Book Review: Cavern of the Damned by Russell James

Broke and desperate, paleontologist Grant Coleman gets the chance of a lifetime exploring a long-sealed cave, the fabled home of a gigantic creatures.

NPS Ranger McKinley Stinson discovers a rancher’s prize bull has been butchered by an airborne killer, and tracks the blood trail back to the re-opened cavern. But as she’s about to arrest the trespassers, the unstable roof collapses, trapping all.

Their only way out is at the cave system’s far end. But an eco-system of terrifying mega fauna stands between them and freedom. Death, double-crosses, and a slew of monstrous cave creatures take their toll as the group battles to what they pray is an exit.

Will anyone survive this cavern of the damned? 

My Review: 
This book is the first of three books (so far) featuring the character of Grant Coleman, expert in paleontology. I actually read the second book Monsters in the Clouds before this one but it doesn't create much of a problem, reading out of order. In the second book, we are told that Grant had an adventure in a cavern with mutant creatures so it was nice to get to read that story now.

Grant has been working at a college which has now cut his paleontology department and he really needs to find a paying job. He leaps at the chance when he is asked to go to Montana to lead a documentary team exploring a cavern that is said to be home to giant bats. Grant soon discovers that he has actually been signed up for a reality TV show and that there are a lot of nasty things living in the cavern. 

I like Grant as a character. He is a normal guy who has just lost his job, and what he is offered sounds too good to be true. It turns out to be worse than he thought. He discovers that it more of a reality TV show complete with bimbo female presenter and utility men as the camera crew. He is also concerned about whether he is actually going to get the money that was promised to him as he doesn't trust Frazier after all his lies. The team blow up the hillside as they blast their way into the cavern, leaving the whole area unstable. They are led by a caver who claims to know the way inside but even that is no use when a sudden cave-in traps them inside the cavern and they must rely on Colton to find a way out of the maze of tunnels and caverns. They are not prepared for the range of creatues that want to eat them and the other natural dangers that they are going to face as they search for an exit.

A sub plot running through this is that there is something inside the cavern that is worth money. Local Ranger McKinley hears the explosion and goes to the hill to arrest whoever has been using the explosives. As she enters the cave, the cave-in occurs and she finds herself trapped with Grant and his team. The men who are looking for the rich pay day find themselves on the outside of the cave and grab a hostage to help to get them inside. I found the side story less interesting as I was more invested in what was happening inside the cavern. There were so many interesting creatures on the attack that I feel the robbery plot was not really required.

The creature feature element was certainly the highlight of the book. As well as the giant bats, there are huge millipedes, scorpions, tetra fish, salamanders...that is pretty exciting stuff! I liked the various creature attacks, the tension of the trip through the darkness as things lurk waiting to attack and the natural disasters that threaten them. The characters other than Grant and McKinley aren't that memorable but I didn't mind them as they were basically monster fodder and I didn't care too much about who lived or died as long as it was entertaining. It was a good enough read to entertain and was exactly the type of plot I'd expect in this kind of book. 

Read October 2018.
3 stars.