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vikingwolf's review
3.0
A rich man invites his sons and their friends on a boat trip but a sudden vicious storm shipwrecks them on an island. When there is no sign of help arriving for them and an unknown creature feasting on one of the dead, panic starts to set in. The island holds many secrets including a ton of dinosaurs, a ships graveyard and other hostile human inhabitants.
It's not a literary masterpiece by any means but it isn't meant to be. It is a fun dinosaur romp in the manner of the creature features you get on things like the Sy-Fy Channel. It's a homage to the B movie with lots of people being attacked and eaten on almost every page. It also has the supernatural mystery element, the obnoxious characters you want to get chomped and the hostile humans lurking in the woods as an added danger. It does enough to entertain and there is plenty dinosaur action or something else happening all the time so it kept me pretty happy overall.
Lots of dinosaurs! Compys are the first ones that we see, making a meal out of the dead bodies from the shipwreck but there are bigger and badder things to come. There is no safe place on the island with the camp being regularly attacked, and danger lurking around those tasked with going to find supplies. I liked having a big cast because you knew that meant plenty of dinosaur victims through the book. And you can't have a dinosaur horror without chomped and torn bodies!
There were other interesting sub plots running through the book. The survivors discover a waterfall and pool and the water seems to have some kind of healing effect. Their medic Kelly is concerned about it and wants it only used when necessary but some of the others are sneaking off there and becoming addicted to it, causing a change in their overall behaviour, which will have a terrible effect on the camp. There is also a murder plot with several of the badly injured being killed-is it murder or mercy killing and who is doing it? The other worrying thing for the survivors are the discovery of both the countless shipwrecks on the island and the discovery of feral survivors who may have been affected by the water they are using.
The one down side to the book is the characters. Stu is a complete nightmare, the steriotype spoiled rich brat who thinks all women are sluts especially the ones who turn him down, and that everyone around him is a lesser species because he is so wonderful. Ugh! He is the one you REALLY want to get eaten! His sister Vera is a whiny little bitch and stepmother Connie is a complete cow. We have the steriotype slut character Joy who breaks up the happy-about-to-be-engaged couple which got steam coming out of my nostrils. Normally having so many idiots in a book would switch me off it but in these dinosaur gorefest books I have a bit more tolerance for them as it is more fun if they get eaten...
Overall a decent story with enough dinosaurs to make a horror fan happy but just don't expect to love the characters or find it to be the greatest story in the world. Then you might like it for a bit of light entertainment!
It's not a literary masterpiece by any means but it isn't meant to be. It is a fun dinosaur romp in the manner of the creature features you get on things like the Sy-Fy Channel. It's a homage to the B movie with lots of people being attacked and eaten on almost every page. It also has the supernatural mystery element, the obnoxious characters you want to get chomped and the hostile humans lurking in the woods as an added danger. It does enough to entertain and there is plenty dinosaur action or something else happening all the time so it kept me pretty happy overall.
Lots of dinosaurs! Compys are the first ones that we see, making a meal out of the dead bodies from the shipwreck but there are bigger and badder things to come. There is no safe place on the island with the camp being regularly attacked, and danger lurking around those tasked with going to find supplies. I liked having a big cast because you knew that meant plenty of dinosaur victims through the book. And you can't have a dinosaur horror without chomped and torn bodies!
There were other interesting sub plots running through the book. The survivors discover a waterfall and pool and the water seems to have some kind of healing effect. Their medic Kelly is concerned about it and wants it only used when necessary but some of the others are sneaking off there and becoming addicted to it, causing a change in their overall behaviour, which will have a terrible effect on the camp. There is also a murder plot with several of the badly injured being killed-is it murder or mercy killing and who is doing it? The other worrying thing for the survivors are the discovery of both the countless shipwrecks on the island and the discovery of feral survivors who may have been affected by the water they are using.
The one down side to the book is the characters. Stu is a complete nightmare, the steriotype spoiled rich brat who thinks all women are sluts especially the ones who turn him down, and that everyone around him is a lesser species because he is so wonderful. Ugh! He is the one you REALLY want to get eaten! His sister Vera is a whiny little bitch and stepmother Connie is a complete cow. We have the steriotype slut character Joy who breaks up the happy-about-to-be-engaged couple which got steam coming out of my nostrils. Normally having so many idiots in a book would switch me off it but in these dinosaur gorefest books I have a bit more tolerance for them as it is more fun if they get eaten...
Overall a decent story with enough dinosaurs to make a horror fan happy but just don't expect to love the characters or find it to be the greatest story in the world. Then you might like it for a bit of light entertainment!
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