Fragment by Warren Fahy

With the death last year of Michael Crichton, the world was robbed of the king of the techno-thriller, a man who explored chaos theory and cunningly disguised it as a novel about cloned dinosaurs. Publishers are now pushing authors as Crichton’s successors. Enter Warren Fahy, whose debut novel is touted as “a Jurassic Park for the Lost generation”.

It has, we’re told, taken Fahy three years of research to get the science right in his tale of the unexplored Henders Island, where weird and terrifying creatures infused with copper-based blood form the equivalent of an eco-system spiked with Soviet-era shot-putter steroids. Even venal reality telly folk, who land on the island before the military are called in, can’t survive the wildlife.

Jocular cynicism aside, this is a cracking good holiday read, a fast-paced airport novel that never insults your intelligence.