I've been reading Jurassic Park, having picked up this pre-Spielberg paperback in Oxfam. I recall hearing stories about the novel's nasty happenings as a Jurassic Park-obsessed 6 or 7 year-old when the film came out. It's taken me a decade and a half or so to actually come to read it myself.
The dramatic cover was painted by John Brettoner. After many years as an airbrush-wielding illustrator, he now runs fruitman.com, a stock library site specialising in photographs of fruit.
Having read my way to the two-thirds point, I'd actually say that the novel is far less convincing than the film, though many seem to disagree.