[In the following review, Annichiarico compares The Lost World to Jurassic Park.]

When strange animal carcasses begin to wash up on the shores of Costa Rica, an eccentric paleontologist suspects that dinosaurs may exist somewhere in the area. [The Lost World, the much-anticipated sequel to the megahit Jurassic Park (1990),] reads more like a movie novelization: so bereft of plot and characterization in deference to action that it is closer in spirit to Steven Spielberg's movie version (1993) than to the entertaining and educational novel that preceded it. Reprising their roles from Jurassic Park are Ian Malcolm, who bought the farm courtesy of a T-rex in JP but whom Crichton seemingly couldn't resist resurrecting, and Lew Dodgson, the evil scientist who makes a living stealing ideas from his fellow researchers. Malcolm and Dodgson, leading separate parties, converge on a small Costa Rican island where the resident raptors, tyrannosaurs, and other carnivores make their field trip distinctly unpleasant. Despite its flaws, however, there will undoubtedly be huge demand in public libraries for Crichton's latest.