Kathryn Meyer Griffith is a new-to-me author.. I wasn't quite sure about picking up a book, involving dinosaurs... But barely 10 pages in & I couldn't put it down!! As much as this book sacred the living daylights out of me, I kept picking it back up, night after night, because it was interesting, terrifying & addictive, all at the same time! I'm going to be adding Kathryn to the list of my favorite authors, for sure!
Dinosaur lake starts out by introducing us to the Chief Park Ranger, Henry, who moved to Oregon with his wife, after a shooting on the job as a New York City cop made him realize he needed a change.. He is happily settled in with his wife, his job & enjoying life, making sure park goers stay safe & introducing them to beauty of the park. An earthquake ends up shaking the ranger & the days tour group up a bit and also reveals a wall of dinosaur fossils.. Henry is fascinated & immediately puts a call in to the local institute that deals wit fossil findings. The paleontologist, Justin, comes out & is surprised to see that this is possibly a new species of dinosaur and he & Henry become fast friends.. And then, the scary starts up.. Animals are found mauled on the lakes edge, and people are disappearing. Henry & Justin hear rumors of a monster on the lake & after the disappearance of 2 tour boats & their captains, they decide to go investigate & get the biggest scare of their lives.. Their truly is a dinosaur in the lake.. And it's not just a lake-dweller, either.. It starts coming to shore to eat & attack.. Justin believes that the dinosaur egg must have been in stasis in the underground caves in the caldera & the earthquake uncovered it & the heat from the active volcano incubated the dinosaur & it hatched. Henry & Justin are both racing against time & their own terror, trying to figure out what to do with the parks newest toothy resident & also to save the many people who live in the parks nearby towns, along with visitors, as well.. But as the disappearances get worse, they realize the dino is growing & becoming more bold.. Will they be able to round it up & possibly wipe it out of existence before they are next on the dinosaurs lunch menu? You need to pick this book up & find out!
Ms Meyer Griffith puts incredible detail into her research & one could almost believe such a thing could occur.. Every night that I read this, I ended up putting a nightlight on for bed time, and to me, that makes for one heck of an awesome horror novel.. I kept saying to myself that this book would also make one hell of a great horror movie! Hey, producers! You listening?? Wow! I'm truly a fan of this marvelous lady & can't wait to pick up more of her work.. For fans of scary stories with a hint of romance in them, pick up Dinosaur Lake, by Kathryn Meyer Griffith today! A definite must-read, filled with action, adventure, adrenaline-inducing fear, along with a light dose of love, on the side.. This book is definitely a keeper!
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Platinum Book Reviews gives "Dinosaur Lake" :
4.5 Platinum Rings!
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Blurb:
An ancient predator has been reborn in the caves beneath Crater Lake...
...and it's hungry.......
Ex-cop Henry Shore has been Chief Park Ranger at Crater Lake National Park for eight years and he likes his park and his life the way it's been. Safe. Tranquil. Predictable. But he's about to be tested in so many ways. First the earthquakes begin...people begin to go missing...then there's some mysterious water creature that's taken up residence in the caves below Crater Lake and it's not only growing in size, it's aggressive and cunning...and very hungry.
And it's decided it likes human beings. To eat.
And it can come up onto land.
So Henry, with the help of his wife, Ann; a young paleontologist named Justin; and a band of brave men must not only protect his park and his people from the monster but somehow find where it lives and destroy it...before it can kill again. ***
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Justin heard the commotion first...
In the stillness of the night a loud swishing of powerfully churning water came from far away, moving closer. On the air trembled a soft cry, the sound filling the caldera as an echo filled a canyon. Something rose up underneath the boat. Henry would remember later that in the horror of the moment, as they were lifted high into the air, that Sam Cutler had been right, it was bigger than two houses. The boat plopped back down onto the lake, the whirling engines grinding, water splashing everywhere, soaking both of them. Another bounce like that, Henry thought frantically, and the boat would capsize.
“My god,” Justin yelped. “It really is a monster!” He sounded like someone who’d just watched the sun explode up in the sky. “I’ll be damned,” Henry mumbled, attempting to swallow. His body
was frozen. Only his eyes could move, but they were glued to the creature’s steep side. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing, though in the dark and the chaos of the attack, all he could actually make out
was a mass of dark scaly skin as the boat slid down along side of the creature.
He captured a flash of a thick neck, a huge blob of a head, two glaring crimson eyes and a wicked slash of sharp whiteness that had to be teeth as big as a man’s hand. All in all, their attacker was a nightmare that froze him and Justin to the boat’s rail, holding on for dear life as the boat beneath them bucked and rocked.
The thing was moving fast...
Justin’s head lifted upwards on his neck, his eyes gawking up at the thing. He screamed.
The beast replied with a deep-throated gurgling rattle of a roar.
Justin stammered under his breath, “Forgot to mention, I hate the water. And I can’t swim!”
“Now you tell me,” Henry tossed back. “Don’t worry, your life preserver will keep you afloat. If you go over, paddle like hell!”
The boat repeated its jump. The fiberglass creaked torturously beneath them.
“If we go in the water will it try to eat us?” Henry voice was a hoarse whisper.
“I’m not sure. No way of knowing. If it’s a descendent or a mutant of a species like Pliosaur, its ancestors were flesh-eaters. They ate anything they bumped into.” The boat was lifted a second time, bouncing it high into the air, then it came down violently, nearly capsizing.
“It’s trying to sink us,” Henry cried above the din. The bullets he’d taken in the line of duty hadn’t scared him half as much as what he was feeling now. But he’d never seen the bullets coming. This was different. He couldn’t miss the monstrosity slamming against the boat, playing with them as if they were a child’s toy.
Then as swiftly as the water beast had appeared, it was gone.
The lake beneath and around them became calm. The boat lunged forward, the engines loud on the night air.
Long seconds went by.
Shuddering, on his knees, Justin whispered, “It’s gone.”
Henry crouched by the rail, listening. It was hard to hear anything over the loud thumping of his heart. “That was close.”
“I’ve daydreamed about when dinosaurs walked the earth,” Justin’s voice was ragged. “I always thought it’d be neat to see one. I don’t think so now. The shock alone could give a person a heart attack.”
The paleontologist came off his knees to lean against the rail beside Henry. He wiped the water from his face, in the faint light, his eyes wide and glazed. “Ha, imagine, and I didn’t want us to hurt it–as if we
could have.” An acid laugh escaped his lips. “That thing must be gigantic, by what we glimpsed of it. That tail and head went on forever. And did you hear that awful sound it was making, a rumbling snoring roar?
It sounded as if we were under a waterfall.”
“Yes,” was Henry’s only reply. He was still listening.
“What are we going to do, Mr. Ranger? Should we make a run for the shore or what?” Henry stood up slowly, moved over to the controls and shoved the throttle full open. He put out the other hand to grip Justin’s shoulder. “We get out of here as fast as we can.”
They heard the water and the roaring noises resume around them.
“It’s coming back!”
“I know,” moaned Justin.
The boat began to rock harder. The beast was near.
Later Henry believed Justin’s inspiration and quick thinking were the only things that saved them. “Noise! It’s attacking the noise from the engines…and it sees the lights.”
“Then we turn off the engines and the lights! If we play dead, it might leave us alone.
“And I’ve got a gun,” Henry added, a hand on the Sig in his holster.
“I can shoot it.”
“Forget that,” Justin hollered. “That pin prick would probably just make it madder and it’d come after us for sure.”
Henry shut down the engines and switched off the power.
“Flashlights off, too,” Justin breathed.
They blinked into darkness. It’d been a moonless, overcast night, with creeping fog to help hide them. Henry felt as if he were floating in outer space, no stars, no other light source, just endless eternal blackness.
“Justin–”
“Shhh,” Justin hissed, yanking the ranger down next to him.
The wild pitching of the boat ceased but Henry’s stomach remained in turmoil.
They waited for a long time for the creature to make its next move...
Nothing. It was as if the disturbance had never happened........
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~~~FIND KATHRYN HERE~~~
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