The Dolmen

by Matt Bille

When attorney Julie Sperling's fiancée is murdered while researching a controversial museum exhibit, she calls on her ex-lover, science writer Greg Preston, for support. The exhibit is a dolmen – an entire megalithic tomb moved illegally from England to Los Angeles. A murder mystery turns into a nightmarish pursuit as very real predators from ancient folktales try to hunt down anyone with knowledge of their existence. For Greg and Julie, the City of Angels has become the gateway to hell...

210 pages, Paperback

First published September 27, 2014

About the author

I'm a writer, naturalist, and historian living in Colorado Springs. I'm a former Air Force officer and have a career in consulting to feed my writing habit (and my family, of course). I published my first book in 1995 and claim an all-time persistence award: the fantasy Raven's Quest, originally submitted to a publisher in 1983, made it to print in 2018. I'm a longtime aficionado of space exploration, paleontology, zoology, cryptozoology, and several other things. I have a collection of figures, toys, and models of the Devonian-era armored Dunkelosteus terrelli and maintain a FaceBook site for this scary-cool predator. I wrote about it in Prehistoric Times (Summer 2018) and am bringing it to life in fiction as well.

I'm also https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...

Reviews

[John Patterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The best and most gripping monster novels give their subject the "Michael Crichton treatment," as I call it. In other words they take their creatures seriously, and suspend the reader's disbelief by making them as plausible as possible, to the point that a reader can start to believe they actually might exist.

This is no easy task, but Matt Bille accomplishes it with style in The Dolmen. The characters are constantly skeptical, but come to realize there is indeed a new "invasive species" that's killing people in Los Angeles, and it's up to them to stop these highly intelligent creatures and figure out what they might be.

Bille knows how to creep his audience out, and balance out the detective work with a couple of intense battle scenes. I recommend you read this, but not necessarily at night.

[Mimi Wolske · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes a friend, who also writes, suggests his book and you discover a mystery that is thrilling and sort of science fiction. But, here's a book that also offers some scientific facts that enhance the plot while also providing some edification.

I liked the pace and how it was maintained throughout. The storyline is creative and main characters were well written and seemed real; the dialogue was real most of the time but there were times when it got a little boring; there were a few points that didn't seem plausible to me but there was enough mystery to keep me wondering. PLUS I was totally immersed in the battle with the well-developed creatures and their existence seemed truly plausible (there is a great deal of history of these pseudo-creatures that was totally interesting).

Thoroughly enjoyed.

[S.R. Carson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Imaginative and promising first novel. (3.5 stars)

BySRCarsonon May 31, 2015

Format: Paperback

This book had several interesting quotes, but this was the best: Someone was asked why lawyers were being used as lab rats. "Three reasons. There are more lawyers than lab rats, lab workers never get emotionally attached to lawyers and there are some things rats won't do." Couldn't help but enjoy that one. This author writes about little known animals as well as cryptozoology and space/satellites and this apparently is his first work of fiction. I am impressed with his imagination and creativity with the story line. In addition, his other strength is that he was quite good at building tension with some intense dramatic scenes. The book was a little like a combination of Dan Brown and Raiders of the Lost Arc.

However, I couldn't rate it higher because I became distracted by some missteps and minor structural flaws. I found the dialogue at times to be plodding and banal, therefore distracting. In addition, I think it is implausible that the police would allow a science writer immediately into the depths of an investigation on a crime scene, and also not consider, or at least question the girlfriend of the victim as being a suspect. Also, I doubt that police would publish in the newspaper that "no fingerprints were found." Sometimes, quick POV changes put us into people's heads too quickly and told us how to think and accept swift leaps to conclusions by the characters.

Having said that, I do recommend the book because of the creative story line of an ancient English legend and fierce creatures that terrorize a big U.S city, while the protagonist attempts to solve the puzzle, at significant risk to himself.

[Carl Alves · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Dolmen starts off with author Greg Preston finding out that his best friend in college has been murdered. He goes to California to console the widow, who happens to be an old flame of his. She enlists his help in investigating the murder, which centers around an ancient dolmen that was brought in from the UK. The story takes an interesting twist when Greg theorizes that the murders are being committed by korrigans—ancient creatures that are sort of like furry, vicious dwarves. The cops investigating the case are slow on the uptake, reluctant to believe Greg’s theory despite all of the evidence to support it, leaving Greg to solve the case even as the korrigans come after he and the widow.

This was an enjoyable novel in a lot of ways. First, it was well-written and the plot was constructed in a logical and believable manner. There was a good mix of a conventional mystery and the supernatural mixed in with it. I think it works for both of those types of novels and it blends them well. I thought a fairly thorough job of research was done on the novel. There was a lot to like and not much to quibble about. I would recommend this novel.

Carl Alves – author of Conjesero

[Cherei · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very fast-paced and well written. I wish there had been a little more explanation of a Dolmen and the Korrigans though. The action of the story over-powered the knowledge of the history behind a Dolmen and the creatures featured. I have no prior knowledge of either subject and wish there had been more of a back story explanation. Perhaps the editor made the author remove too much of the story? I know that he's very knowledgeable in regards to the subject matter.

You do come to feel for the main characters and what becomes of them. I truly enjoyed that the main character jumps in and gives the mayor's peon a "story" to cover up what is really happening in the city of LA. Again, it felt like the book had been overly edited.. and details of characters other than the main ones.. had been removed. I guess, I'm weird.. I like knowing more about the various characters. I really did feel badly when the main detective.. well.. no, wait.. I don't want to give a spoiler.. so, I'll stop right here! :)

[Matthew Willis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Matt Bille is perhaps best known as an expert on cryptozoology, science and technology, with several nonfiction books and a blog on the subject. It's particularly satisfying, therefore, to see all that knowledge of the obscure synthesised into a fast-paced thriller full of twists and turns. The best thing is that Bille sets out from the outset on a completely different path to the well-worn mythological creatures - no vampires here, sparkly or otherwise - basing his novel on little known, European folk tales and the ancient rites of the 'old world', brought bang up to date in present day LA. I won't say what the adversary is as it's better for the reader to find out by themselves, but suffice to say that the fusion of ancient myth, cryptozoological theory and plausible science is both clever and entertaining. I came for the premise and stayed for the taut plotting and relateable characters. A fun, exciting and thought-provoking read.

[Lin Faloon · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a huge fan of horror, I'm glad I ventured into Matt Bille's nightmare as he delivers in this fast-paced horror thriller. His cryptozoology background and knowledge of Los Angeles add to the believability of the tightly woven narrative. Add cops and S.W.A.T teams into the mix and the story only gets better.