This is a Tag Team Event hosted by myself and Sherry.
I have some exciting news to share with you about Dinosaur lake II. Read on to learn how you can win some books!
After reading my review, head on over to Sherry’s blog at fundinmental for more and check out her review. Two chances to win!
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Dinosaur Lake II
Dinosaurs Arising
by Kathryn Meyer Griffith
My Review
Here we go again. Chief Park Ranger Henry Shore thinks its over. They killed the dinosaur and he’s pretty sure they destroyed all of the eggs. But when strange things start happening in the park, when another ranger has to fight off a large creature to save some visitor’s, it looks like it’s not over.
Things go from bad, to horrific when one of the trolleys, full of tourists, is attacked by something huge, like the thing in the park, yet larger, and it has wings.
It looks like Henry will have to do battle with dinosaurs again, and he’ll have help from his rangers, along with some soldiers and his son-in-law.
Winged gargoyles, that’s what they look like, but much larger.
They are breeding. They fly and are no longer confined to Henry’s beloved park. They are hungry and they need food for their offspring. The park and surrounding towns become their feeding ground.
No one is safe.
I couldn’t wait to read this after finishing the first book. I love books and movies about dinosaurs, especially when they appear in modern times.
There’s so many things Kathryn does really well in her stories. Let me explain.
She gives you authentic characters. They have their flaws, foibles. You like them or you don’t.
When the town sheriff scoffed at the idea of dinosaurs, refused to believe they exist even after the town gets attacked, I could picture him. Standing there, shaking his head, a sneer on his lips, a posture of superiority. I figured he’d get eaten.
And this is my favorite thing she does. She kills off her characters. You don’t want to become too fond of them, but with some you will. And just because they may survive a first encounter, don’t count on them surviving a second one. I’m not saying the sheriff died. I’m not saying they all die. But I wouldn’t want to be in any of their shoes when the dust settles.
The author also doesn’t waste any time getting the carnage going. She quickly drops you in the middle of the mayhem and scares the bejesus out of you. The story never slows down. The suspense and dread builds and builds, and knocks you on your butt. You’ll want to look away, but you won’t be able to. You’ll have to keep reading, find out what happens.
Let’s get to the monsters now. They are just that, monsters. They may be dinosaurs, but they’re unlike the ones from history. They’ve evolved, are very different. I like that Kathryn chose to liken these dinosaurs to gargoyles. The first thing you think of when flying dinosaurs are mentioned is Pterodactyl’s. But not these. They are giant gargoyle like things. And they are blood thirsty, cunning, and relentless. They never stop coming for you.
Every book Kathryn writes is like this. She never lets you down. All of her characters, strong or weak, are genuinely written. We may scoff at their actions, but they are theirs not ours. It’s important to remember that.
And the action and suspense are almost immediate and it’s always a mad dash to the end. Usually with lots of people screaming. LOL
I loved this every bit as much as the first book. I missed some characters that didn’t survive the first one. Loved some of the new ones. I know I shouldn’t have. Lots of people die. But that’s what made this so good. It was unpredictable and the idea of where the creatures came from was plausible. That’s what really creeped me out.
This is everything I hoped for from the author and now I’ve just finished the third book. Holy hell, it’s awesome too!
5 Stars
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Synopsis
Prehistoric creatures have again invaded Crater Lake National Park
…and this time there’s more than one.
DINOSAUR LAKE II: Dinosaurs Arising
by Kathryn Meyer Griffith
Henry Shore has been Chief Park Ranger at Crater Lake National Park for thirteen years now and thought the days when he’d had to fight a rogue dinosaur that lived in the caves below the lake were long over.
Until one of his park rangers, to save a visitor’s life, is in a deadly struggle out in the woods with a new breed of dinosaur worse than the last one. It’s as big as a man, but this one is a young one. And growing.
Then more of the creatures begin to show up everywhere, threatening people and destroying the tranquility and safety of his beloved park.
A tourist trolley filled with fifteen people is snatched up off the crater’s rim by another version of the younger one…but this one has grown into a giant with fangs, claws and a deadly tail.
And this one has wings.
Ugly Gargoyles, Henry calls them.
For this one isn’t alone.
They’re flying beyond the park’s boundaries into the neighboring towns.
So Henry, with the help of his son-in-law, a paleontologist named Justin, and a band of brave park rangers, and a few good soldiers, must not only protect his park and his people from monsters once more but find their lair and destroy it and them before the creatures kill again.
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Dinosaur Lake
by Kathryn Meyer Griffith.
My review
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 the hell 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
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Dinosaur Lake III
Infestation
by Kathryn Meyer Griffith
Reviewing soon!
Synopsis
Chief Park Ranger Henry Shore has dealt with and fought real live dinosaurs at his beloved Crater Lake National Park for over six years. With the help of his rangers, a few brave FBI friends and army soldiers he’d been victorious over a prehistoric lake creature and years later some particularly fiendish, and clever, specimens of the flying variety. He and his newspaper publisher wife, Ann, thought their park was finally rid of the monsters and they could reclaim their tranquil life in a place they cherished. Not so. For suddenly across the park new and even more malevolent mutant species of dinosaur begin to appear and create havoc, attacking the park’s visitors and threatening its peace. And this time the primeval scourge isn’t confined to just their park. The creatures have moved into the nearby towns, across the western United States and up into Canada. They are so much more aggressive, smarter and hungrier than any that have come before and the infestation is spreading further and faster than Henry and Ann can even imagine. This time there’s no easy way to defeat the dinosaurs. There’s too many of them and they’re too devious. This time it’s full out war and the victor will someday claim Earth.
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About Author Kathryn Meyer Griffith
Since childhood I’ve been an artist and worked as a graphic designer in the corporate world and for newspapers for twenty-three years before I quit to write full time. But I’d already begun writing novels at 21, over forty-three years ago now, and have had twenty-two (nine romantic horror, two horror novels, two romantic SF horror, one romantic suspense, one romantic time travel, one historical romance, two thrillers, and three murder mysteries) previous novels, two novellas and twelve short stories published from Zebra Books, Leisure Books, Avalon Books, The Wild Rose Press, Damnation Books/Eternal Press; and I’ve self-published my last six novels with Amazon Kindle Direct and my dinosaur novels and Spookie Town Mysteries are my best-sellers.
I’ve been married to Russell for thirty-six years; have a son, James, and two grandchildren, Joshua and Caitlyn, and I live in a small quaint town in Illinois, which is right across the JB Bridge from St. Louis, Mo. We have three quirky cats, ghost cat Sasha and Cleo and live cat Sasha (Too), and the five of us live happily in an old house in the heart of town. Though I’ve been an artist, and a folk singer in my youth with my brother Jim, writing has always been my greatest passion, my butterfly stage, and I’ll probably write stories until the day I die…or until my memory goes.
2012 EPIC EBOOK AWARDS *FINALIST* for my horror novel The Last Vampire–Revised Author’s Edition ~ 2014 EPIC EBOOK AWARDS *FINALIST* for her thriller novel Dinosaur Lake.
*Click here to check out Kathryn Meyer Griffith’s.
Novels and short stories from Kathryn Meyer Griffith:
Evil Stalks the Night, The Heart of the Rose, Blood Forge, Vampire Blood, The Last Vampire,
Witches, The Nameless One short story, The Calling, All Things Slip Away, Egyptian Heart,
Winter’s Journey, The Ice Bridge, Don’t Look Back, Agnes, Before the End: A Time of Demons, The Woman in Crimson, Human No Longer, Four Spooky Short Stories Collection, Scraps of Paper, Dinosaur Lake, Dinosaur Lake II: Dinosaurs Arising and the just released Dinosaur Lake III: Infestation.
Kathryn’s Links
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kathryn-Meyer-Griffith/579206748758534
http://www.authorsden.com/kathrynmeyergriffith
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/889499.Kathryn_Meyer_Griffith
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I have one eBook and one audible book of Dinosaur lake II to give away thanks to Kathryn!
This can be read without having read the first book.
To enter, please leave your email address so I can contact you if you win and answer this question:
“The dinosaur is about to eat you. You have two choices, stand and fight, or run like hell. If you choose to run, there’s only one place to go, into the park. And that’s where the dinosaurs are. If you choose to fight, it’d be pretty hard to take down a dino. So which is it, fight or run?!
Giveaway ends February 28th.
This is a Tag Team Event hosted by myself and Sherry at fundinmental.
Now hop on over to fundinmental, check out Sherry’s review, and enter for another chance to win HERE.
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