A hot, steamy jungle. people with their own agenda’s, and something big and ravenous stalking them. Sure does sound fun. And it was.
The author’s descriptions immediately put me in the jungle with the character’s. All of them have to deal with the harsh environment. But, that’s not the only problem. Something huge, primordial stalks all of them, and it’s right at home in the jungle. Perfect camouflage until it strikes, leaving not much more than blood splatters to show someone was ever there.
I’m always looking for stories where the character’s have to struggle against the environment as much as the creature stalking them. And I liked the mythical aspect when the local legend comes into play. Made for a deeper, more thrilling reading experience for me.
This would be great to see on the big screen. I’d have to buy the DVD. It’s a keeper.
bunch of civilian contractors into Te Urewera National Park, it seems
a strange job for the army.
and steep ravines, the forest is a treacherous place in winter.
Death incarnate.
intent on picking them off one by one. With their weapons
ineffective, the babysitting job has become a race for survival.
Will it be enough to stop the nightmare? And when the mist clears,
will anyone be left?
joins biologist Jules Asher, on a Conservation Department deer
culling expedition to New Zealand’s southernmost national park,
where soaring peaks give way to valleys gouged from clay and rock,
and icy rivers bleed into watery canyons too deep to fathom. Despite
covering an area the size of the Serengeti, only eighteen people live
in the isolated region, so it’s a surprise when the hunters stumble
on the nation’s Tūrehu tribe, becoming some of only a handful to
ever encounter the elusive ghost people. But a band of mercenaries
saw them first, and, hell-bent on exploiting the tribes’ survivors,
they’re prepared to kill anyone who gets in their way. As a
soldier, McKenna is duty-bound to protect all New Zealanders, but
after centuries of persecution will the Tūrehu allow him to help
them? Besides, there is something else lurking in the sounds, and it
has its own agenda. When the waters clear, will anyone be allowed to
leave?
The Apocalypse Drive
and powerful mythology.” ‒ Paul Mannering, author of Hard Corps,
Hell’s Teeth, and Eat.
“Hine, go!” Read croaked. Grabbing Brooker by his shirt, he dragged him back onto the Unimog.
She jumped clear, landing near Taine as the lava surged around the Unimog. Carried on the broiling wave of lava, it circled in a bizarre ballet, Brooker and Read still inside.
Floating.
Dammit. Taine had to get them off now. That truck was a toaster oven bobbing on a sea of red heat. “Read!” “I’m sending Brooker to you. Line-out style. Be ready!”
Taine had to hand it to him: as ideas went, it was gutsy. With the bed of the Unimog still floating above the flow, there was a chance it could work.
“Hine, we’re going to have to catch Brooker.”
Hurry it up, Read.
Standing as close as they dared, Taine and Hine braced themselves…
The Unimog circled.
Come on!
The vehicle came around. Read bent his knees, grabbing Brooker by the overalls below his hips. When the vehicle neared the lava’s leading edge, Read thrust him upwards, Brooker jumping as best he could.
Brooker yelped.
Dammit. He was going to fall short. Taine stepped forward, his boot searing at the edge of the liquid rock. He leaned out and yanked Brooker to him, while, crouched low, Hine caught the boy’s trailing leg before it hit the lava.
Taine snatched his own foot back.
“Fuck me! That was close,” Brooker panted, his chest heaving.
One down, one to go. What if Read leapt and missed? Taine glanced at Hine. He could spare her that at least. “Help Brooker to the twin cab,” Taine shouted. “I’ll get Read on the next pass.”
Suddenly, Lefty was there, pushing Hine out of the way. “It’s okay. I’ll do it. You get clear.” The soldier hefted Brooker over his shoulder, carrying him down the driveway, where Miller was backing up the truck, slowing just enough to allow the men to pile on.
The Unimog was like a raft on the rapids, the viscous current pulling it towards the middle of the lava-river.
“Read!” Taine yelled.
“Is Brooker safe?” Read called over the roar of the lava.
Taine glanced back. Lefty and Pringle were lifting Brooker onto the truck while, on the flatbed, Parata dragged him in.
“He’s safe. Read—” Taine jumped back as a spray of lava spurted off the surface.
“I know, I know. I’m coming. Just waiting until the…” he trailed off.
“Matt,” Hine whispered.
Zealand’s central plateau, the Kāhui Tupua, are preparing again
for battle. At least, that’s how the Māori elders tell it. The
nation’s leaders scoff at the danger. That is; until the ground
opens and all hell breaks loose. The armed forces are hastily
deployed; NZDF Sergeant Taine McKenna and his section tasked with
evacuating civilians and tourists from Tongariro National Park. It is
too little, too late. With earthquakes coming thick and fast and the
mountains spewing rock and ash, McKenna and his men are cut off.
Their only hope of rescuing the stranded civilians is to find another
route out, but a busload of prison evacuees has other ideas. And,
deep beneath the earth’s crust, other forces are stirring.
coming! Lee Murray serves up a nail-biter of a weird-science action
adventure. Brava!” —Jonathan Maberry, New York Times best-selling
author of DEEP SILENCE and V-WARS
fiction, and multi-award-winning writer of dark speculative fiction
(Sir Julius Vogel, Australian Shadows). Her works include the Taine
McKenna adventure series, and supernatural crime-noir series The Path
of Ra (co-written with Dan Rabarts). She is the editor of ten dark
fiction anthologies, the latest being Hellhole: An Anthology
of Subterranean Terror (Adrenalin Press). Lee lives with her
family in New Zealand where she conjures up stories from her office
overlooking a cow paddock.
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