Marcus Rainwater was
barely 13 when the N47Q virus struck. Everyone he knew or loved died
within a two week span. He’s lived on his own and survived for the past
five years. With the training he was taught by his parents, he has set
up a small protected compound in the southern region of the Appalachian
Mountains where he lives alone. For a person living alone, danger can
come from anywhere and sharing his little slice of Appalachia with
resurrected prehistoric creatures isn’t going to make it any easier.
My Review:
Marcus has been alone in this new world for many years. It is a technologically advanced world where he lives inside a computer controlled protective barrier that surrounds his home and land, that prevents him from being detected by the animals or human predators that stalk the lands. Scientists had brought back dinosaurs to Earth from extinction and when the plague hit, the animals were released to roam free while the survivors gradually died at the hands of meat eating dinosaurs and the gangs of armed raiders that patrol the roads looking for people to kill or enslave.
Marcus survives because he only ventures out when he needs to stock up on supplies from nearby places that he loots or when he has a mission. Now he has discovered that a sabre toothed tiger is roaming the area, making it dangerous for Marcus to hunt or loot the new house he has found abandoned until he has dealt with it.
I quite liked this series. Marcus is one of the good guys who just wants to keep to himself and continue to survive. He has one friend in the world, the A.I. Jocelyn who controls all the computer functions on his home, vehicles and the protective shield that keeps him safe. I like Jocelyn as Marcus has been giving her personality and her humour is good. There are a lot of coincidences that are a bit too convenient at times and things that may stretch reality a bit, but overall I found it entertaining.
The down side to this serial novel is the same with all serial novels in that each episode is obviously short and there seems to be no complete omnibus. This first part is 37 pages long and the other parts are of similar length. In the later adventures come the variety of dinosaurs you see in Jurassic Park which is fun, and run ins with the bad people! The one issue is that there is no sign yet of the final part and the previous installments were in 2014. That is a bit puzzling and I haven't yet found any information on where the final part is or if it is coming. There is no blog post or tweet after 2014 from the author though he did update Goodreads in 2016. My reviews of the rest of the series will appear only on Goodreads.
Read May 2018.
3 stars.
Paleontologist Grant
Coleman and activist Janaina Silva are recruited by Thana Katsoros for a
top secret expedition, one in search of a live Apatosaurus on a plateau
deep in the Amazonian rain forest.
But their plane crashes
short of their destination, and the entire group face a terrifying fight
for survival. This isolated area hosts unknown animals more fearsome
than they’d expected, including giant ants and flesh-eating pterosaurs.
Even
worse, Katsoros’ agenda has more to it than meets the eye, and Grant
soon fears that it doesn’t include all of them getting back alive. Will
any expedition members survive to be rescued, or will they be devoured
by the creatures indigenous peoples call the monsters in the clouds?
My Review:
Grant is doing a book tour for his best seller horror novel Cavern of the Damned and his readers are unaware that it is actually a true story about his previous expedition which went bad. However someone knows the truth and Thana offers him a deal to join a new expedition to Brazil to look for a possible dinosaur in the jungle. Janaina was to be hired to represent the rights of any tribes found from the safety of an office but insists she can only do her job if she goes on the expedition. Along with biologists and security experts, the journey begins badly when the plane crashes after hitting something in the air and now they are stranded away from their landing zone, missing vital equipment and have no pilots. And things are about to get much worse.
Firstly, this is the second book in the series which is not made obvious on Goodreads unless you read the reviews. However we do get a brief rundown on what Grant faced in his other expedition including giant bats and mutant scorpions, without going into massive detail to spiol that whole story. It does seem ok to read them out of order though as this is a different adventure with different people with Grant and I enjoyed it without having to know about what happened on his previous trip. I've got that adventure ready to read when time allows!
Grant sees something crash into the cockpit window, killing the co-pilot and everyone finds whatever way they can to get out of the plane before it crashes into the jungle, which gets things off to a fast paced start. As they regroup on the ground, they need to construct a camp and decide on how best to proceed with the mission. Do they head to the plane to see if the pilot survived and if there is a working radio to call in about the situation? Do they go looking for where the photo of the alleged dinosaur was taken? Or do they try to get to their original landing zone to await help? With Thana in charge, she takes the decision to look for the dinosaur evidence first and then the plane but nobody could expect what they will encounter on each excursion through the deep jungle...
Monsters! It's not giving anything away to say that there are deadly pterasaurs in the jungle as they are on the front cover. I love these guys! They are intelligent, cunning and very dangerous, and don't much like having humans in their jungle, which is fun for the dinosaur loving reader like myself! The group then encounter a nasty version of giant ants that you don't want to mess with and another angry dinosaur that wants to kill them and destroy their camp. Grant is soon wishing that he had skipped this trip when they end up battling to stay alive until they find a way to get rescued.
I liked Grant as an MC because he was just a normal guy and not some kind of instant Rambo, though he becomes more resourceful as the book progresses. I think I would enjoy reading more of his adventures. Janaina is the feisty female, the only person to try and talk to Grant as the rest of the team are determined to ignore the pair as much as possible. We find out why later in the book. She is determined to ensure that any tribes they encounter have their rights put ahead of the expedition, which is why Thana doesn't much like her. I liked the kickass guys from the security team especially Jason.
Overall, this is the typical fun SF channel type creature feature that I usually enjoy and it certainly entertained me and kept me reading. Don't take it too seriously and you should enjoy it if you like this kind of thing.
Read May 2018.
3.5/4 stars.
Books from the Backlog is a fun way to
feature some of those neglected
books sitting on your bookshelf. You might
be surprised by some of the unread books hiding in your stacks. Go to
Carole's blog and add your blog post link in to join in the fun! Hosted
by Carole at https://carolesrandomlife.blogspot.co.uk/
This seems
like a fun feature and I have been planning to take part since Carole
launched this so at last, here we go! I have a TON of unread books to
choose from in various genres and I'm looking forward to sharing some of
them with everybody.
Talk about a tough crowd.
Take
Charlie Broadmoor’s life. Please. Charlie sucks at stand-up comedy. He
gets by, though. Things are okay. His life is decent. Until the night he
makes fun of a demon’s comb-over. Big mistake. What kind of demon wears
a comb-over? The sensitive kind. The kind who’s not going to let an
insult slide. A demon who’s going to take Charlie down. As in down to
Hell. And he intends on dragging everyone Charlie cares about along for
the ride.
I actually got this book a couple of months ago from the author and I plan to get it read during August as I'm trying a bunch of new authors. Barb at Booker T's Farm is a big fan of his work and he seems like a really nice guy so it was a good opportunity to showcase the book! Darn, I just realised I forgot to add this to my Authorfest list! Stupid Chuckles!!!
Can't Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at http://www.wishfulendings.com/ to spotlight and discuss books we're excited about but haven't read, which may not even be released yet.
NB: I don't follow or leave comments on blogs run by
Google Plus, or DISQUS as I refuse to join something just to leave
comments, and I won't allow them to follow new people, update my
profile or post tweets 'on my behalf'. I won't comment on any blog that makes me sign in using another account.
You set the trap. Now you can’t escape.
When an online prank goes viral and triggers a spate of gruesome murders, documentary maker Hazel Salter watches in horror. But then Hazel’s childhood friend, Meredith Hickman
is the next victim and Hazel knows she has to find out what happened to her. Is it one killer or more? Random acts of violence, or part of a bigger, twisted plan?
The
police have no leads, but Hazel has a theory – one she’ll stop at
nothing to prove – and she also has a film crew. She’ll make a
documentary, catch the killer, and give Meredith justice. Her stage is the abandoned amusement park where Meredith was found. Her cast are the family and friends the killer left behind.
And her crew? They keep disappearing, one by one…
This book came out last year but I only heard about it recently. I definitely want to get it as it combines the abandoned theme park with a spate of murders. Sounds fun!
This month I'll be hiding indoors away from any heatwaves and the angry wasps in our garden and concentrating on some reading. Authorfest is all about those new to me authors that I keep saying I'll try but never seem to get round to! I've selected a wide range to read in different genres but none of them are authors I've read before so it should be exciting! This is my list and I'll try to read as many as I can this month!
1) Sarah J Maas-Throne of Glass
2) Christa Faust-Final Destination 3
3) John Randall-The Yellowstone Connundrum
4) Orlando A Sanchez-Tombyards & Butterflies
5) Ernest Cline-Ready Player One
6) Andrzej Sapkowski-The Last Wish
7) Rajan Khanna-Falling Sky
8) Alexandra Oliva-The Last One
9) Kayla Olsen-The Sandcastle Empire
10) Seth Skorkowsky-Damoren
11) Cynthia Hand-My Lady Jane
12) Vivian Shaw-Strange Practice
13) Ryan Graudin-Wolf by Wolf
14) Jeff Menapace-Wildlife
15) Martha Wells-All Systems Red
16) Paul Tremblay-Cabin At The End Of The World
17) Jason Parent-They Feed
18) Lee Mountford-Horror In The Woods
19) Ania Ahlborn-The Shuddering
20) Michael Laimo-Deep In The Darkness
21) GS Denning-A Study In Brimstone
22) Amie Kaufman-Illuminae
23) Stuart R West-Demon With a Comb-Over
Anyone else trying some new authors this month? If you're looking for a challenge to do through August, you are welcome to join in!
