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Cretaceous Canyon
Australia’s outback holds a mysterious canyon. Hidden deep within is a forest of pine tree that dates from the Cretaceous Period. A megacorporation sends in a team of experts to research this canyon for botanical riches.
The expedition enters a no-man’s land formed 100 million years ago when Australia was still attached to Antarctica, and dinosaurs ruled the super-continent. But the canyon has more prehistoric and dangerous species than anyone could have possibly imagined.
Trapped and terrified, unarmed and unable to communicate topside, the team’s extraction deadline is six long hours away.
The frantic race for survival is on.
The expedition enters a no-man’s land formed 100 million years ago when Australia was still attached to Antarctica, and dinosaurs ruled the super-continent. But the canyon has more prehistoric and dangerous species than anyone could have possibly imagined.
Trapped and terrified, unarmed and unable to communicate topside, the team’s extraction deadline is six long hours away.
The frantic race for survival is on.
- GenresHorror
191 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 28, 2023
52 people are currently reading
77 people want to read
About the author
Deborah Sheldon
79 books278 followersI'm a multi-award-winning author and anthology editor from Melbourne, Australia. I write poems, short stories, novelettes, novellas and novels across the darker spectrum of horror, crime and noir. My latest titles are the novel Nightmare Reef and the poetry collection The Broonie and Other Dark Poems.
My award-winning titles include the novella Redhead Town and the collection Perfect Little Stitches and Other Stories. My award-nominated titles include the novels Bodily Harm, Cretaceous Canyon, Body Farm Z, Contrition and Devil Dragon; the novella Thylacines; and the collections Figments and Fragments: Dark Stories and Liminal Spaces: Horror Stories.
My short fiction has appeared in many well-respected magazines, been shortlisted for numerous awards, translated, and included in various 'best of' anthologies such as Year's Best Hardcore Horror.
I've won the Australian Shadows 'Best Edited Work' Award three times: for Midnight Echo 14, and for the anthologies I conceived and edited, Spawn: Weird Horror Tales About Pregnancy, Birth and Babies, and Killer Creatures Down Under: Horror Stories with Bite.
Other credits include TV scripts such as NEIGHBOURS, feature articles, non-fiction books published by Reed Books and Random House, stage plays, award-nominated poetry, and award-winning medical writing including Better Health Channel.
My award-winning titles include the novella Redhead Town and the collection Perfect Little Stitches and Other Stories. My award-nominated titles include the novels Bodily Harm, Cretaceous Canyon, Body Farm Z, Contrition and Devil Dragon; the novella Thylacines; and the collections Figments and Fragments: Dark Stories and Liminal Spaces: Horror Stories.
My short fiction has appeared in many well-respected magazines, been shortlisted for numerous awards, translated, and included in various 'best of' anthologies such as Year's Best Hardcore Horror.
I've won the Australian Shadows 'Best Edited Work' Award three times: for Midnight Echo 14, and for the anthologies I conceived and edited, Spawn: Weird Horror Tales About Pregnancy, Birth and Babies, and Killer Creatures Down Under: Horror Stories with Bite.
Other credits include TV scripts such as NEIGHBOURS, feature articles, non-fiction books published by Reed Books and Random House, stage plays, award-nominated poetry, and award-winning medical writing including Better Health Channel.
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
August 20, 2025
3.5 stars. It's very hard to beat Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park. I've read a huge amount of dinosaur-related content over the years and very few have even come close to matching that same magic. Now I've had good experiences with some of Deborah Sheldon's past books and this was no exception. Good characters, a decent plot, and enough movement to keep my attention. Here, we have tons of dinosaurs attacking a group sent into their terrain to research botanicals for medical purposes. There are a ton of diverse dinos running amuck, lots of action and bloodshed, and everything was enjoyable. This just didn't strike me as anything different or unique compared to other books on this topic. It's always either researchers or military groups with the same basic ideas and outcomes. Again, it was fine for what it was meant to be. However, while I think fans of dinosaur books will have a decent time here, but I'm not sure it's for anyone outside of that group will have much to hone in on.
September 6, 2023
This book is a gut-wrenching, roller-coaster ride through six hours of time, ripping the reader every which way through emotional and physical upheavals that suddenly crash-land, leaving a sense of "Wow! What the hell just happened?".
October 10, 2023
This Story - so much to love and hate!!
Intense. That's the best word to describe this story. It's definitely a roller coaster ride of action, and the author gives a thrilling tale with vivid details and emotions. The writing keeps you engaged once it snags you in around chapter 3.
What I loved was the psychology of the characters. I enjoyed how the author wove in their backstories to paint who each person was. It made them real and relatable, even when things weren't always plausible.
I enjoyed the knowledge the author seemed to have about dinosaurs and Australia. Unfortunately, that same attention to detail didn't apply for all elements of the book. I struggled with run-on sentences, spelling errors, subject changes, and incorrect details. If they were meant to be errors on the part of the character opposed to the author, that was unclear (to avoid spoilers, I won't elaborate).
Overall, this was an entertaining read. I wish I had a little more answers (I feel there's potential for a whole story on Devi Industries), but I've not seen a sequel. If this story becomes a series, I'd definitely read it. It's flawed but powerful and human.
Intense. That's the best word to describe this story. It's definitely a roller coaster ride of action, and the author gives a thrilling tale with vivid details and emotions. The writing keeps you engaged once it snags you in around chapter 3.
What I loved was the psychology of the characters. I enjoyed how the author wove in their backstories to paint who each person was. It made them real and relatable, even when things weren't always plausible.
I enjoyed the knowledge the author seemed to have about dinosaurs and Australia. Unfortunately, that same attention to detail didn't apply for all elements of the book. I struggled with run-on sentences, spelling errors, subject changes, and incorrect details. If they were meant to be errors on the part of the character opposed to the author, that was unclear (to avoid spoilers, I won't elaborate).
Overall, this was an entertaining read. I wish I had a little more answers (I feel there's potential for a whole story on Devi Industries), but I've not seen a sequel. If this story becomes a series, I'd definitely read it. It's flawed but powerful and human.
May 2, 2024
awesome
The ending was kinda Weird, but I still liked the book. I sure hope they make a movie out of this. It would be really cool, but the ending needs to be tweaked. I hope y’all like it too as much as I did a different Take on a dinosaur thriller.
The ending was kinda Weird, but I still liked the book. I sure hope they make a movie out of this. It would be really cool, but the ending needs to be tweaked. I hope y’all like it too as much as I did a different Take on a dinosaur thriller.
October 11, 2023
This was fast paced, believable, very descriptive, easy to imagine the setting. The dinosaur descriptions and actions sounded realistic, not that anyone knows how they actually behaved but it sounded good to me. The description of injuries and pain was very graphic, just the way I like it. Another reviewer complains about spelling mistakes but this author is from Australia and uses Australian not US spelling.
February 17, 2025
A fun, bloody, dinosaur horror. What I really enjoyed is that the author didn't just go for the well-known stereotypical dinosaurs. We got to see a good range of new, bloodthirsty beasties. The cast of characters were all outspoken and memorable as well. The ending really stuck the landing for me as well. The perfect kind of horror ending with that bittersweet could-go-either-way implication where the reader gets to decide what they want.
March 5, 2025
With a title like Cretaceous Canyon, and a picture of a rather terrifying-looking dinosaur on the front cover, I think we all know what we’re in for with this book. It’s a kind of Jurassic Park style book, though certainly NOT merely a ripoff of its better-known cousin. In this one, a group of people are hired to go on a hike in a remote and uncharted Australian canyon where someone seems to have discovered an extant tree that bears striking resemblance to one from the Cretaceous period and of course thought long extinct. Well, turns out they were entirely correct, but that’s not the only thing from the Cretaceous in that canyon and now our group of heroes find themselves facing off against an eclectic group of prehistoric predators.
One thing I liked is that the dinosaurs featured in this book aren’t just velociraptors and t-rexes. They’re just as effective and probably just as frightening, but it was nice to see a dinosaur horror novel slightly expand upon the pool of dinosaurs worth reading about. After all, there were at least a thousand, and possibly as many as 2500 species of dinosaur, and about half of them lived in the Cretaceous period, so the author had quite an eclectic group from which to draw. And she did so with care, featuring not only the kinds of carnivorous predators we’d expect, but even some distinct dangers offered by herbivorous beasts that simply were never meant to interact with human beings.
From that point, the novel does go pretty much as one expects. There are no great twists or surprises here, but I don’t think it needs them. All we really need is to take an interesting cast of characters and place them in a world full of dinosaurs, and that’s exactly what we get on both points. As to the characters themselves, I will admit that the novel starts off by introducing a pretty large cast in rapid succession and it took me a little while to start to recognize who was who. As such, it also took me a little while to really get into the novel. But once it finds its stride, about halfway through, it ends up being a real page turner.
One thing I liked is that the dinosaurs featured in this book aren’t just velociraptors and t-rexes. They’re just as effective and probably just as frightening, but it was nice to see a dinosaur horror novel slightly expand upon the pool of dinosaurs worth reading about. After all, there were at least a thousand, and possibly as many as 2500 species of dinosaur, and about half of them lived in the Cretaceous period, so the author had quite an eclectic group from which to draw. And she did so with care, featuring not only the kinds of carnivorous predators we’d expect, but even some distinct dangers offered by herbivorous beasts that simply were never meant to interact with human beings.
From that point, the novel does go pretty much as one expects. There are no great twists or surprises here, but I don’t think it needs them. All we really need is to take an interesting cast of characters and place them in a world full of dinosaurs, and that’s exactly what we get on both points. As to the characters themselves, I will admit that the novel starts off by introducing a pretty large cast in rapid succession and it took me a little while to start to recognize who was who. As such, it also took me a little while to really get into the novel. But once it finds its stride, about halfway through, it ends up being a real page turner.
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December 12, 2023Review of this book.
Really an excellent and exciting book. Definitely not for children or even teenagers. Too much gore and violence. I was a nurse, so I have seen a lot of wounds from violence. Not for the faint hearted. I really enjoyed this book! There was one person left hanging. I can only hope that he made it out alive. The continuity was spot on. The plot was incredible and fast paced. Remind me to never sign up for an adventure like this. If offered to you, run, do not walk away from it. There are species found every year that should not exist but do. This author did an incredible job writing this book. She obviously did her research on the various species of dinosaurs and their behavior and dietary needs. Excellent work and also some literary creativity thrown in. You could not ask for a better book to read. Her writing has no where to go but up into the stratosphere.
Really an excellent and exciting book. Definitely not for children or even teenagers. Too much gore and violence. I was a nurse, so I have seen a lot of wounds from violence. Not for the faint hearted. I really enjoyed this book! There was one person left hanging. I can only hope that he made it out alive. The continuity was spot on. The plot was incredible and fast paced. Remind me to never sign up for an adventure like this. If offered to you, run, do not walk away from it. There are species found every year that should not exist but do. This author did an incredible job writing this book. She obviously did her research on the various species of dinosaurs and their behavior and dietary needs. Excellent work and also some literary creativity thrown in. You could not ask for a better book to read. Her writing has no where to go but up into the stratosphere.
November 6, 2024
CRETACEOUS CANYON REMOVED AUSTRALIA FROM MY TRAVEL BUCKET LIST.
I know this is fiction. I know there are no dinosaurs in Australia. But Deborah's book is vivid and realistic enough to put a sliver of doubt in my mind. And when you combine that with the anthology she recently edited, KILLER CREATURES DOWN UNDER, it's enough to make a trip to Australia a scary proposition.
CRETACEOUS CANYON brings Sheldon's fast-paced storytelling to a remote canyon where dinosaurs are at the top of the food chain, and the humans who have arrived to explore have to fight to make it out alive. The deck is stacked against them, and most are destined to become dino poop, but it's a great, well-researched read that hits all the right notes.
I know this is fiction. I know there are no dinosaurs in Australia. But Deborah's book is vivid and realistic enough to put a sliver of doubt in my mind. And when you combine that with the anthology she recently edited, KILLER CREATURES DOWN UNDER, it's enough to make a trip to Australia a scary proposition.
CRETACEOUS CANYON brings Sheldon's fast-paced storytelling to a remote canyon where dinosaurs are at the top of the food chain, and the humans who have arrived to explore have to fight to make it out alive. The deck is stacked against them, and most are destined to become dino poop, but it's a great, well-researched read that hits all the right notes.
July 18, 2024
Dinosaurs Are Here
I did find this book illuminating from the Australian point of view. The similarity and differences in the names and style of these creatures gives one thought in the possible reality of the storyline. This is enough to make me head towards the record books to see if these dinosaurs really existed.
I did find this book illuminating from the Australian point of view. The similarity and differences in the names and style of these creatures gives one thought in the possible reality of the storyline. This is enough to make me head towards the record books to see if these dinosaurs really existed.
November 3, 2023
A mixtures of Conan Doyle’s Lost World, Crichton’s Jurassic Park and a horror film, Cretaceous Canyon is an adventure ride. You’ll spend the book figuring out who will survive, if any of them do, and at what cost.
September 7, 2023
Unputdownable! A non-stop, page-turning, visceral, heart-pounding thriller. Highly recommended!
April 1, 2024
Cretaceous Canyon One of the best I’ve read
This was the most character driven action packed thriller I’ve read. There was a balance between the characters and action.
This was the most character driven action packed thriller I’ve read. There was a balance between the characters and action.
February 27, 2025
The flesh was certainly stripped from the bones of this story and what remained was a dino-vs-human bloodfest. I really enjoyed the fast pace. A satisfying short read.
September 26, 2023
Aussie Jurassic Park! Cretaceous Canyon has a great context and set up, and a strong lure of a ticking clock and a protagonist who is absolutely expected to be out of their depth.
The ticking clock of only a six-hour window is difficult to pull off in a full-length novel, and a testament to how much is packed in is how often I kept forgetting while reading that it was only a six-hour time span. The whirlwind pacing is really well controlled, with no filler moments. There's definitely enough bone-snapping, meaty, fleshy body horror to satisfy in amongst the movement, and although nothing ever goes right for the team entering the canyon, it's also satisfying in its use of Everyone Makes Dumb Decisions tropes. I enjoyed the subtle changing of narrative perspectives, which forced me to think how I would react in this horrible scenario. Spoiler: I wouldn't react at all.
The setting itself is incredibly evocative of several possible real locations in Australia, and I kept picturing places like Carnarvon Gorge and the Grand Canyon hike in the Blue Mountains. Bonus points to a beautiful passage about the Wollemi Pine early in the novel! There is a lot of love and dedication that's gone into the research about the uniquely Australian dinosaurs that roam this novel, and absolutely satisfied this reader who loves everything Aus prehistoric. The tagline should totally be "Life finds a way." I wonder if anyone's taken it yet?
The ticking clock of only a six-hour window is difficult to pull off in a full-length novel, and a testament to how much is packed in is how often I kept forgetting while reading that it was only a six-hour time span. The whirlwind pacing is really well controlled, with no filler moments. There's definitely enough bone-snapping, meaty, fleshy body horror to satisfy in amongst the movement, and although nothing ever goes right for the team entering the canyon, it's also satisfying in its use of Everyone Makes Dumb Decisions tropes. I enjoyed the subtle changing of narrative perspectives, which forced me to think how I would react in this horrible scenario. Spoiler: I wouldn't react at all.
The setting itself is incredibly evocative of several possible real locations in Australia, and I kept picturing places like Carnarvon Gorge and the Grand Canyon hike in the Blue Mountains. Bonus points to a beautiful passage about the Wollemi Pine early in the novel! There is a lot of love and dedication that's gone into the research about the uniquely Australian dinosaurs that roam this novel, and absolutely satisfied this reader who loves everything Aus prehistoric. The tagline should totally be "Life finds a way." I wonder if anyone's taken it yet?
October 19, 2023
Wow! All I can say is can you get PTSD from a book? LOL.
Readers talk about a roller-coaster of a ride, but this one takes the cake. I have to admit, I was ready to DNF the book during chapter two as it was so slow. But once, they get on the helicopter, WHOOSH, down we go on that first huge incline of the roller coaster.
This is definitely one of those couldn't-put-down stories, but there is so much adrenaline being pumped through the body, you just have to take a breather.
That being said, as for the characters themselves, Sheldon did an amazing job getting into each of their heads. Maybe a bit too much. Everyone of them was so flawed, it was hard to like any of them. And that 's what made the story so slow at the beginning. I feel like Alistair wasn't the way to start the story. And the one character I did relate to got killed right away. SIGH.
And the ending is the type where you, as the reader, have to decide whether she made it or not. So, there is an unresolved question. Plus, a lot of improbabilities that make you question the whole plot of the story.
Still, this story feeds into our innate fear of being eaten alive. So, if you love gore and dinosaurs, you'll need to read this book. I give it 4 stars.
Readers talk about a roller-coaster of a ride, but this one takes the cake. I have to admit, I was ready to DNF the book during chapter two as it was so slow. But once, they get on the helicopter, WHOOSH, down we go on that first huge incline of the roller coaster.
This is definitely one of those couldn't-put-down stories, but there is so much adrenaline being pumped through the body, you just have to take a breather.
That being said, as for the characters themselves, Sheldon did an amazing job getting into each of their heads. Maybe a bit too much. Everyone of them was so flawed, it was hard to like any of them. And that 's what made the story so slow at the beginning. I feel like Alistair wasn't the way to start the story. And the one character I did relate to got killed right away. SIGH.
And the ending is the type where you, as the reader, have to decide whether she made it or not. So, there is an unresolved question. Plus, a lot of improbabilities that make you question the whole plot of the story.
Still, this story feeds into our innate fear of being eaten alive. So, if you love gore and dinosaurs, you'll need to read this book. I give it 4 stars.
October 15, 2023
Deborah Sheldon's latest novel is an absolute thrill fest, full of action, drama, and plenty of dark humour. In the tradition of The Lost World and Jurassic Park, Cretaceous Canyon pits man against dinosaur in a struggle to survive, and naturally, not everyone will. A fun adventure with bucketloads of blood and guts. The main drawback is the absence of any real explanation as to how these prehistoric creatures are alive in contemporary Australia, though I suspect this is coming in the sequel as we discover more about the mysterious multi-millionaire, Raj Devi. In any case, it doesn't really matter, as the reader is quickly carried away to enjoy the ride, and what a wild one it is!
January 10, 2025
Oh, where to begin… 1st off, it would have been nice to know what happened to the lone survivor after she was rescued… did she get medical treatment? Did other scientist go on and explor the canyon? 2nd: it would have been so much better without any gay references and characters… keep that immoral BS out of books! Lastly: I understand this book is fiction, but even fiction books should have a bit of realism, and the thing that would’ve made this book more realistic is to have made the lone survivor a man… I’m sorry, but realistically men have a higher chance of survival than women.
November 13, 2024
Unlikable caricatures of characters
I don’t know if this got any better after the first incident in the canyon, but that’s where I stopped. I didn’t even care enough about the characters to want them to die horribly because I didn’t like them. I just wanted to escape from the whole awful thing. This one is relegated to my very small pile of books I couldn’t finish. Zero stars, do not recommend.
I don’t know if this got any better after the first incident in the canyon, but that’s where I stopped. I didn’t even care enough about the characters to want them to die horribly because I didn’t like them. I just wanted to escape from the whole awful thing. This one is relegated to my very small pile of books I couldn’t finish. Zero stars, do not recommend.
October 26, 2023
Could have been a good book
There was so much foul, and I mean, foul language in this book that I had to skip to the ending. So much potential gone to waste. At least I found out who made it out alive, although barely, but the ending was insane and the book just ended. No cliffhanger... Just ended.
There was so much foul, and I mean, foul language in this book that I had to skip to the ending. So much potential gone to waste. At least I found out who made it out alive, although barely, but the ending was insane and the book just ended. No cliffhanger... Just ended.
March 12, 2024
This story also has intense moments of suspense and terror. Talk about having bated breath! I definitely stayed up too late reading this book, because I needed to know what was going to happen next. I highly recommend Cretaceous Canyon, especially if you’re a creature feature lover like me!
For my full spoiler free review: https://robinknabel.squarespace.com/r...
For my full spoiler free review: https://robinknabel.squarespace.com/r...
May 16, 2024
This book is NOT for younger readers.
The writing is good and it is very action packed. Problems are the fact that all the characters are so unlikable that you won't really care who lives or dies. Also the language. It's so bad. When characters use foul language it's understandable, but it's very off-putting when the author declscribes fecal matter as shit. Just simply
The writing is good and it is very action packed. Problems are the fact that all the characters are so unlikable that you won't really care who lives or dies. Also the language. It's so bad. When characters use foul language it's understandable, but it's very off-putting when the author declscribes fecal matter as shit. Just simply
July 25, 2024
This story is the equivalent of a poorly written slasher movie - Not Good!!
I thought this would be an interesting story. Unfortunately, all I can say is that unless you really like wasting your time, I highly recommend skipping this book. It is the epitome of poor writing and a nonexistent plot.
I thought this would be an interesting story. Unfortunately, all I can say is that unless you really like wasting your time, I highly recommend skipping this book. It is the epitome of poor writing and a nonexistent plot.
July 9, 2024
Good book
I liked this book and the characters too. But I figured out the end before it ended. Try it out
I liked this book and the characters too. But I figured out the end before it ended. Try it out
dnf
September 14, 2024The writing is clunky, and the characters are all so annoying. I didn't even get to the dinosaurs.
September 17, 2023
Pls include 'unputdownable' in description! Was expecting to read for a half hour then go out for a walk. Instead I read start to finish, and then had to shower cause I felt hot, sweaty and exhausted. What fun!
October 25, 2023
This was a suggested read for Norns Book Club. I haven’t taken part in one for a while. At 181 pages, if I hated it, I could probably still finish it. I didn’t hate it, but neither did I love it, even though I raced through it within a couple of days.
From the beginning the adrenaline level kicked in, and runs at pace of any dinosaur. It’s chilling, gory, violent, and terrifying. I couldn’t put it down, I just had to see what happened next. It’s a well written, with realistic characters.
Except, I prefer to have at least one I like and can root for. None of five were very endearing. Each one was heavily flawed.
Cretaceous Canyon is not the type of book I would generally read. I can’t pronounce the title, and assumed by the cover, that it was satirical or humorous. In fact it was far from it.
Overall, the storyline was exciting and the author knew her dinosaurs. The five main protagonists were an interesting bunch who didn’t like each other much. The race for survival is an understatement, it was terrifying in parts where your own nightmares are brought to the fore. I recommend it if you like your reads to be fast-paced and bumpy. Read it if you dare.
From the beginning the adrenaline level kicked in, and runs at pace of any dinosaur. It’s chilling, gory, violent, and terrifying. I couldn’t put it down, I just had to see what happened next. It’s a well written, with realistic characters.
Except, I prefer to have at least one I like and can root for. None of five were very endearing. Each one was heavily flawed.
Cretaceous Canyon is not the type of book I would generally read. I can’t pronounce the title, and assumed by the cover, that it was satirical or humorous. In fact it was far from it.
Overall, the storyline was exciting and the author knew her dinosaurs. The five main protagonists were an interesting bunch who didn’t like each other much. The race for survival is an understatement, it was terrifying in parts where your own nightmares are brought to the fore. I recommend it if you like your reads to be fast-paced and bumpy. Read it if you dare.
June 10, 2024
Dinosaurs in a lost Australia, character development is extensive but does not quite ring true, deadly violent situations. Cretaceous Canyon: A Prehistoric Thriller. Unlimited borrow - read this Kindle book using Alexa audio asset. Got to chapter 6... DNF. Eventually finished, one sort of survivor, basically the dinos and the hostile environment won.
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews