Review: Everything I require for a great creature story.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 02 22, 2013
Enter at your own risk. There be a huge freakin dinosaur here.I love books with creatures in them. This one has a dinosaur. A dinosaur that tasted humans and put them at the top of its list. We may be noisy, what with all the screamin, but we're oh so tasty.Chief Ranger Henry Shore likes to get out from behind his desk. He enjoys taking out tours now and then. The park is his love and he jumps at any chance to get out there.The threat of an earthquake has him concerned. It's predicted they'll be hit with a major one, and if the tremors he feels are any indication, it could be soon. The rumors of a giant creature seen in Crater Lake make him pause. Maybe the earlier earthquake released something from the caverns under the lake.When a couple of the boat captains from the lake tours go missing and all that's recovered are their shattered boats, Henry begins to believe in the rumors. And when a group of campers are attacked, people are missing, blood and bits of gore are strewn around, and a trail of shattered trees leaves a huge trail to the lake, Henry has no choice but to believe the witnesses testimonies of a gigantic monster, a dinosaur, that attacked and ate their friends.The creature has come on land and is ranging further and further from the lake to find the tasty morsels he craves and needs. No one is safe and Henry wonders how far the evacuation should go.Henry has big problems. Will it go into the towns? Where is its lair? When will it strike again and how in the world can he stop it? He wants his park back. With the help of fellow rangers and one strange ex- FBI agent who deals in the unusual, he takes the fight to the monster and many die.Dinosaur Lake starts out tranquil and quickly becomes a nightmare. When the creature discovers how tasty we are, it wants more. It's intelligent and cunning and likes to play with its food.I can't imagine what is scarier, knowing it's going to eat you, or having it play cat and mouse with you before crunching you between its giant teeth. A couple of the munching scenes had me squirming, feeling so sad for the victims. I knew they were goners.The author slowly builds the terror, lulling you and then springing out at you, just like the creature.Some characters I liked got killed off. Some survived. I kept fearing the worst as the pages flew by. I know the author has to kill off some of the characters, but I wish I could've saved a couple. This definitely makes for emotional and suspenseful reading.Great writing, an awesome creature, likeable and diverse characters, chaos, and terror. Everything I require in a creature feature.Five Stars for Dinosaur Lake