Don’t like John Lange. ( )

I was happy to see that the book opened in the Yucatan, and even had a brief scene at Chichen Itza. I still vividly recall my vacation there. Running up and down the steps at the temple. Sadly, this book was only briefly in the Yucatan region, and even more briefly in Chichen Itza. So brief, that if they hadn't actually said 'Chichen Itza' I would have had no idea they were there, nor would I have known that they were in or near ruins. Well, there was some comment about whether the place was open or not.

Interesting book with a lot of twists and turns. Started off relatively simply, with a guy in the jungles of Mexico, running into a woman, setting up a possible reconnection in London. Interesting woman. She doesn't actually reappear, though, until something like the the-fourths mark. Maybe slightly earlier. A long time between the promise of something or other, then reconnecting. ( )

I'm not a fan of hard case crime, but I managed to enjoy this most of the time, enough to finish the book. Charles Raynaud was a very unusual character. I loved the descriptions of how quick he was at catching snakes. The venom business is cutthroat, like many other businesses. The settings were nice and the description was lush and clear. I'm not sure I will read any more of the Crichton books of this style. ( )

This is one of my least favorite books from the early works of author, Michael Crichton writing as John Lange. There really wasn't much of a story. I agree with other readers that there was just a lot of talking and at times repeat information as well as sex. I am not a prude but when the sex has no purpose, then, it is not needed.

Charles is ok. This is kind of sad as he has an interesting job and in fact, it seems like he is a bit of a rogue. However, I had trouble connecting to him as well as the rest of the characters. Plus, again as I stated, I thought the storyline itself was weak as well. This book does not "bite" you with excitement. ( )

John Lange was one of the early pen names of Michael Crichton, best known for The Andromeda Strain and Jurassic Park. While enrolled at Harvard Medical School, Crichton began publishing a number of novels. Venom Business is one of a number of Crichton's early novels that have recently been re-released. These early novels compare to many of the bookstand pulp/adventure/crime novels that could be found in the late sixties and early seventies and these books should be read in that context.

This one, however, was disappointing. The beginning was promising with the meeting of Charles Reynaud and Jane Mitchell in the Yucatan where Reynaud is a famed exotic snake hunter. It is later revealed that he uses the transportation of the venous snakes as a cover for smuggling artifacts from Mexico and Central America. The book proceeds from there and is way too lengthy and slow as it details Reynaud being hired as a bodyguard and then the subject of a brutal plot. It was difficult to care about the characters and as a reader I was not invested in the story. All in all, not worth spending much time on, but an interesting start to a widely successful literary career. ( )