Would you try another book from David Wood and Alan Baxter and/or Jeffrey Kafer?
Jeffrey Kafer is a pretty prolific narrator and I found his performance even and not distracting from the story line. I’d listen to him again without reservation.
Would you be willing to try another book from David Wood and Alan Baxter ? Why or why not?
I don’t know if this book is representative of their work as I’ve not read anything by either author. The writing is good, but the story line is pretty uninspired and similar to others in the genre. I wouldn’t avoid their work, but unless their subject matter crosses into my preferred reading I wouldn’t seek it out either.
Any additional comments?
I confess, I like creature books. From Jaws to Nessie and most critters in between, I’ll usually give these books monster books a shot.
Primordial doesn’t introduce anything new to the genre, in fact it is reminiscent of The Loch by Steve Alten. This book takes place in Finland instead of Scotland, but the monster is similar. A prehistoric aquatic predator with a taste for us.
The book is fairly well written with the standard characters. A charming rogue, a beautiful journalist and a crazy and obsessed rich guy. They all come together and search for the monster. People get eaten while the team searches and comes into conflict with the locals. I was a little bored with the stereotypes and clichés that appear in so many of these creature features. It would be nice if someone broke the mold and injected some fresh blood into the genre. Unfortunately, this is not that book.
I didn’t find any big plot holes or technical issues which are common in books of this type. Some things are a little bit of a stretch like dynamite and pistols surviving undamaged and usable in a cave for decades. Suspension of disbelief is always a bit necessary and Primordial doesn’t abuse it.
The book is capably narrated by Jeffrey Kafer. He wisely chooses to largely ignore accents, and delivers a credible performance of a Aussie main character and Finnish locals.
The usual big conflict at the end involves lots of just desserts for the bad guys and a few innocents are eaten. The main characters are trapped, fight to survive, some do, and the book ends with the possibility of a sequel.
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.