Eruption

Michael Crichton is known for his novels like Jurassic Park (1990) and The Andromeda Strain (1969), which combine the structure of an action thriller with science fiction. After he died in 2008, his fifth wife, Sherri Alexander, found his unfinished manuscript and associated research about a massive volcanic eruption in Hawaii. The story was left without an ending, but Alexander thought “There has to be more” (Smith, Tracy. “How James Patterson completed Michael Crichton’s ‘Eruption.’” CBS News, 2 June 2024). A decade later, she reached out to best-selling writer James Patterson to finish the story. Patterson is known for his mysteries and thrillers such as the Alex Cross series. Although Patterson admitted he thought it would be a challenge to keep the pace moving forward while “work[ing] the science in, because [he hadn’t] done that before,” he agreed to take the project on (“Extended Interview: James Patterson on the challenge of completing Michael Crichton’s ‘Eruption.’” Uploaded by CBS Sunday Morning, YouTube, 1 Aug. 2024). The result is a hybrid of Crichton and Patterson’s work. As Patterson notes, the pacing of Eruption is faster and more akin to his work.