So: what do holy relics, Neanderthals, UFO researchers and secret societies all have in common? They’re all in the latest book by Douglas Preston!
Does the name sound familiar? Douglas has been a consistent best-seller writer since the mid-1990’s, perhaps best known for writing nearly 30 crime fiction novels with Lincoln Child, although he has written many books on his own. Extinction, the first book in this particular series, for example, was a solo project written by Douglas and was reviewed HERE. This second novel is co-written by Douglas’s daughter Aletheia, and continues the story a few years after the events of Extinction.
When a reclusive man is found dead under grisly circumstances in the Colorado wilderness, CBI Agent Frankie Cash and Eagle County Sheriff Jim Colcord, whom we met in the New York Times bestseller, Extinction, team up again on their most enigmatic and dangerous case yet. Their investigation uncovers a trail of bizarre killings, baffling money transfers, and a fanatical secret society.
The good news is that here it seems to also have worked, as the book feels pretty much the same in terms of tone and setting as did Extinction, and therefore it is pretty much what you might expect. It is solid writing, in lots of short chapters that keep the pages turning.
There’s a certain Michael Crichton (Jurassic Park, Andromeda Strain) feel about these books to me, with a fair bit of grounding in science, firmly set in the now (or near future) but with elements that feel a little bit out-there, as it did with the first book, with the genetic regeneration of Neanderthals.
In fact, as the first book centred on the return of the Neanderthals to Colorado, I was expecting to see them here. It was a little surprising to discover that other than occasional brief mentions they are not really part of the plot. This book focusses upon a different story.* It does mean that you can read this book without having read Extinction.
As you might expect in a police detective drama, the murder scenes are appropriately both gruesome and inventive, and as a result there’s a lot of detail about post-mortem exams. There’s also a fair bit of history to make the story seem plausible, and for those who have read the previous book there’s the death of a character that has far-reaching consequences.
What was interesting to me was that this book felt much less about Cash and Concord this time around. Although there are undoubted moments where the two show their magic, particularly at the end, for a lot of the book they are separate and at odds with each other, even when they don’t show that to others. Concord in particular seems to spent a lot of time out of the way or in the background in this one.
The initially seeming disparate parts (see above) all connect in the end, although for me parts of the ending were a little too convenient – one character seemed to have an almost miraculous change of opinion and so save the day, whilst the solution to a major plot point problem felt unrealistic. Of course, others may think differently.)
Perhaps the biggest issue, and where I think the book will either succeed or fail, is in the BIG central premise of the book – which I’m not going to mention here. But I’m not sure whether traditional crime readers will buy it. I suspect it may be a step too far. However, if you can go with it, there’s a lot to enjoy in this book.
In summary then, Paradox is a solidly entertaining read that seems to have on the whole managed the task of two writers writing together for the first time well. Its combination of crime thriller with X-Files vibes, and with a touch of Dan Brown added for good measure** is unusual, but I think that for me that’s what made it readable, although I did have issues with the ending and others may too. Nevertheless, I absolutely expect to see this one as the holiday reader’s beach-read this year.
*If the extract at the end of the book is correct, Neanderthals will be the centre of the plot in the next book, entitled Resurrection.
**He’s even mentioned by one of the people in this book, too!
© 2026 Mark Yon
Hardback | Head of Zeus Books
PARADOX by Douglas and Aletheia Preston
April 2026 | 352 pages
ISBN: 978 103 5926 329
