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Jurassic Dead #1
Jurassic Dead
An Antarctic research team hoping to study microbial organisms in an underground lake discovers something far more amazing: perfectly preserved dinosaur corpses. After one thaws and wakes ravenously hungry, it becomes apparent that death, like life, will find a way. Environmental activist Alex Ramirez, son of the expedition’s paleontologist, came to Antarctica to defend the organisms from extinction, but soon learns that it is the human race that needs protecting.
214 pages, Paperback
First published September 29, 2014
184 people are currently reading
753 people want to read
About the author
David Sakmyster
40 books76 followersDavid Sakmyster is the award-winning author of more than a dozen novels, including Jurassic Dead and The Morpheus Initiative, a series featuring psychic archaeologists (described as “Indiana Jones meets the X-Files”). He also has an epic historical adventure, Silver and Gold, the horror novel Crescent Lake and a story collection, Escape Plans. His latest is Final Solstice, and his screenplay, Nightwatchers, has been optioned for production. Visit him at www.sakmyster.com.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 100 reviews
March 12, 2015
Okay, I admit it. When I saw the chance to read a book about not just a) zombies, or b) dinosaurs, but c) zombie dinosaurs, I pretty much giggled with glee. Millions wouldn't go there, but I did. And happily.
Which might go some way toward explaining why I was so disappointed with Jurassic Dead: my expectations were simply too high. Not all the way, mind you. No, to do that, I'd also have to take into account a few other factors that I'll outline below. Before that though, see if you can get your head around this plot.
Son of a very successful palaeontologist joins with his friend in doing the usual things 20-somethings do when they're bored. Namely, plant bombs on a research site in order to protect a pocket of the world that has been sealed away in Antarctica for 150 million years. I'm still not sure how setting off bombs near the micro-organisms was supposed to protect the little blighters, but whatever. Friend is killed by Russians that have weirdly lizard-like movements and dead-like eyes, and the son gets picked up by his pissed off dad who happens to be working with the American research crew in competition against the Russians. Meanwhile, James Bon Villain #1 comes to work for James Bond Villain #2 - who happens to be financing the American research efforts - and is being tracked by beautiful CIA agent with an axe to grind who is posing (poorly) as a doctor. The long extinct dinosaurs in the hidden pocket of the world wake up and start chomping on people. No-one other than Bored to Bombs Son, Palaeontologist Dad, James Bond Villains #1 and #2, and Beautiful Faux Doctor are described in anything more than soon-to-be dead detail, so it's no surprise when all but James Bond Villain #2 are soon running around a nearby island he has set up as his own Secret Base of Doomsday Evil, while trying to avoid zombies of the ex-human and ex-extremely large dinosaur variety...
And there are absolutely zero points for guessing what happens beyond the above. Which is one of the disappointing things I alluded to earlier. There is zero tension in this read, and every plot development (perhaps bar one) is telegraphed several chapters ahead of time. The second disappointing aspect of Jurassic Dead is that it is in no way a horror or even a thriller. This is a flat out adventure read that just happens to have zombies in it. It's big, it's bold, it's silly; but it is most definitely not scary and that loses points in my book.
Sakmyster and Chesler can write an action scene, and I liked their punchy use of short chapters. Also, at 202 pages, Jurassic Dead at least has the good grace to be direct and to the point. But there are are so many times when the characters behave like they're in an animated James Bond spoof, that I couldn't help but roll my eyes and groan - the final significant disappointment to me.
So there you have it. Go in expecting a silly adventure read with some undead things in it and you might enjoy yourself. Expect something remotely horrific or heart-poundingly tense and, well, you probably won't.
2 Crappy Ways to Rebel Against Dad for Jurassic Dead.
Which might go some way toward explaining why I was so disappointed with Jurassic Dead: my expectations were simply too high. Not all the way, mind you. No, to do that, I'd also have to take into account a few other factors that I'll outline below. Before that though, see if you can get your head around this plot.
Son of a very successful palaeontologist joins with his friend in doing the usual things 20-somethings do when they're bored. Namely, plant bombs on a research site in order to protect a pocket of the world that has been sealed away in Antarctica for 150 million years. I'm still not sure how setting off bombs near the micro-organisms was supposed to protect the little blighters, but whatever. Friend is killed by Russians that have weirdly lizard-like movements and dead-like eyes, and the son gets picked up by his pissed off dad who happens to be working with the American research crew in competition against the Russians. Meanwhile, James Bon Villain #1 comes to work for James Bond Villain #2 - who happens to be financing the American research efforts - and is being tracked by beautiful CIA agent with an axe to grind who is posing (poorly) as a doctor. The long extinct dinosaurs in the hidden pocket of the world wake up and start chomping on people. No-one other than Bored to Bombs Son, Palaeontologist Dad, James Bond Villains #1 and #2, and Beautiful Faux Doctor are described in anything more than soon-to-be dead detail, so it's no surprise when all but James Bond Villain #2 are soon running around a nearby island he has set up as his own Secret Base of Doomsday Evil, while trying to avoid zombies of the ex-human and ex-extremely large dinosaur variety...
And there are absolutely zero points for guessing what happens beyond the above. Which is one of the disappointing things I alluded to earlier. There is zero tension in this read, and every plot development (perhaps bar one) is telegraphed several chapters ahead of time. The second disappointing aspect of Jurassic Dead is that it is in no way a horror or even a thriller. This is a flat out adventure read that just happens to have zombies in it. It's big, it's bold, it's silly; but it is most definitely not scary and that loses points in my book.
Sakmyster and Chesler can write an action scene, and I liked their punchy use of short chapters. Also, at 202 pages, Jurassic Dead at least has the good grace to be direct and to the point. But there are are so many times when the characters behave like they're in an animated James Bond spoof, that I couldn't help but roll my eyes and groan - the final significant disappointment to me.
So there you have it. Go in expecting a silly adventure read with some undead things in it and you might enjoy yourself. Expect something remotely horrific or heart-poundingly tense and, well, you probably won't.
2 Crappy Ways to Rebel Against Dad for Jurassic Dead.
September 14, 2022
Read for the HA 2022 Halloween Challenge: Zombie
How could this have been anything less than 3 stars? Zombie dinosaurs sound amazing to me, but in the end this was ultimately equivalent of reading junk food. There was not much plot and what there was, was very silly. Some of the plot holes:
I would just like to point out that this remote island would be a car thief's dream. Every single vehicle in this book was left with the keys in it. Every. Single. Vehicle.
How can an CIA agent not know the basics of First Aide?
Why would the CIA send an agent into an undercover service as a doctor who had the problem listed above?
I don't think I will be able to recommend this book.
How could this have been anything less than 3 stars? Zombie dinosaurs sound amazing to me, but in the end this was ultimately equivalent of reading junk food. There was not much plot and what there was, was very silly. Some of the plot holes:
I would just like to point out that this remote island would be a car thief's dream. Every single vehicle in this book was left with the keys in it. Every. Single. Vehicle.
How can an CIA agent not know the basics of First Aide?
Why would the CIA send an agent into an undercover service as a doctor who had the problem listed above?
I don't think I will be able to recommend this book.
April 27, 2017
I loved the cover and anything with rampaging dinosaurs always gets my attention but I found this book surprisingly disappointing. There were plot holes that you could drive a truck through and it did affect my thoughts on the book.
The book gets off to a strange start with environmental activists Alex and Tony going to where the US and Russian teams are racing each other to drill on their dig sites in Antarctica. They want to protect the lake of biological organisms that the teams are drilling into...by blowing up both operations. Yes we want to protect this fragile area of importance by blowing the whole area to hell. Where exactly does that make sense??? Of course it goes wrong and Tony is attacked by Russian men infected with something deadly. Alex flees to the US side of the lake where his furious dad is leading that team.
His father Marcus has discovered what is believed to be dead preserved dinosaurs from the frozen water but Alex gets a close up view as he crosses the lake and is sure that the T Rex is actually alive. The dinosaurs are to be transported to an island owned by rich expedition leader De Kirk. However as the dinosaur thaws out it is going to cause chaos on the ship, biting people and infecting them with the zombie reptile type virus that has decimated the Russian party.
The next part of the book that I found totally unbelievable. The CIA are monitoring what De Kirk is doing and have placed an agent on his ship, posing as the ship's new doctor. The only problem is, Veronica has no medical training and when faced with the T Rex bites and injuries, she has no clue what to do. She even has to be told by Marcus that she needs to give the victims antibiotics in case of infection. WTF kind of plot is that??? There is no way that the CIA are putting someone without medical training to pose as a doctor! She also isn't very good with a gun as Xander seems able to disarm her at will several times in the book. She is quite pathetic. Xander, the biological weapon expert brought on board by De Kirk is much more convincing that our heroes Alex and Veronica. He at least seems to be capable.
The action switches to the private island where things are starting to unravel. The thawed dinosaurs are loose on the island and everyone who is bitten is turning into a zombie. Even the main compound on the island is not a safe place to be, and Xander, Veronica and Alex realise that if they want to escape alive, they are going to have to work together in an uneasy alliance. While this part of the book has more action, everything becomes stupidly easy for our team. The next paragraph contains spoilers.
Spoiler alert! This is how the escape goes. Run to roof where there is a helicopter. Oh no, we've crashed the helo but right near the crash site is a jeep. Oh no the jeep has now run out of gas but there is a secret shelter just ahead hidden inside the nearby volcano. Lets wire it to explode and kill the monsters...now they are stuck inside after setting the explosives but a handy fork lift truck is right there to force open the back exit along with a nice motorbike to use! *sigh* Every place they get to, there is a nice quick escape option which lets them avoid most of the zombies. Too convenient and not convincing for me.
Safe to look again! I know you have to suspend disbelief to a certain extent when you are reading books about dinosaurs and zombies but there has to be a realism of sorts where you can invest in the story and I did not find it in this book. I found the characters to be unappealing with the cliche rich psycho being like a James Bond villian and the heroes were unconvincing cardboard cut outs. The plot holes were silly, and then it throws in the dumb attraction between Alex and Veronica which as well as being an silly added afterthought, has no chemistry or interest to it at all. It is almost as if the authors though 'darn, we forgot the obligatory romance. Throw it in here!'
Disappointing and I know that Rich Chesler is a much better author than is shown in this book.
The book gets off to a strange start with environmental activists Alex and Tony going to where the US and Russian teams are racing each other to drill on their dig sites in Antarctica. They want to protect the lake of biological organisms that the teams are drilling into...by blowing up both operations. Yes we want to protect this fragile area of importance by blowing the whole area to hell. Where exactly does that make sense??? Of course it goes wrong and Tony is attacked by Russian men infected with something deadly. Alex flees to the US side of the lake where his furious dad is leading that team.
His father Marcus has discovered what is believed to be dead preserved dinosaurs from the frozen water but Alex gets a close up view as he crosses the lake and is sure that the T Rex is actually alive. The dinosaurs are to be transported to an island owned by rich expedition leader De Kirk. However as the dinosaur thaws out it is going to cause chaos on the ship, biting people and infecting them with the zombie reptile type virus that has decimated the Russian party.
The next part of the book that I found totally unbelievable. The CIA are monitoring what De Kirk is doing and have placed an agent on his ship, posing as the ship's new doctor. The only problem is, Veronica has no medical training and when faced with the T Rex bites and injuries, she has no clue what to do. She even has to be told by Marcus that she needs to give the victims antibiotics in case of infection. WTF kind of plot is that??? There is no way that the CIA are putting someone without medical training to pose as a doctor! She also isn't very good with a gun as Xander seems able to disarm her at will several times in the book. She is quite pathetic. Xander, the biological weapon expert brought on board by De Kirk is much more convincing that our heroes Alex and Veronica. He at least seems to be capable.
The action switches to the private island where things are starting to unravel. The thawed dinosaurs are loose on the island and everyone who is bitten is turning into a zombie. Even the main compound on the island is not a safe place to be, and Xander, Veronica and Alex realise that if they want to escape alive, they are going to have to work together in an uneasy alliance. While this part of the book has more action, everything becomes stupidly easy for our team. The next paragraph contains spoilers.
Spoiler alert! This is how the escape goes. Run to roof where there is a helicopter. Oh no, we've crashed the helo but right near the crash site is a jeep. Oh no the jeep has now run out of gas but there is a secret shelter just ahead hidden inside the nearby volcano. Lets wire it to explode and kill the monsters...now they are stuck inside after setting the explosives but a handy fork lift truck is right there to force open the back exit along with a nice motorbike to use! *sigh* Every place they get to, there is a nice quick escape option which lets them avoid most of the zombies. Too convenient and not convincing for me.
Safe to look again! I know you have to suspend disbelief to a certain extent when you are reading books about dinosaurs and zombies but there has to be a realism of sorts where you can invest in the story and I did not find it in this book. I found the characters to be unappealing with the cliche rich psycho being like a James Bond villian and the heroes were unconvincing cardboard cut outs. The plot holes were silly, and then it throws in the dumb attraction between Alex and Veronica which as well as being an silly added afterthought, has no chemistry or interest to it at all. It is almost as if the authors though 'darn, we forgot the obligatory romance. Throw it in here!'
Disappointing and I know that Rich Chesler is a much better author than is shown in this book.
November 1, 2015
I’m glad I listened to this one on audio, as the narrator did a good job with the story he had to work with and managed to keep the characters personalities separated and everything flowing. Unfortunately, I think I may have given up had I been reading because there was just way too much going on. I even zoned out a few times during some of the action scenes and am not sure I missed a whole lot. Too bad too, because the premise should have been pretty fun or at least gorily entertaining, but ultimately tries too hard to be summer blockbustery, which killed it for me.
*I received a review audio of this from audiobookblast in exchange for an honest review.
*I received a review audio of this from audiobookblast in exchange for an honest review.
June 5, 2020
Jurassic Dead ist dass, was man sich Samstagabend auf TELE5 anguckt, wenn man nen trashy Monsterfilm sehen will.
Es ist schlecht, aber man lässt es doch laufen.
Die Idee an sich ist nett, der Schreibstil nicht schlecht, sodass es sich schnell lesen ließ.
Die Charaktere sind allerdings allesamt ne Katastrophe.
Langweilig, klischeehaft, eindimensional und teilweise mehr als inkompetent.
(Man sollte meinen, wenn die Regierung schon jemanden Undercover in einem bestimmten Beruf auf eine Mission schickt, dass der jenige auch etwas Ahnung von dem Beruf hat, um nicht schon gleich bei der ersten Situation vollkommen unglaubwürdig zu werden.)
Für mich haben hier tatsächlich die Charaktere das Buch versaut. Schade!
Es ist schlecht, aber man lässt es doch laufen.
Die Idee an sich ist nett, der Schreibstil nicht schlecht, sodass es sich schnell lesen ließ.
Die Charaktere sind allerdings allesamt ne Katastrophe.
Langweilig, klischeehaft, eindimensional und teilweise mehr als inkompetent.
(Man sollte meinen, wenn die Regierung schon jemanden Undercover in einem bestimmten Beruf auf eine Mission schickt, dass der jenige auch etwas Ahnung von dem Beruf hat, um nicht schon gleich bei der ersten Situation vollkommen unglaubwürdig zu werden.)
Für mich haben hier tatsächlich die Charaktere das Buch versaut. Schade!
October 15, 2014
If you like crazy action adventure, this one is for you. They start in the antarctica on a dig and end up on an island with a bunch of unwanted creatures. I don't want to put any spoilers in here but it is a wild ride all the way.
I am looking forward to book 2 in this story.
I am looking forward to book 2 in this story.
January 16, 2022
Hab das Buch bei 20% abgebrochen, Schreibstil war nicht meins und die Charaktere waren so farblos. Story Idee fand ich eigentlich gut, aber wollte mich nicht weiter durch quällen.
November 10, 2025
I dont write this very often, but this book would be a better movie. Damn I would eat it up as a movie. Book? Not so much. But it has zombie dinosaurs.
October 13, 2014
I was given an Advance Review Copy of JURASSIC DEAD by David Sakmyster and Amazon Best Selling author, Rick Chesler. This was in exchange for an honest review.
I hate to say this book was a cross between something written by Michael Crichton and Joe McKinney, but . . . it was. That is not a bad thing. Just the opposite, as those are two of my favorite authors.
In Jurassic Dead there is a major dig underway in the Antartic. Melvin DeKirk spared no expense. He brought on Marcus Ramirez, a top paleontologist, and Xander Dyson, a biochemist, to assist with the dig, search, and extraction. Problem is, nothing is ever that simple.
Alex Ramirez, Marcus’ son, and a cohort are against the concept of the dig. They are kind of a Green Peace for land. In a dangerous attempt to thwart dig attempts in an untapped continent, the two infiltrate the sites. What they find below the layers of ice is angry soldiers. And worse. Under a subterranean lake in the Antarctic is the discovery of a lifetime. DeKirk’s plan is to expertly remove the find and ship it to a remote island where more scientists can work and create, and destroy.
Veronica Winters is undercover CIA, and is also working to stop DeKirk. It isn’t the dig she wants to stop as much as catch the man behind it all. His empire was built on criminal act on top of criminal act on top of criminal act. She wanted to take him down, the fact that Xander was in the picture, just made the piece of pie that much more luscious. Xander might be a scientist, but he was a killer, too. One that used poisons and toxins over guns and knives.
With lines drawn, Alex and Veronica work together against the impossible and the insane. From Antarctic digs, raging storms on the sea, carnivorous zombies, 65 million year old dinosaurs . . . awakened . . . there isn’t time to figure out what to do next. There isn’t time to look back. There is only one option when it comes to survival, keep moving forward!
Sakmyster and Chesler have crafted a taut, explosive zombie novel with Jurassic Dead. The characters are three dimensional, the plot gripping, and the action non-stop. The worst part of the book were the words The End on the last page. Because I wanted more.
Phillip Tomasso
Author of The Vaccination Trilogy and Blood River
http://www.philliptomasso.com/
I hate to say this book was a cross between something written by Michael Crichton and Joe McKinney, but . . . it was. That is not a bad thing. Just the opposite, as those are two of my favorite authors.
In Jurassic Dead there is a major dig underway in the Antartic. Melvin DeKirk spared no expense. He brought on Marcus Ramirez, a top paleontologist, and Xander Dyson, a biochemist, to assist with the dig, search, and extraction. Problem is, nothing is ever that simple.
Alex Ramirez, Marcus’ son, and a cohort are against the concept of the dig. They are kind of a Green Peace for land. In a dangerous attempt to thwart dig attempts in an untapped continent, the two infiltrate the sites. What they find below the layers of ice is angry soldiers. And worse. Under a subterranean lake in the Antarctic is the discovery of a lifetime. DeKirk’s plan is to expertly remove the find and ship it to a remote island where more scientists can work and create, and destroy.
Veronica Winters is undercover CIA, and is also working to stop DeKirk. It isn’t the dig she wants to stop as much as catch the man behind it all. His empire was built on criminal act on top of criminal act on top of criminal act. She wanted to take him down, the fact that Xander was in the picture, just made the piece of pie that much more luscious. Xander might be a scientist, but he was a killer, too. One that used poisons and toxins over guns and knives.
With lines drawn, Alex and Veronica work together against the impossible and the insane. From Antarctic digs, raging storms on the sea, carnivorous zombies, 65 million year old dinosaurs . . . awakened . . . there isn’t time to figure out what to do next. There isn’t time to look back. There is only one option when it comes to survival, keep moving forward!
Sakmyster and Chesler have crafted a taut, explosive zombie novel with Jurassic Dead. The characters are three dimensional, the plot gripping, and the action non-stop. The worst part of the book were the words The End on the last page. Because I wanted more.
Phillip Tomasso
Author of The Vaccination Trilogy and Blood River
http://www.philliptomasso.com/
September 24, 2020
OK, I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed this!! I mean zombie dinosaurs!!! How can that not be fun ;) Lol. No really, I did end up enjoying this because I went into it with no expectations and with the idea that this is like those b list horror movies that my parents used to watch! I knew it wouldn't be believable, I knew after reading some of the negative reviews not to expect much, but despite my apprehensions of it being a flop, I really enjoyed it. It grabbed my attention from the very first page and I was hooked the whole way through.
I'm not going to summarize this because I really think it's better not knowing, all I'm going to say is there are zombie freaking dinosaurs in it!!!!! Oh and we have regular old zombies too, but the main attraction is zombie dinosaurs!!!!
The plot, despite being way out there, is fast paced and entertaining. I had a hard time taking out my headphones because I wanted to see what would happen next. At times I was on the edge of my seat waiting to see would the humans make it!!!This would make for a very entertaining movie ;)
The characters were all well written and developed. There wasn't one I disliked and the main character Alex really grew throughout the story. I was rooting for him and Veronica the whole way through.
In all this was an entertaining and quite addictive read! I think if you go into it expecting nothing then you will enjoy it. I am eagerly awaiting book 2 and really hope it comes to audio soon!!!
Andrew Tell was fantastic. He had a range of accents and gave each character their own voice. I had no problem following who was talking and he kept my attention throughout.
I'm not going to summarize this because I really think it's better not knowing, all I'm going to say is there are zombie freaking dinosaurs in it!!!!! Oh and we have regular old zombies too, but the main attraction is zombie dinosaurs!!!!
The plot, despite being way out there, is fast paced and entertaining. I had a hard time taking out my headphones because I wanted to see what would happen next. At times I was on the edge of my seat waiting to see would the humans make it!!!This would make for a very entertaining movie ;)
The characters were all well written and developed. There wasn't one I disliked and the main character Alex really grew throughout the story. I was rooting for him and Veronica the whole way through.
In all this was an entertaining and quite addictive read! I think if you go into it expecting nothing then you will enjoy it. I am eagerly awaiting book 2 and really hope it comes to audio soon!!!
Andrew Tell was fantastic. He had a range of accents and gave each character their own voice. I had no problem following who was talking and he kept my attention throughout.
September 30, 2014
Eagerly writing book 2!
September 27, 2016
An utterly ridiculous and fun read!
September 28, 2018
Zombie. Dinosaurs. Read it for that premise alone! Seriously, what more do you need? Do you want me to tell you that this was a very fast paced, easy read full of action? It was. Do you want me to tell you that there was enough resolved here to make it feel like a complete story? It was. Do you want me to tell you that the authors left enough open to continue the overall story arc? They did. Now, quit reading this review and go pick up this book!
November 21, 2021
Zombie dinosaurs... It's one of the most B-movie things I think I've heard of in months. I love it. Doesn't waste too much time setting things up, gives an early peak at what you're dealing with, introduces the characters, has them interact a little to sort out dynamics and personalities... Then it kicks off. Not a smart story... maybe not even a good one but a hell of a fun one.
June 15, 2022
3,5 / 5 ⭐
August 3, 2021
Read this because I was looking for a short story (213 pages) with a title that started with "j" for a challenge. If you like dinosaurs and you like zombies you will like this story and probably the sequels. I found it a little strange in the beginning, but by the end it wasn't too bad.
May 2, 2017
3.5 stars, not as fleshed with the characters as I would like, BUT, it is action -packed, lots of craziness and just really easy to keep reading. Lots of fun.
October 5, 2021
What do you get when you mix an Antarctic expedition, an ancient frozen underground lake, newly discovered microbes, a few well preserved dinosaur carcasses and zombies? An action packed, sci-fi thriller that literally starts off with a bang and doesn’t let up until the end. This one has plenty of the walking dead, both homo sapien and saurian. It was a relatively fast read, as once I started it I didn’t want to put the book down until I finished it. I always enjoy a good dinosaur romp and with the authors including the zombie theme it made for a unique rendition to the otherwise typical rampaging dinosaur tale. I knocked off two stars from my review due to a poor choice of portrayal of one of the protagonists and also due to some erroneous information that should have been caught by more careful editing. Spoiler alert - a discussion of these annoyances (at least to me) are included below which subsequently reveals some of the plot line of the book.
Overall, I found the character development a bit weak, but truthfully, if a number of these characters are eventually going to end up as a dino Happy Meal or munchies for the walking dead then really, I can see why the authors would not invest much time in developing more fully the characters. But I thought the authors’ depiction of the CIA operative, Veronica Winters, was a very poor portrayal to say the least. For someone tailing for years a biochemist, Xander Dyson, and then even impersonating a medical doctor on a ship she appeared to have absolutely no knowledge of the medical/scientific field and certainly no knowledge of basic first aid. Even outside of the medical field there are numerous occupations requiring this basic knowledge. Also, her approach to investigation and surveillance was so ineffective, she came across more like an amateur sleuth from a cozy mystery series than a veteran CIA agent. In fact, some of the cozy mystery series sleuths I’ve come across conducted their sleuthing/surveillance in a more professional and organized manner than she did. If the authors had made her character an amateur/freelance investigator or private eye rather than a CIA agent her character could have been more believable.
As for the errors, when Dr. Rameriz, the paleontologist, introduces the three preserved dinosaurs discovered in the frozen underground lake - a Tyrannosaurus Rex and a pair of newly identified dinosaurs, Cryosopholus (a fictitious dinosaur created for the book) the doctor postulates that he believes the wounds on the T-Rex were inflicted by the two Cryos. Also, the doctor places the Cryos from the early Jurassic period, which was approximately 200 million to 174 million years ago. Now any T-Rex enthusiast worth his weight in coprolites knows that the T-Rex lived during the late Cretaceous period, which was about 67 million years ago. This is a good 100+ million years after the previously mentioned early Jurassic period within which the Cryos were believed to have lived. So there would have been no way that the Cryos could have inflicted the wounds on the T-Rex.
Another glaring error concerns the amount of time to travel by boat. The book indicated it took the boat, The Hammond (a name given apparently in a subtle nod to the original Jurassic Park franchise) nine days to travel from Chile (exact location not identified, although presumably from the southern portion of Chile) to Antarctica, yet that same boat manages to leave Antarctica and arrive, at least parts of it, at its intended destination, a tropical (or subtropical) isle in LESS than 12 hours. The ship experiences a severe storm with freezing rain, (apparently the ship was still within the latitudes near Antarctica) and the storm causes the ship to break apart. The ship wreck occurred apparently near the shore of their intended destination as some of the crew washed ashore there. The island is described as having lush jungle foliage, a type of vegetation that occurs only at tropical or subtropical latitudes, which would put the island farther north than just twelve hours from Antarctica. In addition the reader eventually learns that there is a supply of weapons and ammo that was cached there by the Koreans during the war. (Which war is not specified, but the ammo appeared to be of more recent design, so it would be presumed that it pertained to the Korean War.) This would imply that the island was located even further north, (on the other side of the equator) closer to the Korean Peninsula, as I don’t think the Koreans would have stored weapons at a site too far beyond their reach, like only twelve hours from Antarctica. Occurring within those twelve hours when the ship first leaves Antarctica, the ship breaks apart, some of the crew are washed ashore, they are eventually found by the residents/workers on the island, transported to the research facility and even engage in some confrontations with the staff. All WITHIN this 12 hour period of time from departing the shores of Antarctica. A very fast ship indeed!
Then there are the hordes of zombies. Everywhere the protagonists go on the island they are set upon by hordes of zombies. The island is supposed to be a privately owned island with a research facility, yet with the number of zombies constantly appearing it almost seems like the island has a small city there (it doesn’t) in order to produce the ever growing number of the walking dead. There is a scene where the protagonists are on the roof of a multi story building (the research facility) and the hordes of zombies are piling up on the ground (envision the one like scene in the movie “World War Z”) and one of the Cryos climbs up on the growing pile of zombies in an attempt to reach the roof and the protagonists.
And then finally there is the behavior of the zombie dinosaurs. They growl, bellow, roar and quickly move around just like their living representatives. When struck by a weapon they appear to respond to the impact and damage to their body as if they were still alive. Yet the human zombies remain voiceless and seemingly impervious to wounds inflicted on them. They can lose limbs and large portions of their body and they just keep shambling on, typical of zombies portrayed in film. It almost seemed like an afterthought for the authors to make the dinosaurs zombies. Truthfully, I thought the plot really wouldn’t have changed all that much if the dinosaurs were depicted as alive rather than as zombies. In fact, if the dinos were depicted as displaying attributes more typical of zombies, like just mindlessly shambling along like the human zombies they probably would not have been as threatening or formidable as an actual live creature. No matter, whether alive or zombified the dinos would still prove to be a force to be reckoned with and difficult to dispatch.
With that being said, I did enjoy my time reading the book (though at times groaning inwardly over the ineffectual clandestine activities of the CIA operative) and when I next have the need to satisfy my fix for a rampaging dinosaur drama I will definitely seek out the next book in this series, as I see that at this time the authors have published two more books in this particular series.
Overall, I found the character development a bit weak, but truthfully, if a number of these characters are eventually going to end up as a dino Happy Meal or munchies for the walking dead then really, I can see why the authors would not invest much time in developing more fully the characters. But I thought the authors’ depiction of the CIA operative, Veronica Winters, was a very poor portrayal to say the least. For someone tailing for years a biochemist, Xander Dyson, and then even impersonating a medical doctor on a ship she appeared to have absolutely no knowledge of the medical/scientific field and certainly no knowledge of basic first aid. Even outside of the medical field there are numerous occupations requiring this basic knowledge. Also, her approach to investigation and surveillance was so ineffective, she came across more like an amateur sleuth from a cozy mystery series than a veteran CIA agent. In fact, some of the cozy mystery series sleuths I’ve come across conducted their sleuthing/surveillance in a more professional and organized manner than she did. If the authors had made her character an amateur/freelance investigator or private eye rather than a CIA agent her character could have been more believable.
As for the errors, when Dr. Rameriz, the paleontologist, introduces the three preserved dinosaurs discovered in the frozen underground lake - a Tyrannosaurus Rex and a pair of newly identified dinosaurs, Cryosopholus (a fictitious dinosaur created for the book) the doctor postulates that he believes the wounds on the T-Rex were inflicted by the two Cryos. Also, the doctor places the Cryos from the early Jurassic period, which was approximately 200 million to 174 million years ago. Now any T-Rex enthusiast worth his weight in coprolites knows that the T-Rex lived during the late Cretaceous period, which was about 67 million years ago. This is a good 100+ million years after the previously mentioned early Jurassic period within which the Cryos were believed to have lived. So there would have been no way that the Cryos could have inflicted the wounds on the T-Rex.
Another glaring error concerns the amount of time to travel by boat. The book indicated it took the boat, The Hammond (a name given apparently in a subtle nod to the original Jurassic Park franchise) nine days to travel from Chile (exact location not identified, although presumably from the southern portion of Chile) to Antarctica, yet that same boat manages to leave Antarctica and arrive, at least parts of it, at its intended destination, a tropical (or subtropical) isle in LESS than 12 hours. The ship experiences a severe storm with freezing rain, (apparently the ship was still within the latitudes near Antarctica) and the storm causes the ship to break apart. The ship wreck occurred apparently near the shore of their intended destination as some of the crew washed ashore there. The island is described as having lush jungle foliage, a type of vegetation that occurs only at tropical or subtropical latitudes, which would put the island farther north than just twelve hours from Antarctica. In addition the reader eventually learns that there is a supply of weapons and ammo that was cached there by the Koreans during the war. (Which war is not specified, but the ammo appeared to be of more recent design, so it would be presumed that it pertained to the Korean War.) This would imply that the island was located even further north, (on the other side of the equator) closer to the Korean Peninsula, as I don’t think the Koreans would have stored weapons at a site too far beyond their reach, like only twelve hours from Antarctica. Occurring within those twelve hours when the ship first leaves Antarctica, the ship breaks apart, some of the crew are washed ashore, they are eventually found by the residents/workers on the island, transported to the research facility and even engage in some confrontations with the staff. All WITHIN this 12 hour period of time from departing the shores of Antarctica. A very fast ship indeed!
Then there are the hordes of zombies. Everywhere the protagonists go on the island they are set upon by hordes of zombies. The island is supposed to be a privately owned island with a research facility, yet with the number of zombies constantly appearing it almost seems like the island has a small city there (it doesn’t) in order to produce the ever growing number of the walking dead. There is a scene where the protagonists are on the roof of a multi story building (the research facility) and the hordes of zombies are piling up on the ground (envision the one like scene in the movie “World War Z”) and one of the Cryos climbs up on the growing pile of zombies in an attempt to reach the roof and the protagonists.
And then finally there is the behavior of the zombie dinosaurs. They growl, bellow, roar and quickly move around just like their living representatives. When struck by a weapon they appear to respond to the impact and damage to their body as if they were still alive. Yet the human zombies remain voiceless and seemingly impervious to wounds inflicted on them. They can lose limbs and large portions of their body and they just keep shambling on, typical of zombies portrayed in film. It almost seemed like an afterthought for the authors to make the dinosaurs zombies. Truthfully, I thought the plot really wouldn’t have changed all that much if the dinosaurs were depicted as alive rather than as zombies. In fact, if the dinos were depicted as displaying attributes more typical of zombies, like just mindlessly shambling along like the human zombies they probably would not have been as threatening or formidable as an actual live creature. No matter, whether alive or zombified the dinos would still prove to be a force to be reckoned with and difficult to dispatch.
With that being said, I did enjoy my time reading the book (though at times groaning inwardly over the ineffectual clandestine activities of the CIA operative) and when I next have the need to satisfy my fix for a rampaging dinosaur drama I will definitely seek out the next book in this series, as I see that at this time the authors have published two more books in this particular series.
October 21, 2014
Definitely 5 stars and if I could pick more, I would
This isn't my first book by Sakmyster, but his collaboration with Chesler made this intensifying and amazing story about a come-to-life frozen, yet heartless T. Rex. The interactions between the characters, especially father and son, Marcus and Alex, respectively, flowed perfectly with a zombie-ish but more like ... as it's described in the book "a prehistoric-skinned mash-up between human and reptile..." setting. There are some things that a son shouldn't see in his father ... Basically, it's a prehistoric zombie or undead T. Rex who is very hungry and what he does to his meals is something ... vile. Loved it. The story grabbed me from the very beginning.
This isn't my first book by Sakmyster, but his collaboration with Chesler made this intensifying and amazing story about a come-to-life frozen, yet heartless T. Rex. The interactions between the characters, especially father and son, Marcus and Alex, respectively, flowed perfectly with a zombie-ish but more like ... as it's described in the book "a prehistoric-skinned mash-up between human and reptile..." setting. There are some things that a son shouldn't see in his father ... Basically, it's a prehistoric zombie or undead T. Rex who is very hungry and what he does to his meals is something ... vile. Loved it. The story grabbed me from the very beginning.
February 28, 2020
"There could never be a more surreal and absolutely incongruous sight: a beached cargo ship as the backdrop for a battle between armed mercenaries and a prehistoric marauding zombie T. rex."
This sums up 95% of this 'book'...was this a good read? No. However, I don't feel like my time was wasted either....for what it is, its terrible, but much like eating an entire cake by yourself is satisfying and nausea-inducing...well this book is certainly that.
“Okay, this is your captain speaking. Fasten your seatbelts. We hope you enjoyed your stay on Fucked Up Island. Next stop, Anywhere But Here.”
This sums up 95% of this 'book'...was this a good read? No. However, I don't feel like my time was wasted either....for what it is, its terrible, but much like eating an entire cake by yourself is satisfying and nausea-inducing...well this book is certainly that.
“Okay, this is your captain speaking. Fasten your seatbelts. We hope you enjoyed your stay on Fucked Up Island. Next stop, Anywhere But Here.”
January 1, 2025
I listened to this one with my husband and we both had a difficult time with it. I’m no quitter, but he wanted to give up on it several times. The only female character in the book felt like an embarrassment to women. The spread of the virus was inconsistent. The writing was boring. Just the whole thing came off as implausible. This one wasn’t for us.
June 16, 2015
Jurassic Dead is a fast paced thrill ride, combining the undead and the extinct like I never thought possible. I enjoyed it very much, and you will too if you like either of the subjects! Check it out! I'm going to read part 2 now!
August 5, 2017
Great Combo
Zombie fiction and dinosaur themes make for a great combo. Likeable characters and reasonably written stunts and shenanigans lends enjoyable believability to a well paced read.
Zombie fiction and dinosaur themes make for a great combo. Likeable characters and reasonably written stunts and shenanigans lends enjoyable believability to a well paced read.
September 3, 2024
Couldn't put it down
This is one of those stories that grabs your attention from the start. Loved the story line and the characters. Can't wait to read more by this author.
This is one of those stories that grabs your attention from the start. Loved the story line and the characters. Can't wait to read more by this author.
January 16, 2022
My “book club” chose to start the year right by cramming Jurassic Park and Night of the Living Dead into a blender and smashing the Puree button! After we broke our blenders with those old VHS tapes, we picked up Jurassic Dead and made it the first book of 2022.
Written by Rick Chesler and David Sakmyster, Jurassic Dead follows Eco-terrorist Alex Ramirez through a wild adventure. In the beginning, Alex is exploding Russians in Antarctica in the name of Environmental Activism and soon finds himself a survivor of a ZOMBIE ATTACK! But, these aren’t any normal zombies, no, no; these are Human Dinosaur Zombie Hybrid Monsters! Or, HDZHM for short. They’re not even the slow zombies of Sean of the Dead, no these are really fast zombies like 28 Days Later. On top of that, their Dinosaur DNA gives them enhanced strength and endurance!
Oh no!
Alex’ problems only get worse when he gets caught by his dad! Angry Dad gets him out of big trouble with (the science military?) and arranges travel back to civilization. But instead of relaxing on a beach back home, Angry Dad, Alex, and some other characters find themselves on an island inhabited by a seemingly endless horde of HDZHMs… Zombies… I’m just going to call them Zombies.
Oh, also there are giant zombie dinosaurs stomping around, but they’re not really a big threat. They mostly just run around yelling “I’m gunna get ya!” in their screamy dinosaur language, but, much like a wiley coyote, they never get ya. To the best of my recollection, the Zombisaurs only munched one person, and that just isn’t enough! Six people were consumed in Jurassic Park (5 in the movie), and those were just normal, boring dinosaurs, not awesome zombie ones!
In all, the story was fun and campy. It was full of cliches, gross, gory scenes (though oddly, not involving being eaten), and a variety of characters like Scientist 7, and Military Man 4. I’d rate it a solid 3 out of 5; it kept me entertained, but also disappointed me in ways that I can’t really complain about. It told me there would be zombisaurs and I got zombisaurs.
Hopefully the second book will have more than three Zombie Dinosaurs. With a title like ZEVOLUTION I have really high hopes for something ridiculous, like maybe a Zombisaurnado. Who knows?
Well, I will soon. It’s on the reading list.
Written by Rick Chesler and David Sakmyster, Jurassic Dead follows Eco-terrorist Alex Ramirez through a wild adventure. In the beginning, Alex is exploding Russians in Antarctica in the name of Environmental Activism and soon finds himself a survivor of a ZOMBIE ATTACK! But, these aren’t any normal zombies, no, no; these are Human Dinosaur Zombie Hybrid Monsters! Or, HDZHM for short. They’re not even the slow zombies of Sean of the Dead, no these are really fast zombies like 28 Days Later. On top of that, their Dinosaur DNA gives them enhanced strength and endurance!
Oh no!
Alex’ problems only get worse when he gets caught by his dad! Angry Dad gets him out of big trouble with (the science military?) and arranges travel back to civilization. But instead of relaxing on a beach back home, Angry Dad, Alex, and some other characters find themselves on an island inhabited by a seemingly endless horde of HDZHMs… Zombies… I’m just going to call them Zombies.
Oh, also there are giant zombie dinosaurs stomping around, but they’re not really a big threat. They mostly just run around yelling “I’m gunna get ya!” in their screamy dinosaur language, but, much like a wiley coyote, they never get ya. To the best of my recollection, the Zombisaurs only munched one person, and that just isn’t enough! Six people were consumed in Jurassic Park (5 in the movie), and those were just normal, boring dinosaurs, not awesome zombie ones!
In all, the story was fun and campy. It was full of cliches, gross, gory scenes (though oddly, not involving being eaten), and a variety of characters like Scientist 7, and Military Man 4. I’d rate it a solid 3 out of 5; it kept me entertained, but also disappointed me in ways that I can’t really complain about. It told me there would be zombisaurs and I got zombisaurs.
Hopefully the second book will have more than three Zombie Dinosaurs. With a title like ZEVOLUTION I have really high hopes for something ridiculous, like maybe a Zombisaurnado. Who knows?
Well, I will soon. It’s on the reading list.
January 30, 2020
Is this the next Gatsby, the next 1984, even the next Jurassic Park? Well no not in regards of writing or story, sometimes sentences and what characters said was just so poorly written, it actually made me chuckle. But that's the thing it made me chuckle and more then just once, it was actually quite intriguing due to how ludicrous it was. Sorta like how I love to watch Rubber or Trolls 2, something about this made it so I had to keep going, and even find a way to get part 2. Dinosaurs, Zombies (more Zombies than Dinosaurs to be fair), and even a Volcano at the end. How are the characters, I mean they are ok. Fleshed out a tad as far as the main protagonists and villains which was ok I think the smaller amount of characters fit the story best. A ton of references including name dropping Jurassic Park (multiple times) even the ship was called Hammond in what I suppose is a nod to John Hammond of Jurassic Park as well. Also Walking Dead makes an appearance as a few references, none of this bothered me during the read. How about dinosaurs, or the zombie dinosaurs? Well as far as scientific accuracy goes its off, they make bird noises at parts but still have overlapping scales? Also the Elephant or should I say T.rex in the room, why is there a T.rex in Antarctica? Tyrannosaurus rex was found in North America, so that was strange in itself. Luckily they did include Cryolophosaurus which was actually found there, though they lived 182-199 MYA, actually more time between them and T.rex, than there is between T.rex and you. So yeah is it perfect, no. Is it accurate, not really. But is it enjoyable at some level, yes actually I liked it, and look forward to the next.
May 8, 2016
So, maybe I need to re-evaluate my feelings about books.
See, I tend to hold books in higher regard than many other forms of media. I don't have much of a reason for this, it's just a personal bias. When someone says 'the book is better' I tend to believe them, and for the most part it seems like they're right. When it comes to tie in movies and TV shows, there are some excellent literature inspired works out there, but in my opinion a novel can usually pull off what a movie has to try for: it can make me really feel something, make me think and imagine.
This book is one among a short list that's making me reconsider that stance.
I didn't expect much. I jumped into this knowing it was about dinosaurs that are zombies and zombies that are also dinosaurs. I expected it to be kind of a silly romp into 'horror.' In short, I expected this to be fun, kind of gross and maybe a little chilling at times.
The early segments of this book are just over-explained. There's no other way to put it. The characters motivations and details they know about each other's lives are just read off like a script. There's no subtlety or interest, no tension about personal relationships because if there's ever a problem the characters will just yell it at each other. It's kind of insulting really, like I couldn't pick up on the fact that the main character and his dad don't really get along or that the clandestine agent masquerading as a doctor has personal reasons motivating her beyond the mission. This isn't just in narrative, but dialogue tends toward the long winded, for every character. They say things nobody would say, have almost supernatural powers of perception and incredible luck. This is a story at the mercy of the ends justifying the means, the path of least resistance between the introduction of an element of the story and it's conclusion. The god in the machine not only shows his presence, but pretty much labels everything so that nobody gets even a little confused. I like that for organizing papers or books or silverware, maybe not so much for my plots and characters.
Not to mention, I really couldn't get immersed in the world either. For all the over explanation, there are many details in this story that simply aren't correct: A rocket launcher has recoil (I believe what you're looking for is 'back blast' and it probably would have killed someone in that jeep and would have forced the character forward instead of rocking the jeep into a roll), a character that professes not to be able to fly a helicopter can manage to get it off the ground and fly it well enough to smack a dinosaur into a building (ever try a realistic flight simulator's helicopter? It's almost impossible if you don't know what you're doing, nine times out of ten if you don't have an auto-pilot you'll end up flipping the thing nearly upside down before you crash), calling a dinosaur's scales a 'carapace' (that's more for arthropod exoskeletons and turtles, actually), the whirling rotor of a helicopter chopping into a dinosaur, snapping off, and presumably while still spinning tipping the entire helicopter onto it's side on the ground and not killing anyone (So either the characters are immune to shrapnel or the narrative just kind of leads you to believe it would just stay in one piece when it flips over), etc.
Now, I am not normally someone who nitpicks about detail, but do you see the problem I have with this? On the one hand, it's over explaining everything to the reader, as though we can't be bothered to keep track of all the obvious details. The book is taking on an air of authority, as though you should trust what it's saying, and it's going out of it's way to be very clear about every detail so you couldn't possibly miss any. On the other, there are some very incorrect details about this work that almost directly undermine that authority, things that could have been solved by looking at any old search engine.
This is one of those things one of my causal movie buff friends would hear me talking about and say "Don't think about it, just enjoy." For some part of it, I did: I nearly giggled at the notion that not only were there zombie dinosaurs, but when they bit people they would become honest to goodness reptilian zombies. I mean, wow, what other diseases change people's phenotype? Does bird flu give people feathers and nesting urges? Would a spider bite instead of making spiderman turn everyone into a very horrific version of Eight Legged Freaks? I am down for this kind of movie logic disease, it sounds simply too cool for school. And the main villain is like Blowfeld from James Bond mixed with John Hammond from Jurrasic Park, which is just adorable. If there'd been a Bruce Campbell look alike character whose sole characterization was one liners I would have forgiven all problems with this book and just enjoyed it.
But there isn't a character like that. If I had a way to characterize this, it's Syfy (I know, boo hiss) original movie: I don't care about the characters, the monsters are all done in computer animation from five years ago, there's kind of a rhyme or reason that the characters do things but it's all supposed to be dead serious, the star of the show is a long winded explanation of why the impossible thing is there that's, at best, slightly more original than the previous ten iterations of that monster, there are whole scenes that are just blood and guts and something disgusting happening because shock value sells right? I guess the one advantage this book has over one of those movies is that instead of animation I can imagine things in greater detail, but for some reason I see the movie version being less the latest Jurassic Park and more Sharktopus vs. Whalewolf in production value.
This book gets points for the premise and some of the gory descriptions and honestly because my expectations weren't terribly high in the first place. It's 'fine.' It's not that cool, not that smart, not that fun, not really giving any life changing revelations and not really exploring it's premise well, but it's about zombie dinosaurs and dinosaur zombies, so it delivered there. It's the kind of thing where "don't think about it" might actually help.
I also figured out this book has sequels. This might be one of those cases of the sequel fixing things, but honestly if you can't get me interested in the first book then I'm definitely not going to bother with a part two or three, not for 'fine.'
See, I tend to hold books in higher regard than many other forms of media. I don't have much of a reason for this, it's just a personal bias. When someone says 'the book is better' I tend to believe them, and for the most part it seems like they're right. When it comes to tie in movies and TV shows, there are some excellent literature inspired works out there, but in my opinion a novel can usually pull off what a movie has to try for: it can make me really feel something, make me think and imagine.
This book is one among a short list that's making me reconsider that stance.
I didn't expect much. I jumped into this knowing it was about dinosaurs that are zombies and zombies that are also dinosaurs. I expected it to be kind of a silly romp into 'horror.' In short, I expected this to be fun, kind of gross and maybe a little chilling at times.
The early segments of this book are just over-explained. There's no other way to put it. The characters motivations and details they know about each other's lives are just read off like a script. There's no subtlety or interest, no tension about personal relationships because if there's ever a problem the characters will just yell it at each other. It's kind of insulting really, like I couldn't pick up on the fact that the main character and his dad don't really get along or that the clandestine agent masquerading as a doctor has personal reasons motivating her beyond the mission. This isn't just in narrative, but dialogue tends toward the long winded, for every character. They say things nobody would say, have almost supernatural powers of perception and incredible luck. This is a story at the mercy of the ends justifying the means, the path of least resistance between the introduction of an element of the story and it's conclusion. The god in the machine not only shows his presence, but pretty much labels everything so that nobody gets even a little confused. I like that for organizing papers or books or silverware, maybe not so much for my plots and characters.
Not to mention, I really couldn't get immersed in the world either. For all the over explanation, there are many details in this story that simply aren't correct: A rocket launcher has recoil (I believe what you're looking for is 'back blast' and it probably would have killed someone in that jeep and would have forced the character forward instead of rocking the jeep into a roll), a character that professes not to be able to fly a helicopter can manage to get it off the ground and fly it well enough to smack a dinosaur into a building (ever try a realistic flight simulator's helicopter? It's almost impossible if you don't know what you're doing, nine times out of ten if you don't have an auto-pilot you'll end up flipping the thing nearly upside down before you crash), calling a dinosaur's scales a 'carapace' (that's more for arthropod exoskeletons and turtles, actually), the whirling rotor of a helicopter chopping into a dinosaur, snapping off, and presumably while still spinning tipping the entire helicopter onto it's side on the ground and not killing anyone (So either the characters are immune to shrapnel or the narrative just kind of leads you to believe it would just stay in one piece when it flips over), etc.
Now, I am not normally someone who nitpicks about detail, but do you see the problem I have with this? On the one hand, it's over explaining everything to the reader, as though we can't be bothered to keep track of all the obvious details. The book is taking on an air of authority, as though you should trust what it's saying, and it's going out of it's way to be very clear about every detail so you couldn't possibly miss any. On the other, there are some very incorrect details about this work that almost directly undermine that authority, things that could have been solved by looking at any old search engine.
This is one of those things one of my causal movie buff friends would hear me talking about and say "Don't think about it, just enjoy." For some part of it, I did: I nearly giggled at the notion that not only were there zombie dinosaurs, but when they bit people they would become honest to goodness reptilian zombies. I mean, wow, what other diseases change people's phenotype? Does bird flu give people feathers and nesting urges? Would a spider bite instead of making spiderman turn everyone into a very horrific version of Eight Legged Freaks? I am down for this kind of movie logic disease, it sounds simply too cool for school. And the main villain is like Blowfeld from James Bond mixed with John Hammond from Jurrasic Park, which is just adorable. If there'd been a Bruce Campbell look alike character whose sole characterization was one liners I would have forgiven all problems with this book and just enjoyed it.
But there isn't a character like that. If I had a way to characterize this, it's Syfy (I know, boo hiss) original movie: I don't care about the characters, the monsters are all done in computer animation from five years ago, there's kind of a rhyme or reason that the characters do things but it's all supposed to be dead serious, the star of the show is a long winded explanation of why the impossible thing is there that's, at best, slightly more original than the previous ten iterations of that monster, there are whole scenes that are just blood and guts and something disgusting happening because shock value sells right? I guess the one advantage this book has over one of those movies is that instead of animation I can imagine things in greater detail, but for some reason I see the movie version being less the latest Jurassic Park and more Sharktopus vs. Whalewolf in production value.
This book gets points for the premise and some of the gory descriptions and honestly because my expectations weren't terribly high in the first place. It's 'fine.' It's not that cool, not that smart, not that fun, not really giving any life changing revelations and not really exploring it's premise well, but it's about zombie dinosaurs and dinosaur zombies, so it delivered there. It's the kind of thing where "don't think about it" might actually help.
I also figured out this book has sequels. This might be one of those cases of the sequel fixing things, but honestly if you can't get me interested in the first book then I'm definitely not going to bother with a part two or three, not for 'fine.'
March 13, 2025
Jurassic Dead, by coauthors Rick Chester and David Sakmyster,, begins at a drilling site in the Antarctic where a research team is competing with a Russian team in studying microbial life in an underground lake recently discovered - or so they thought. They soon discover a nearly completely preserved body of a Tyranosaurus Rex and two Cryolophosaurs, who, despite missing some internal organs and being dead for tens of millions of years return to life. Holy dinosaur zombies!
The major characters are father and son Marcus and Alex Ramirez, CIA operative operating undercover Veronica Winters, cold hearted assassin Xander Dyson, and greedy benefactor William DeKirk with visions of world rule and immortality.
It’s a zombie story. Zombies bite people and turn them into zombies. People fight desperately to kill zombies in gruesome detail only being able to kill them by destroying their brains. What more can you done with a zombie story line? Except this one adds dinosaurs.
After only two human characters survive an exploding, zombie infested island the story leads to, more zombie dinosaurs in the form of pterodactyls are discovered in the Antarctic as the novel ends.
If you like zombies you may well like this book. But it’s not my cup of tea. Little plot development as everywhere the story goes more zombies appear that need to be gruesomely killed.
Three stars is generous.
The major characters are father and son Marcus and Alex Ramirez, CIA operative operating undercover Veronica Winters, cold hearted assassin Xander Dyson, and greedy benefactor William DeKirk with visions of world rule and immortality.
It’s a zombie story. Zombies bite people and turn them into zombies. People fight desperately to kill zombies in gruesome detail only being able to kill them by destroying their brains. What more can you done with a zombie story line? Except this one adds dinosaurs.
After only two human characters survive an exploding, zombie infested island the story leads to, more zombie dinosaurs in the form of pterodactyls are discovered in the Antarctic as the novel ends.
If you like zombies you may well like this book. But it’s not my cup of tea. Little plot development as everywhere the story goes more zombies appear that need to be gruesomely killed.
Three stars is generous.
January 5, 2022
When I picked this up I was giddy with excitement... I mean... Zombified Dinosaurs! What could be cooler?!
While there were zombie dinosaurs in this, there weren't many, and they never seemed to pose a significant threat. To my memory, the dinosaurs only killed... One person? The rest were killed by normal zombies.
Okay, not NORMAL zombies; they were human-dinosaur hybrid zombies with scaled skin and lizard eyes, which is pretty cool, but I picked this up to read zombie dinosaur mayhem! If I wanted human zombies I could read any of the other hundred stories out there.
In all, the story was super cliché (which isn't a bad thing) and pretty campy. I loved it, but I would have loved it more if there were more dinosaurs stomping about, trampling, and devouring people.
Also, zombie raptors would be a big plus.
Looking forward to starting book 2; Zevolution!
While there were zombie dinosaurs in this, there weren't many, and they never seemed to pose a significant threat. To my memory, the dinosaurs only killed... One person? The rest were killed by normal zombies.
Okay, not NORMAL zombies; they were human-dinosaur hybrid zombies with scaled skin and lizard eyes, which is pretty cool, but I picked this up to read zombie dinosaur mayhem! If I wanted human zombies I could read any of the other hundred stories out there.
In all, the story was super cliché (which isn't a bad thing) and pretty campy. I loved it, but I would have loved it more if there were more dinosaurs stomping about, trampling, and devouring people.
Also, zombie raptors would be a big plus.
Looking forward to starting book 2; Zevolution!
August 3, 2025
While the premise of this book is really good and entertaining and it starts off really well with some well constructed tension, it doesn't quite manage to maintain that and there are some things that just don't make sense (a CIA agent undercover as a doctor with absolutely no medical skills, not even basic first aid). Don't get me wrong, I was entertained by this but it was best read with my brain switched off so I just enjoyed the comedy horror, the idea of zombie dinosaurs, mutating zombie people, and of course the greedy oligarch looking to take advantage. I will be digging out the next book in the series just for a bit of light relief more than anything. If you like an easy black horror comedy style thing you will probably enjoy this to some degree.
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