Crichton’s Hawaiian Blow-up

Haven’t we been down this road before? When Michael Crichton died in 2008, he apparently left behind an unfinished, untitled manuscript, which fellow author Richard Preston completed and published as Micro in 2011. Now comes word of another partial Crichton work to be wrapped up by someone else. From In Reference to Murder:

James Patterson has been hired to complete an unfinished Michael Crichton book. The late author’s estate provided Patterson with over 100 pages of a novel about the imminent eruption of Hawaii’s Mauna Loa volcano, which threatens a secret cache of deadly chemical weapons. Ironically, the volcano did start erupting just last month. The author’s widow, Sherri Crichton and chief executive of CrichtonSun, a company that oversees the estate, found the manuscript after his death. She said, "Michael had been working on this book for years, it was his passion project and centered in the place that inspired him the most, Hawaii." She also noted her late husband had conducted extensive research, including interviews with volcanologists and location scouting.

There’s no word yet on a title or release date for this novel.