, has been getting restless and its thought that it might be time to return her to the wild. as he tries to find a way to the congo to release her, he comes across a woman who is trying to go to the same place. she works for a company that recently lost a team in the jungle and must get there and find out what went wrong. eventually, with the help of an african guide, they find the place where the team went missing. they also happen upon the lost ruins of the city of zinj, a once great civilization that disappeared mysteriously. as they uncover the truth they realize that they are in more danger than they realized!
having read the book before and seen the movie (which is about as good as campy fun gets!- check out my review of the movie here), i knew what i was in for as far as the story goes. what i had forgotten since last reading it, was just how good the writing is! the story unravels at a lighting quick speed. crichton does an amazing job of keeping things interesting and the adrenaline racing, he also sprinkles in different tidbits about research and stories of apes and the jungle that enrich the reading so much. how real are these other tidbits and research? well, thats the thing about crichton, he is very good at making up the supposedly 'real' info thats featured alongside the stories he writes. whether any of it is based on fact or just the imagination of crichton does not alter the fact that this book is a page turner that was a blast to read!