Predator

Dinosaur Lake #1

by Kathryn Meyer Griffith

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. ***

Genres: Horror, Thriller, Science Fiction, Dinosaurs, Suspense, Mystery, Adventure

Paperback

First published December 1, 1993

About the author

About Kathryn Meyer Griffith 2023
Since childhood I’ve been an artist, and have 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 fifty-one years ago now, and have had thirty-five (romantic horror, horror novels, romantic SF horror, romantic suspense, romantic time travel, historical romance, thrillers, one non-fiction short story collection, dinosaur books, and murder mysteries) previous novels and thirteen short stories published from various traditional publishers since 1984. But I’ve gone into self-publishing in a big way since 2012; and upon getting all my previous books’ full rights back for the first time in 36 years, have self-published all of them. My seven Dinosaur Lake novels and Spookie Town Murder Mysteries (Scraps of Paper, All Things Slip Away, Ghosts Beneath Us, Witches Among Us, What Lies Beneath the Graves, All Those Who Came Before, When the Fireflies Returned, and Echoes of Other Times) are my best-sellers.
I was married to Russell for over forty-three years; have a son, two grandchildren and a great-granddaughter. I live in a small quaint town in Illinois. I have a quirky cat, Sasha, and we live happily in an old house in the heart of town. Though I’ve been an artist, and a folk/classic rock singer in my youth with my late 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 her horror novel The Last Vampire ~ 2014 EPIC EBOOK AWARDS * Finalist * for her thriller novel Dinosaur Lake.

*All Kathryn Meyer Griffith’s books can be found here:
http://tinyurl.com/ld4jlow
*All her Audible.com audio books here:
http://tinyurl.com/oz7c4or

Novels and short stories from Kathryn Meyer Griffith:
Evil Stalks the Night, The Heart of the Rose, Blood Forged, Vampire Blood, The Last Vampire (2012 EPIC EBOOK AWARDS*Finalist* in their Horror category), Witches, Witches II: Apocalypse, Witches plus Witches II: Apocalypse, The Nameless One erotic horror short story, The Calling, Scraps of Paper (The First Spookie Town Murder Mystery), All Things Slip Away (The Second Spookie Town Murder Mystery), Ghosts Beneath Us (The Third Spookie Town Murder Mystery), Witches Among Us (The Fourth Spookie Town Murder Mystery), What Lies Beneath the Graves (The Fifth Spookie Town Murder Mystery; sixth, All Who Came Before, When the Fireflies Returned (the seventh Spookie Town Murder Mystery), Echoes of Other Times (the eighth Spookie Town Murder Mystery), Egyptian Heart, Winter’s Journey, The Ice Bridge, Don’t Look Back, Agnes, A Time of Demons and Angels, The Woman in Crimson, Human No Longer, Six Spooky Short Stories Collection, Forever and Always Romantic Novella, Night Carnival Short Story, Dinosaur Lake (2014 EPIC EBOOK AWARDS*Finalist* in their Thriller/Adventure category), Dinosaur Lake II: Dinosaurs Arising, Dinosaur Lake III: Infestation and Dinosaur Lake IV: Dinosaur Wars, Dinosaur Lake V: Survivors, Dinosaur Lake VI: The Alien Connection, Dinosaur Lake VII: The Aliens Return, Memories of My Childhood, and Christmas Magic 1959.

Her Websites:
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Reviews

[Montzalee Wittmann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dinosaur Lake
By: Kathryn Meyer Griffith
Narrated by: Johnnie C. Hayes
This is a book I could easily picture in my mind as it was reading to me. Well written, good characters, and a big meat eater out of nowhere! But this is what fantasy is for, to entertain and suspend beliefs for a bit. Forgot science and have fun! If it's got a dinosaur in it and it is eating someone, I want to read it!
The narrator has a slightly gruff voice but somehow that worked with this story. It might not with all stories but it worked great with this one!

[Preeti · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have a weird fascination with creature features, particularly movies. Whenever SyFy is coming with a weird new movie – Sharktopus, Sharknado, Piranhaconda, etc. – I’m there to watch it, much to my family’s annoyance.

Once in a while I like to let my hair down with a creature feature book. Most of the ones I’ve read have been bad. Not to say I watch/read creature features for a good story, but at least I want to be entertained. They have to be a good bad movie or book. But most of them are just bad bad.

Dinosaur Lake, narrated by the Chief Park Ranger at Crater Lake National Park in Oregon, who discovers there just might be something prehistoric living in the lake, falls just on the edge of bad bad. It wasn’t as bad as some I’ve read but I guess that’s not saying too much. To illustrate, I’ll leave you with the few notes I took as I read this story:

* Let the typos and errors begin!
* Weird stuff - who says "I’ll Federal Express some books" instead of just using “FedEx”??
* And the main character is supposed to be from NYC and he's been in Oregon less than 10 years and he sounds like he's from some small town?? [a little later] Oh wait, EVERYONE, no matter where they’re from, basically sounds like they’re from some small town if the narrator likes them.
* "He knew she suspected he was up to something, but being the good wife that she was, she didn't question him further."
Gross.
* In one scene the narrator puts his hand on his gun as comfort. Then a couple pages later, he's apparently not been comfortable carrying a gun for the past 10 years.
* The author learned a big word, anachronism, and decided to show everyone how much she knew this big word by using it a million times.
* Oh great, now we have an X-files type agent who believes in "evil in nature." Can I roll my eyes any harder?
* Within a few weeks, this guy is ready to propose to the ranger's daughter? The 33-year-old to the 20-year-old? Apparently he never believed in love at first sight till until he met the daughter. Why am I reading this?
* Aaand the moment the old man says he's shutting down the paper, retiring, and possibly moving to LA to live with his son, you know he's getting chomped. [at of the book] Well, that’s a trope that didn’t come true!
* SERIOUSLY?!? The wife decides to sneak into the park after all she's heard from her husband?? All the death and gore? This is such a Syfy-esque creature feature book with dumb decisions and all.
* Now all of a sudden it becomes a nautical tale, with the author throwing in words like astern and aft. Jesus Christ.
* "Don't worry so." Who the hell talks like that?? No one except in this book.
* "The young always had to have their music." I don't even know what this is anymore.
* "The four men talked among themselves, of things only men liked to talk about." Not enough eye-rolling emojis for this and I won't even bother with the grammar.

There you have it. Final rating: 2.5 stars (mostly because I’ve ready some doozies to which I gave 2 stars, so I had to rate this slightly higher).

[Peter Tillman · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a *terrible* book. Full of malapropisms, wooden characters, clichéed plot-devices..... The Dinosaurs lured me in, and the Crater Lake setting. And the author spins a pretty good story. Well, OK story. But, oh God, the writing! I did finish it, but had to skim a LOT. Just an *amazing* amount of crap, to get to the happy ending. The last quarter, I just wanted it to be over! Preeti’s review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... catalogs a lot of the bad stuff. But there’s plenty more!

The author got the geology of Crater Lake comically wrong. She has open lava flows into the crater, like Hawaii, but this is *explosive* vulcanism. It didn’t seem to occur to the author why and how the Crater got there: the mountain literally blew its top! Wikipedia or a park brochure is all she would have needed to get this right. And dino-eggs staying fertile, for 65 million years, in a violently active volcano??? Nope. Anyway, I’m pretty sure there are NO ROCKS in the park that date from the Age of Dinosaurs. So the dino-fossil sub-plot is absurd, too. Bah.

So, ignore the 4 & 5-star reviews. Really, you should just skip this one, and I should have, too. I’d like the 4 hours of my life back…. Kindle freebie, but has negative value. Worst book I’ve finished in quite awhile. A dubious distinction! Avoid, avoid.

[Gilbert Stack · Rating 2 out of 5]

It’s always fun to read about modern encounters with dinosaurs. Usually those fatal meetings occur in faraway places—an unknown island, the middle of the Amazon, caverns deep beneath the earth. What makes Kathryn Meyer Griffith’s tale so unique is that she chooses to introduce her dinosaur in a national park in the United States and therein lies both the strengths and weaknesses of the story.

The largest strength is the unusual setting—in the continental United States—where the dinosaur has a large number of human prey within easy reach. Unfortunately, this is really where the strengths end as well. No one carries their cell phones so they can’t take pictures of the growing evidence that a dinosaur is around—tracks, animal carcasses, and eventually the dinosaur itself. While everyone is naturally skeptical of the idea that a dinosaur could be alive today, not only are people disappearing but two very large boats are demolished by something and there is literally nothing known in the region that could damage them in that fashion. So even if you don’t jump to “dinosaur” as the solution, the idea that you should close the park and investigate isn’t far-fetched—but they don’t.

Then the dinosaur starts eating large number of people—again, no cameras—but this results only in a couple of FBI guys being sent. Why not send the National Guard? And the press finally comes (in time to get eaten) but really, they should have been swarming much earlier. Finally, our intrepid investigators manage to get a mini sub put in the lake, but still can’t get really serious infantry weapons (and people trained to use them). Again, if you’re arguing you need a sub armed with missiles to go after your monster, don’t you think that perhaps the navy might send expert teams to operate it? Or again, the National Guard might be mobilized to bring serious firepower to bear on the creature?

These weaknesses in just thinking out logically what kind of response the government would make to a creature killing lots of people really made it difficult to suspend disbelief in this novel. It’s still fun—tracking a dinosaur that keeps munching on the trackers is sort of the heart of a modern dinosaur story—but it isn’t the great novel I think this could have been.

If you liked this review, you can find more at www.gilbertstack.com/reviews.

[Dianne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Become a Park Ranger, he thought. After the stress of being a cop, it would be peaceful, tranquil and the scenery would be breathtaking, he thought. Henry Shore is about to discover that even in the beauty of nature, there are monsters in the shadows with an appetite for death and not even his service revolver can keep humanity safe.

Crater Lake’s crystalline depths were made from the eruptions of ancient volcanoes and earthquakes and it would now give birth to a prehistoric monster freed from its confines by yet another trembling of the earth. Little did Henry know the nightmares he faced in the city would pale in comparison to the behemoth that lurks in the dark, or that it would feast on the flesh and bones of humans and fauna alike.

An unlikely group of heroes will risk everything to save humanity, some will die horrible deaths along with the innocents and the clearly too stupid to live, but no one will ever forget what happened in DINOSAUR LAKE.

Are you a fan of man versus the unbelievable? Want the thrill of the ground shaking as death comes out of the depths? We aren’t talking those old movie monsters like Godzilla or Yongary, the monster from the deep, they were make believe, but dinosaurs were very real and who is to say one egg isn’t trapped in the bowels of the earth just waiting to hatch? Hmmm?

Kathryn Meyer Griffith brings readers to the edge of their science fiction seats and spares nothing as this dinosaur devours humans, uproots trees and appears to have more cunning and smarts than paleontologists give them credit for! Better than a movie, my mind was racing as I watched normal, everyday people stand against a seemingly unstoppable foe! Gah! They even went into the caves they thought it lived in!

Go ahead, indulge your thrill-seeking side, shake your head at the gawkers, the byline seekers and the next time you can’t see to the bottom of a body of water…remember DINOSAUR LAKE.

Series: Dinosaur Lake - Book 1
Publisher: Kathryn Meyer Griffith; 1 edition (August 29, 2012)
Publication Date: August 29, 2012
Genre: Sci-Fi
Print Length: 439 pages
Available from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
For Reviews & More: http://tometender.blogspot.com

[Charles van Buren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bad dinosaur, bad

This is a pretty well written dinosaur eats people thriller. A good bit of excitement as people run and the dinosaur chases. However some of it is predictable. Let's see a show of hands. How many know that putting a miniature, deep-diving submarine in the lake with a gigantic killer dinosaur monster is a bad idea. Of course we know it's a bad idea. We remember the diving bell in THE BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS, the shark cage in JAWS and several similar bad ideas from movies whose names I can't remember.

Then there are a few somewhat awkwardly constructed sentences such as, "Yes, it’ll be pretty hard for them to cover what’s happened up, won’t it?" Not really enough of these to bother me very much. Some of the science is a little shaky. Try this explanation about the dinosaur eggs, “They’ve probably been down here somewhere for–who knows how long–thousands, millions of years, locked air-tight in a rock pocket, perhaps, or coated in hardened lava that the recent earthquakes uncovered and melted as the heat grew in the cave. It set them free.” Uh, if rock gets hot enough to melt.... Anyway, a short time later the dinosaur hunters destroy the eggs by... tossing them into lava. But who really cares. There is a giant, ugly, killer dinosaur chasing people and smashing things. And that is what we are reading this book for. The author put this at the very end of the book: "Note: This book is not based on scientific dinosaur data… it’s a make believe story about make believe dinosaurs. More a thriller than science fiction." Perhaps that blurb would have been more useful at the beginning.

The little bit of social commentary in the book is overly simplistic but that shouldn't bother most readers. This is a dinosaur eats people story. Not a lot of social commentary in that. The author goes for a bit of pathos with the monster eating a couple of people from a homeless camp and a little girl plaintively telling the rangers that, "a monster ate my daddy." That would be a good scene in the B movie someone should make from this book.

Pretty good but personally I would prefer less about relationships, homeless people, etc. and more about the horrible, humongous, hungry dinosaur monster.

[Mich Must Read · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't know what book these four and five stars ratings were for, but not this. The dialogue was not believable at all, especially the paleontologist.

[Paul (Life In The Slow Lane) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Page 327: "Good plan, Greer. Couldn't OF done better myself." Oh how I despise this particular error. It's what you expect from someone who failed high school English. I almost awarded just one star for that alone.

OK. First things first. The creature on the book cover is a T-Rex. The creature featured in this book is not. It’s an evolved Nothosaurus or something like that. Not a T-Rex. Secondly, this is a self-published book and I promised I wouldn’t read any more of those. Sigh.

So your mate comes up to you at the pub and says, “I took the family up to Crater Lake yesterday. There was this dinosaur that came out of the lake, chased us into the forest and ate the missus and me two scone-grabbers (wife and kids). It was as big as a cathedral and had teeth longer than me arm.” While you say, “Oh that’s terrible,” you’re thinking, “Strewth! This bloke’s got kangaroos in his top paddock.”

Yes, just like when Chief Brody ran up and down Amity beach yelling, “Everybody out of the water. There’s a shark,” and nobody believed him, in this fine tome, we have another Chief (Chief Park Ranger) telling everybody to get out of the water because there’s “a three story tall prehistoric monster coming”. Yeah. Right. You dumbass. Just like in Peter Benchley’s Jaws, we have the usual people being devoured before Chief Brody realises he “needs a bigger boat” and we have that in Dinosaur Lake too. In fact, there are a lot of similarities to Jaws. A real lot.

I really like dinosaur stories, particularly when you mix them with humans – such fun. But I would like to see a semi-believable way in which they come together. In DL, we’re expected to believe our devious, intelligent, super-sized thunder lizard hatched out of an egg that was just sitting in some lava caves beneath the Crater Lake...for 65 million years. Aw, c’mon. Any sane person would call bullshit on that one.

The book is about 150 pages too long because practically every character in the book has to tell his/her life story. It was just unnecessary. Despite all this negativity, I somehow enjoyed it. Much like I enjoyed the old TV series, Land of the Lost.

[John · Rating 1 out of 5]

My main problem with this book was sloppy charactor development. For example, and by no means the only example, on page 14, we read about Henry, "He’d collected and built model dinosaurs, as well, of every species unearthed. He thought of all the dinosaur movies he’d sat through, all the museums he’d haunted, the countless pictures of fossils he’d studied in books. Though he wasn’t an expert on the subject by any means, he knew a great deal more than most amateurs." Then, on page 79, "Finishing his lunch, Henry opened another book and browsed through it. More information paraded before his eyes. “Dinosaurs,” he read Hmm. No doubt. Some of them, they say, were gargantuan in size, and probably as unfriendly as hell. Look at this monster. Palaeoscinus. Do you really think it looked like that? Weighed three tons? How do you guys know that?”

Cough--fossils--cough. Someone who "knew a great deal more than most amateurs" shouldn't be asking this question.

[♛ Garima ♛]

I was so excited to read a monster book but 2nd paragraph of the book -

The ranger was tall and wore a flat-brimmed Smokey the bear hat which often hid his intense blue eyes and shaded a handsome face. It was a movie star's face, his wife, Ann, always said, set off by long dark hair that curled down around his strong neck; hair longer than park regulations allowed, and his one eccentricity. He'd worn it that way since he'd left then New York Police force.



I checked the book again whether I'm reading correct book, yep, Monster book confirmed. Rechecked, it is written by a lady - o oh, that might be the problem.
I don't want to be lusted over the hero, I want to be lusted over the monster...wait, is that the correct thing to say? Well, I don't care - I need Big, terrifying monster dinos not romance saga....total lady-bone killer...bah...

[Terri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Henry Shore is the Chief Park Ranger at Crater Lake in Oregon. After a series of earthquakes unearth some fossils, other strange things start happening. Some people and their boats disappear, and animal carcasses and unusual tracks are found. Stories begin to circulate of a lake monster. Of course, being an ex-cop, he takes the stories with a grain of salt until he sees the creature and realizes that if it can't be contained, a lot of people are going to die. The dinosaur is smart, cunning, and hungry and he and his team have to find a way to stop it.

Some of the characters seem a bit too stereotypical -- Mad scientist, Vulture-like journalists from the Inquirer, Ineffective bureaucrat. That said, I still liked/hated them and they moved the story along for me in a fast-paced and interesting way.

[Michael Fierce · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic, thoroughly entertaining, character driven cryptid horror.

Creature was cool, scary, and ferocious.

The characters were absorbing, made intelligent choices for the most part, and fit in to the story well.

The book was fun from beginning to end and I plan to read the next 2 books when I can get to them.

[Shawn Deal · Rating 3 out of 5]

There was a lot to like about this book. And I liked it a great deal but it had a flaw. The pacing for this book is not done well. When the story should be really ramping up, it bogs down with very late character development, which should have come much earlier in the novel. I did like the book, much like watching one of those monster movies on Saturday afternoon growing up, this was a fun, easy to read, escape.

[Molly · Rating 3 out of 5]

DINOSAUR LAKE

About what you’d expect from a dinosaur in a lake story. Fun, scary, tension filled and thoroughly enjoyable.

[Lizzy Lessard · Rating 5 out of 5]

There’s nothing scarier than a monster that has no limits on where it can go, no discrimination with what it eats, and no easy way to kill it. Hands down, Dinosaur Lake is probably one of my favorite monster horror books that I’ve read thus far. The situation started out grim with hints of what the monster could do and when the monster finally made its appearance, it didn’t disappoint. Probably my favorite monster with its combination of intellect and methods of killing people.
The situations and character reactions are somewhat predictable. If you imagine a cross between Jaws and Jurassic Park, then you pretty much have the entire book. However, Dinosaur Lake is written so well and the suspense is consistently building, that knowing what will probably happen only intensifies the dread and anxiety you feel for the characters in this book. Henry is an average park ranger who feels like a genuinely real person. He feels like one of my neighbors rather than some Hollywood hotshot. I like how solid of a relationship he has with his wife, even if their motives aren’t always the same. They put their marriage and love above everything else and that kind of relationship is sorely lacking in most of the novels I read.
The setting and circumstances behind the monster appearing seem dangerously plausible. I don’t think that I want to live anywhere near Crater Lake after reading this book. Overall, a great read. I recommend this book to anyone that loves books dealing with natural disasters, monsters that just don’t care about anything but their next meal, or a book that forces you to keep turning the pages. (A-)

[Mia Darien · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one just didn't do it for me. It might just be me, but I found it kind of boring through a lot of points. Didn't feel like much happened for the first quarter of the book, and I went in expecting a thriller. Dinosaurs on the loose! You know, fun stuff like that.

It felt...amateur, to me. Like it was done in a "seat of the pants" way with little review/revise for continuity. "Character development" felt random, haphazard, and heavy handed. Important past details seemingly written in as needed rather than woven smoothly.

Large sections of story were summarized/Told when I think it should have been Shown, and banal snippets Shown when Told would have been fine. It felt like the book had no beta readers. I almost didn't finish it, but I got stubborn.

The idea was cool and some elements were all right. I didn't ever want to throw my Kindle or anything, but I'm left just feeling...very blase about the book. It was also just too long. Too many unnecessary words.

I won't go so far as to say I thought it was "bad" because I've read way worse, but I didn't actually "like" it either. Again, might just be me. I'm sure there are those who'll like it and more power to them, just wasn't for me.

[Michael · Rating 2 out of 5]

Langsam und plump wälzt sich die Erzählung über die Seiten, wie ein Brontosaurier.
Nichts ist so offensichtlich oder schon so oft gesagt, dass Griffith es nicht nochmal wiederholen würde.
Ein wenig Pfiff, Spannung oder Überraschung erwartet man vergeblich.
Der Horror auf dem Buchrückrn:
"Dinosaur Lake has now five sequels"
(& inzwischen schon mehr)

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

An easy likeable read, had a bit too much "filler", I guess to keep the suspense building. Could easily been 100 pages shorter, would be a good TV movie.

[chucklesthescot · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book had two things which I never enjoy in a book-too slow in getting to the action and an MC that I really disliked.

I wanted to like the book because I love dinosaurs but a quarter of the way into the book we have not seen the monster or seen it kill or attack anyone. We are told about mysterious sightings, footprints and a missing man and his wrecked boat but we aren't seeing anything of the monster! When books take this long to get to the action, I lose interest. We don't even know exactly what the dinosaur is, and just a few hints about appearance. Just show me the dinosaurs!!!

As for Henry, retired cop and Chief Park Ranger, I disliked his superior attitude to everyone around him. He describes his best friend George as a superstitious know all, and despite George knowing everything about all the park animals, Henry of course knows better when the worried George reports the massive unusual tracks. Henry just decides that George has gone mental or delusional. Henry seems to have no sympathy for his daughter being dumped by her feckless partner along with her baby. Henry revels in being right about the loser and then gets stuck into his daughter for putting on weight during her ordeal, calling her the Good Year Blimp. What a lovely man! The expert paleontologist is described as 'friendly but precocious' for daring to be younger than Henry thought he would be. Then he decides that this guy is going to be his next son-in-law and starts fixing him up with fat daughter. Jeez. If there had been less about how smart Henry was, how he had all the answers and being subjected to his opinions all the time, maybe we could have had a few extra dinosaur attacks.

At 37% into the book, finally we see the monsters attack someone but there is little in the way of detail, and then we go back to more people talking about why the park is closed and what the monster might be. Our MC finally sees the monster attacking someone at 46% of the book but yet again there is no detail, no blood and gore. If I'm reading a book about dinosaurs on the rampage, I want to see them eat people, be excited and entertained. This book lacks the detail to inspire either emotion. Gave up on 50% and went to watch Jurassic Park instead.

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great Dinosaur Action!

Jurassic World got me interested in dinosaurs again, and this was a great read. A dinosaur is unleashed into a national park after an earthquake releases the dinosaur from its volcanic cave. (That's not exactly how it happens as the actual explanation is more scientific, but I want to avoid spoilers.)

It's up a crafty park ranger and a young paleontologist, along with some FBI agents, to take care of the monster once and for all.

This is really a great monster story, and pretty much everything you'd expect. My only minor complaint was I thought it was a little lengthy. There was time spent on character development that would have been needed in a literary novel but not so much an adventure story. But other than being a little long it was a really good read.

If you are a fan of Jurassic Park, or dinosaurs, or just action horror novels in general, this is one to check out. I will be looking into the sequels.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

OMG this is another one that had me hooked from the first page just like Burial Ground by Michael McBride did, and just like Burial Ground once it has you hooked it won't let you go, you have to keep reading because you have to know what happens next. If you loved Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton then you have to check this one out. Its only book one to the series but I'm going to pick up books 2 and 3 when I can to see what happens ,this is definitely a book to pick up for the month of October or any time you want to read a good book.

[BookLoversLife · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review to come.

[Sherry Fundin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Creature Dines On Crater Lake Smorgasbord

An awesome and amazing cover to go along with an awesome and amazing book. I love monster books and movies. Not much can beat Godzilla, Sharktopus, Anaconda, Jaws, Jurassic Park......on a weekend afternoon.

Crater Lake was formed by a volcano. When Mount Mazama erupted, it left a caldera. It filled with rain and snow, making it into the lake it is today.

Henry`s friend and fellow ranger, George Redcrow, thought it was warming since the earthquake two years ago. They both wondered what damage had been done under the lake.

While showing tourists the lake, another earthquake hit. Henry looked around for any damage. He loved dinosaurs. He read all the Godzilla and Jurassic Park books, so when he spotted the bones, he thought he would come back later and check them out. They looked too big for a bear.

In the morning, Henry ran into George. George told him he had been out to the island and found a lot of carcasses. They were surrounded by monster sized tracks that looked like nothing he had ever seen before. Henry thought back to yesterday. A woman had been telling him about her friend that had visited the Park the year before. Her friend had told her she saw the Loch Ness monster in the lake.

Henry called in a Paleontologist from John Day Fossil Beds National Monument. Dr. Justin Maltin introduced himself to Henry and told him he didn't know what kind of bones they were. He had never seen fossils like these, ever. Justin talked about his concern for any damage under the lake. They agreed to meet for dinner to discuss the situation further.

Justin told Henry the water temp was still rising and there was ongoing volcanic activity. It was not inconceivable that it could destroy the Park. What upset him the most was a huge track he had found. If it were real, it was from a creature he had never seen before.

Justin believed that dinosaurs were extinct because they couldn't coexist with humans. Some were just too vicious. Think of King Kong and what happened to him. Or the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park.

With all the changes around the lake due to the earthquake, could it be possible?

If so, where did it live? How would they find it? What would they do once they did find it?

5 STARS - Would Buy It For Them (lol)

I found the book full of suspense and anticipation. The writing led me into the story and never let me go. The book was so good, I didn't want to quit reading. What was going to happen? What were they going to do? I started reading it too late, otherwise I would have read it straight through.

It captured enough details of the characters daily activities to allow me to imagine their lives and know them as if they were my neighbors. I like that it included things about the current economy and joblessness. It seems I am reading a lot of books that talk about current events. It makes the stories seem real to me.

Henry and Justin were both concerned about damage to the park when the news came out. What would happen to the Park when it was invaded by seekers of the creature? Americans are known in other countries as being rude and crude, disrespectful of the environments around them.

Henry calls it Godzilla. I love it. Some of my best weekend afternoons have been spent watching cheesy B rated monster shows. I think they are a blast to watch and I find I get into the books even more so. If there is a creature on the cover, I want the book. I am rarely disappointed.

They search the caves for a voracious meat-eater - Jack in the Box.

I loved the book and look forward to reading more from this author.

I received this book in return for an honest and unbiased review.



Kathryn Meyer Griffith

[Icy_Space_Cobwebs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review of Dinosaur Lake by Kathryn Meyer Griffith
5 stars

I received a complimentary copy in return for my provision of a fair and honest review.

I found this novel to be really terrifying: author Kathryn Meyer Griffith has the gift of making the implausible and the impossible seem not only possible, but actual fact. The twist she puts upon the prehistoric creature (and reader, you will know exactly what I mean as you read the story; I’m not giving it away) brings that aura of implacability which is so essential to good horror. If you can believe that one day the Yellowstone Volcano might super-erupt, you can certainly believe the premise of “Dinosaur Lake.” Just because it hasn’t occurred yet doesn’t mean “never.”

In Crater Lake National Park in Oregon, near Klamath Falls, are tens of thousands of mostly untouched acreage, wild and free, inhabited by all sorts of animals, forested, and beautifully scenic. The volcanic lake formed inside a caldera, and has been stocked for fishing; it’s also a popular site for tourists to take boat tours. It’s certainly become home over the past eight years to Chief Ranger Henry, his journalist wife Ann, their adult daughter Laura and toddler granddaughter Phoebe. But trouble looms on the horizon: a series of earthquakes commences; a wall of dinosaur fossils is uncovered, bringing in paleontologists to excavate; the fish in the lake disappear; the lake is heating up, indicating subterranean lava flow; and now, boat captains have also begun to disappear, and tourists and rangers both spot tracks near the lake, and something in the water that is far too enormous to be a fish of any sort.

I really could not put this book aside till I had raced to the end to find out who wins—humanity or prehistory. It’s very skillfully written, with good characterizations as well as a thriller of a plot.

[Tanja Berg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating 3.5 out of 5. This is a fairly entertaining monster book. The author has done a huge effort in creating a myriad of likeable characters. Half of them seem to have some secret or other, some several. The main character is Henry Shore, the chief ranger in a national park sporting a very deep volcanic lake. It is this lake that suddenly spawns a real-life dinosaur. This is of course the book's weakest point. The origin of the monster requires suspension of disbelief which sadly was beyond my capability.

The story is formulaic in its basic execution. Come what must: monster appears after a minor earthquake - crazy scientist want it to be captured alive - hunting the dinosaur in a submarine ensues. However, the characters are well fleshed-out and fairly interesting, the story has a lot of meat on its bones and there are plenty of sub-plots. All in all this was an exciting, interesting read and more so than I had expected. This more than just another monster book.

[Steven Ramirez · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a fun read. It reminded me of the horror movies I used to watch as a kid—many featuring dinosaurs and other gigantic monsters that had somehow wound up running amok in our time. What was especially enjoyable, though, is the author’s sense of adventure. Yes, the reader is treated to some particularly gruesome killings but, come on, we’re talking about a killing machine! People may be dying, but she takes you on such a heart-thumping carnival Zipper of a ride, you can’t help but scream with delight. If you like gory fun featuring characters who seem all too real, then grab this book.

[Timothy Boshart · Rating 1 out of 5]

The book is set in Crater Lake park but it's obvious that the author isn't familiar with the park. For instance she describes the characters as having to hike up hill a ways from Rim Village to get to the rim. It's called the Rim Village because it's on the rim. All you have to do is cross the parking lot.

[Elizabeth Robbins · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed sharing this book with my preteen son. The action was bloody enough, and scary enough, to engage him, but not enough to give him nightmares. Totally enjoyable for both of us!

[Leiah Cooper · Rating 4 out of 5]

Neoglyphea neocaledonica (Jurassic Shrimp) belongs to an ancient group of crustaceans that were "well known from the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods [roughly 200 to 65 million years ago] and were supposed to be extinct." - Bertrand Richer de Forges, marine biologist, speaking on new finds at crushing depths off the Australian coast

“Of all the reptiles alive today, crocodiles and alligators may be the least changed from their prehistoric ancestors of the late Cretaceous period, over 65 million years ago -- Raresource

So many things we do not know, have not seen, and yet, they share the planet with us. Quiet, invisible, they exist below the radar of humanity. But recently, many have been added to the species listings – most, unhappily, hitting the list as Endangered and nearing Extinction. Ah, humanity! With our poisons and hunting, destroying all that we touch.

From the deep sea Dendrogramma, which literally do not fit within any existing species groupings, to two new monkeys – to turtles and dolphins and even huge trees, Oh My!, there are oddities out there.

But nothing (well, so far!) as odd as what appears in Crater Lake. Beautiful Crater Lake, the remains of a volcano called Mount Mazana, some seven thousand years ago the mountain exploded, magmas and ash, cinder and pumice spewing out, leaving not only the gorgeous caldera filled by the lake, but lava tubes, caves, small islands in the lake, and some of the most beautiful lands in North America. And maybe, something more.

Henry Shore is Chief Park Ranger for Crater Lake – but the paperwork and politics often finds him out on the caldera rim, leading tours, rather than playing desk jockey. He is out there when yet another earthquake strikes. It is mild above ground, but when Henry leads his visitor group down the trail toward the lodge and RV campgrounds, he comes across something entirely unexpected. An uplift has opened up a dinosaur graveyard. This is devastating news for the park, as Henry expects a monstrous influx of people, fences, paleontologists and others digging up his park and destroying the serene beauty of the land. And when a staff paleontologist from the John Day Fossil Beds, Dr. Justin Maltin, shows up the next day in response to Henry’s call, there is even more bad news. First, the bones in the upheaval are nothing like he has ever seen before. Older, probably much older, than the Triassic period, 231.4 million years ago. The uproar will be even worse, and more destructive to the park, than Henry had feared. But what could be even worse? The quake was bad. And located directly under Crater Lake. The water is heating. The chance of a destructive quake rises. And it may not be just Yellowstone that is in danger of a massive eruption.

Then, there are the deep, massive footprints that are showing up at the water’s edge. At first Henry doesn’t believe Ranger George Redcrow’s stories of the carcasses of savaged animals on Wizard Island. Surely it is just a bear doing the damage. When Justin points out another trail of unrecognizable, huge footprints leading into the water the next evening, surely it is bad lighting, water, anything other than something new. Unusual. And dangerous. Is Nessie, the Loch Ness monster the only one of her kind in existence? Or is there something new, something much, much more dangerous, living in Crater Lake?

But soon, Henry can’t ignore what is happening. And what destroys the park may be worse than a bunch of paleontologists and lookey-loos digging up the park.
We are pretty much all familiar with Jurassic Park these days – whether in book or cinema form. Dinosaur Lake isn’t that. No mad scientist labs, no greedy developers. Instead, we get something just as much fun, just in a different way. One of the things I loved about the book is how well Ms. Griffith describes the beauty of Crater Lake State Park, its history and the kind of people who call it home. The writing is good, the story creatively fantastical, and a fun read. If you are looking for something to relax with that will give you a bit of fun, give it a try. I found it a nice little read.

[Laura Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

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