Extinction Island: Jurassic Judgment Book 1 (A Slightly Romantic Genetically Modified Dinosaur Thriller)

Spoilers. I was excited to lose myself in a Jurassic Park-style adventure novel. I loved the premise of convicts having to survive on an island Costa Rica populated with prehistoric predators. I loved the idea of bad guys, rather than being coddled in prison, having to survive and work together and rise above their crimes to become better and possibly achieve some personal redemption - but that didn't happen. This book is well written. The author knows how to write. However, I did not care for the plot and found myself not terribly interested in any of the characters. The book could have gone full on Hunger Games/Romance Novel with the heroine and her "two hot guys" - as she struggles to choose between them. That would have been a fun read. I had an idea that the "reptile expert" heroine (if she has a doctorate, why was she operating swamp tours?) would use the opportunity of life in exile on dinosaur island to craft a cozy and quirky Swiss Family Robinson-style treehouse full of books, comfy chairs, and lots of time for research and reflection and drinking tea while watching the sun rise over the mist-shrouded jungle. But the story went off the rails with endless flashbacks to her very creepy "mama" - apparently her mom tried to kill her, tried drowning her, etc. Anyway, while there are plenty of scary dino encounters, the focus on the heroine and her DNA mutations that allow her to kill with electricity, and the layering in of a super-secret DNA research corporation in the Caribbean where both the heroine's parents work (moving the action off dinosaur island) along with the musings on sin and evil, really took the book in a direction in which I had no interest. A well written book, but not one I was able to enjoy on any level.

Great cross between intrigue, romance, sci-fi, and suspense. Love how storyline leads, right into the next book. Will keep you reading to see what happens next.

Will I binge read the next book? Yes. The dinosaur and genetic manipulation plot is compelling enough for that. But the love triangle and focus on Oakley's overpowering "womanly allure" I could do without, even as it gets explained away by pheromones.

This book was a fun read, although you definitely need to suspend quite a bit of disbelief to accept the premise. Easy to picture the heroine and I found myself holding my breath as she encountered various dangers.This book won the Christie award for Christian fiction but I have to throw a red flag on the theology - human beings *are* sinful by nature, not innately good as the book seems to state.

Do you know where Slaughter and Zachary are? I was pleased to see Louisiana mentioned in this book. If you visit the swamps down there, you can believe a dinosaur jumping out at you. This was an excellent book as it not only dealt with the dinosaurs but genectic/dna tampering which is happening now and will be more intense in the future. I appreciated the schematics of the plot as well as the interactions between characters. Looking forward to book 2. Keep writing!

The United States has bought Costa Rica and populated it with dinosaurs. Almost the same kind as the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park. I say almost because some of them have been given a small adjustment to their DNA. But buying the island and evacuating all the people cost the U.S. a lot of money. To offset the cost, anyone given the death sentence now is given a choice, did immediately or take your chances on the island.Oakley doesn't remember killing her best friend but she was found with the body. She was given a death sentence and finds herself facing the jungles of the island.I read this book in a day. I couldn't put it down. It was very much different than Jurassic Park. This island is full of killers......Animals and humans.

The new Death Penalty, either immediate execution or sent to an Island off Costa Rica filled with Dinosaurs. That's where Oakley ends up. She's claimed by the leader of one of the islands convict gangs. And catches sight of the man she thinks might of framed her for murder. I would of liked the dinosaurs better if they would have left off the feathers. Big birds just don't seem vicious to me.

An author friend recommended this book and I preordered it. Mainly because the preorder price was only .99. Hey, gotta be honest. So it showed up on my kindle and I opened it last night. Stayed up far too late reading it, but couldn’t stop! It was incredibly exciting even from the opening. The premise of sending death row prisoners to an island of genetically changed dinosaurs was just enough to pull me in. Danger is absolutely everywhere, especially when said prisoner is a woman. Wow! This is a super fast and exciting roller coaster ride. I just warn you: there is a huge cliffhanger because it’s part of a series. I cannot wait to see what happens in the next book. Awesome adventure.

“Extinction Island” is the first instalment in Janice Boekhoff’s “Jurassic Judgement” adventure sci-fi dystopian series. A brand-new take on both ‘genetic species- reincarnation’ and ‘legal punishment’ tropes. This is the kind of story that should be enjoyed without any spoilers; thus, I will only give the cliff-notes: the story take place in our own world, in which three premises are possible1) Dinosaurs are been brought back to life, some even genetically enhanced2) The prison system (specially dead-row) is overloaded3) Costa Rica is factually been turn into an island by the expansion of the Panama Canal to the South and a freshly dug Nicaraguan Canal to the NorthOakley Laveau has been convicted of murder and sent to Extinction Island, where she meets Kaleo Palani and Cane LeBlanc, a convict and a volunteer, whose secret friendship shows a variety of nuances. The rest you have to find out by yourself, you’re welcome!This is a fantastic story, thrilling, action-paced, original, well-written and highly entertaining, which could easily be turned into a movie (or TV series) script. Dinosaurs, who doesn’t love dinosaurs? Well, you might like to address the convicts about that 😉. The narrative is flawless, the world-building carefully done, highly visual, the characters tridimensional with unexpected facets. Boekhoff manages with ease to bring the reader along to fight both the dinosaurs and the system. Because the real evil doesn’t really inhabit the island; under the entertaining adventure layer, lies a much darker political truth, even if outsmarting Camocrocs and dodging Red Grizzly seems to be much more urgent at the moment. But make not mistake, this may be Survivor, but here the Dinos are running Tribal Council.