Long before his books were adapted into dozens of films, and writing Jurassic Park, Michael Crichton was an honours student at Harvard Medical School writing novels under the pen name “John Lange”.
It’s embarassing to admit that it took so long for me to stumble across Easy Go, as I’m such a huge fan of both Crichton and archaeology, but I’m sure glad that I did.
Egypt has always been the go-to location for archaeology in fiction, and whilst Easy Go is no different in that regard, it’s a unique and interesting take on the setting.
Instead of being filled with supernatural danger, cursed pyramids and magic mummies for the characters to battle against, Crichton decides to take a more realistic approach with the story.
In Easy Go, you’ll be following an unlikely team of thieves, a secretary, writer and professor of archaeology as they plan to pull off one the biggest heists in history. They plan to rob the “Pharaoh’s last tomb”, as they find clues to its lost location.
The best compliment that I can give to the novel is Michael Crichton manages to capture the same magic that films like Indiana Jones, and The Mummy (1999) have, despite the book being much more realistic with the premise.
At first I wasn’t really sure what to expect going in. It was one of Michael Crichton’s earliest books under the pen-name John Lange, so I was skeptical that the quality wouldn’t be anywhere near close to some of his later work, but I was pleasantly surprised.
Easy Go turned out to be a well written, comfortable suspense novel in the classic Crichton style. I found myself blasting through the pages, and enjoying every moment of it. The heist was carefully planned, and readers get to see every planned out detail come to life on the page.
Whilst the characters in Easy Go at first seem extremely cliche, Crichton is quick to break them out of their archetypes, fleshing them all out as the plot progresses.
The characters are memorable, and I’ll never forget about the larger-than-life, boisterous and wealthy Lord Grover, or Robert Pierce. He’s calculating, intelligent and plans out every step of the heist down to the last detail, or his love interest, the seductive secretary Lisa who ends up being the voice of morality for the group.
Whilst Easy Go isn’t tackling the harder, more thought provoking topics like Jurassic Park with cloning prehistoric animals, it is a satisfying adventure that’s plain fun. It’ll bring you from the edges of the desert, down the river Nile, and digging deeps in the depths of a tomb filled with danger, and best of all – archaeology.