I just got through reading “The Dinosaur Hunter” by Homer Hickham. A whodunnit based on a ranch in Montana. The narrator of the book is Mike Wire, a former LA Detective turned ranch hand. The book starts out like one of my son’s Hank the Cowdog books but then Mike gets a look at his naked female boss owner of the Square C Ranch, who he happens to have a crush on. After his look Mike has to get back to running the ranch. Later on, valuable dinosaur bones are found on the ranch by a famous paleontologist, Pick, and his young adoring female assistants.

As the story moves along it turns out that the Russian mafia is after the bones (This is the second book in a row I’ve read about the Russian mafia.) Cows get killed mysteriously then somebody else gets killed mysteriously and then the story is on. It is lots of fun. Mike never gets to consumate his love for his boss but he and one of the young paleontologists express their fondness for each other (off scene.) In the meantime there is lots of interesting discussion about digging about Tyrannosaurus bones. It turns out that Homer Hickham is an amateur bone digger. Check out the link above to his web site. Interesting dude.

I give the book 3.5 stars out of five. It is not going to win the Man Booker prize but it is a fun and interesting read. Think of it as Hank the Cowdog for grownups.

I got my copy from the library!