Jurassic Island

Jurassic Adventures #1

by Viktor Zarkov

Guided by satellite photos and modern technology a ragtag group of survivalists and scientists travel to an uncharted island in the remote South Indian Ocean. Things go to hell in a hurry once the team reaches the island and the massive megalodon that attacked their boats is only the beginning of their desperate fight for survival. Nothing could have prepared billionaire explorer Joseph Thornton and washed up archaeologist Christopher "Colt" McKinnon for the terrifying prehistoric creatures that wait for them on JURASSIC ISLAND!

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

133 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 20, 2015

Reviews

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

On Spectre Island, your life expectancy is measured in minutes, not years.
Three and a half stars

Okay, so there are grammatical errors, poor science, typos and plot inconsistencies (1 1/2 stars off for the poor editing) - but there are Dinosaurs, and non-stop chomping action from beginning to end. My fascination with prehistoric creatures continues unabated, but it's just a pity nobody has written any dino tales lately with say, the talent of Michael Crichton, Arthur Conan Doyle or Deborah O'Neill Cordes.

Even though this reads like a C Grade movie, I enjoyed it, but felt the ending needed more teeth - so to speak.

[John (JC) · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book was a bit shallow. I guess I got spoiled by Michael Crichton.

[Mandy Sickle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Colt may be a little on the washed upside as his wife left him and he's getting drunk in a bar. That's when his whole life changed a rich billionaire offers him a lot of money and once in a lifetime chance. An island has popped up on a satellite that wasn't there the day before and it races to see what's really on the island before Mr. Thornton's competition arrives. After a quick flight Colt and the rest of the gathered crew arrive at a dock with boats that will take them to the island.

However, not everyone will make it as something big is lurking in the water and has his sights set on lunch. Colt and his small group survive the monster in the water only to arrive on the mysterious island. No one has been to the island before and it's been sine the 40's when it was last seen. It becomes quickly apparent that the inhabitants are prehistoric dinosaurs who are intent on keeping Colt from leaving the island.

I like Colt he's one of those guys I can see a little of myself in. Throw enough money and I might even head to the island. We have some interesting teammates but the story is told from Colts point of view as he's our hero. I found Mr. Thornton our rich Billionaire exactly how I would expect, he's not prepared for what they find and when things get back he keeps pushing forward.

Jurassic Island is just that a mysterious island of prehistoric killer monsters. I have to admit the monster lurking in the ocean was my favorite but that could because I a little addicted to those. I like the characters even some that died horrible deaths I was sad to see them go. I wasn't sure about Colt but he grew on me as the book progressed. Jurassic Island is a modern meets prehistoric monster story lots of running for their lives, blood, death, and sharp teeth. I enjoyed it because I love dinosaurs and seeing them in this dark gore filled light was refreshing. It's like a bloodier whirlwind Jurassic Park. The story was fast paced and easy to finish in one sitting. I'm a little curious to see if we will get another installment as some made it off the island. As a monster horror, I thought it fit the bill perfectly. I even had my teenager reading at the same time and he enjoyed it.

[S.W. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Yes, I hear you. My first impression of this title was that it would be a spin-off of the Jurassic books and movies we all know. Its first chapter was actually included at the end of The Fossil – although it’s by a different author. So, I took the bait and read the first chapter and it intrigued me enough to get the book and give it a go.

This novella was a little longer than The Fossil, at around 130 pages. ‘Colt’ McKinnon is an out of work TV star – who used to have a show about the ‘unusual’. He, along with a mixed band of new associates are gathered together by a billionaire to explore a new discovery in the southern Indian Ocean – Jurassic Island.

Although the early chapter that I mentioned above hooked me, I’m sorry to say that the rest of the book didn’t seem original to me at all. The plot was very predictable and I felt it was just meandering through a list of events that occur in all similar stories. I hate to be negative but it just didn’t connect with me. There was nothing in Jurassic Island that I felt was memorable enough to make it stand out from the crowd.

[Brittany Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was such a fun quick fast paced read to get my dinosaur fix

[Ami Morrison · Rating 4 out of 5]

A ragtag group of survivalists and scientists travel to an uncharted island in the remote Indian Ocean. Things go to hell in a hurry once the team reaches the island and a massive megalodon that attacked their boats is only the beginning of their desperate fight for survival.

Read this book for Dinovember! And this book did not disappoint in the dino action! Loved the island of a unexplored island that for some reason keeps appearing and disappearing over the years. Would have loved to have more about why that was happening. There were a few theories thrown out, but nothing was really established one way or the other. Very action pack, but way too short of a story! It was so much fun but over before you knew it. Ending sets up for book 2.

[Elentarri · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a fast-paced, rather short, adventure, creature-feature novel that some how manages to be bland at the same time. Also, not terribley realistic, and I'm not talking about the dinosaurs or the mysteriously here-again/gone-again island. On the other hand, if you want to read about prehistoric critters eating people, then this might provide some brief entertainment.

[Dixie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, and it was a good, fast read. I would recommend it to everyone, however, that said, I felt like it was missing something. Will definitely buy more by this author though

[Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Acrion

Wow what a nightmare. They found an island that disappears and reappears. A team goes in to explore it. They find more than they bargained for.

Wow what an adventure.

[BookishDramas · Rating 3 out of 5]

At under 2 hours of reading this is about an okay story.
Viktor has written a AC Doyle's Lost World wannabe based on a disappearing island in the pacific. The story tries to connect atomic explosions to its origin.
So far so good.
This is a very competitive genre that doyens of english novelists have been contributing to over the last century or so. Recently in the last couple of decades this vertical in all its glory with various spins has been privy to some superb imaginative writing by scores of writers who have written books from short stories to full length novels including trilogies and tetralogies, some original thought and several inspired by others.
Jurassic Island falls at a lower scale in this sea of books. It starts of great with a billionnaire who has lined relevant pockets to keep up an information flow and who decides to follow his dream headlong into oblivion and who does not have anyone to support and execute his plans for him.

The story deviates and meanders into the island and moves into B-movie territory from the syfy channel. The length saves the story but it ends well and leaves some breadcrumbs to pursue reading the follow-up sequel. 2.5 stars.

[steven McCorkle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fast paced thriller!

First off, the book is well written and doesn't waste time getting to down to business. That business involving people coming into contact with dinosaurs. And we all know that those encounters never end well, especially for the people.
The storyline is like Lost World along with the running, screaming, and crunching out of the Jurassic Park movies. In other words, it's a straight forward dino action story with a been there, done that a few times feel to it.
If you like that type of book, you won't be disappointed.
Not a lot of character depth, but hey they're too busy trying to avoid being eaten, to have any relationship building. The benefit here as that not being too invested in the characters limits the grieving process.
Still, the story is well written and delivers the action for this genre. It'll entertain you but not stay with you.

[Arran · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good action book which I may well buy the sequel. While it's decent it does very much feel like an opening episode as it doesn't really explain why the island is the way it is or who some of the characters are. Obviously planning on later reveals which I can make an educated guess at but won't say here. It also suffers in that it occasionally goes from third person narrative to first for a paragraph before switching back, this isn't a world ending problem but does shift you out of the story flow when it occurs. This should have been picked up in the edit. If expect this will be a series that runs for a few books.

[Mae · Rating 2 out of 5]

Honestly, I was torn between giving this 1.5 and 2 stars.

However, as it is readable and had a decent premise I’ll go with 2. The book itself is really poorly paced, everything happens so fast and essentially all the characters are dead in the blink of an eye. You don’t really have the time, space or build up to care about what’s happening. And the author throws in as many dinosaurs as he can in a short period of time that it feels like Dino roulette.

I wouldn’t recommend it unless you’re really looking for a meh read with the skeleton of something that could have been interesting.

[Diane T. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting story

Being a fan of this genre, I have read books that have been great. And books that made me feel I had wasted my time because they were so bad. This adventure tale falls in the middle. There were some editing problems that became annoying while reading and the overall ending seemed rushed. The characters were barely explored, leaving house one dimensional. However, the storyline moved quickly and had enough excitement to keep the reader going.

[Bob Cantrell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good dinosaur story

First things first my only dislike of this was some of the dates that are mentioned in it were wrong. No nuclear tests in the Pacific during WW II. I liked the idea of a mystery island that appears and disappears. Then there were the Meg and all of the dinosaurs what more could you ask for. Spoiler alert the body count is very high and some of th characters were likable. If you like man versus dinosaurs then try this one on for size.

[Arizona Spartan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent thriller based upon the popular dinosaur movies but not in the same universe. I found it too short and easily read which were my only real issues with it. I would have liked for the romantic interest to have stuck around longer but the writer had other ideas. I would read the next book in the series.

[John P Court · Rating 2 out of 5]

Whoever wrote this book doesn't understand the relationship between continuity and the story line. Example: The plane was to land on an aircraft carrier, not a dirt runway.

And you're being handed the story line as if you were a fourteen year old kid, sorry but I just couldn't stand it anymore and quit reading after about four or five chapters....

[Trevor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Christopher 'Colt' McKinnon is approached to go to a mysterious island that only appears occasionally, with it's latest sighting, a team rushes to explore. After being attacked by a giant shark on the way, they probably should have turned back! What they find is a forgotten land and they are soon running for there lives.

[Richard W. McCuistian · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a dinosaur story I could have done without. I'm sorry, Viktor, but this one was just a bit too gloomy for me... I probably wouldn't read another one of this author's books, but to be truthful, the way this one turned out is probably more realistic than most.

[Jody KaehnSteiner]

Excellent

Great book had to read it cover to cover. I would like more of the same
Intriguing book. Want more of the same.

[Rita · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting concept.

[constance g. simari · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy to read, decent suspense, not as much visualization of the environment (trees, grass, rocks, animals insects) as I would have liked. No spoilers, just a fast read.

[V.madhusudan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nice reading if you are looking for some short dino stuff.

[Robert Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book

Very good story. What surprised me was the ending, never would have guessed. I thought it was a very well written story. I recommend reading.

[Carol Palmer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining read

This book is a quick, entertaining read. It had a couple factual mistakes that a decent editor should have caught.

[julianne · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick fun read.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have a new favorite author! This authors books are exactly what I need to get out of a reading slump.

[Nykita Brookshire · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book was thrilling and fast paced. I very much enjoyed the plot and storyline however there were some errors in the writing. I can look past that though because I had fun reading this book.

[chucklesthescot · Rating 4 out of 5]

joseph Thornton is a rich man who is used to getting his own way. For twenty years he has been searching for the elusive Spectre Island, which only appears in the South Indian Ocean at rare moments, and now it has appeared. Joseph has to race his rival to land a team of experts on an island that has many secrets and where nobody knows exactly what to expect. Perhaps they should have brought bigger boats and more weapons....

I love dinosaurs and I was so keen to read this Lost World sounding book, and I certainly wasn't disappointed. There is no slow start or messing about as the team meet and connect with each other on the plane journey to where they get on the boats and from there the action is pretty much non stop. There are no huge info dumps about each person on the team, just a short few lines about why each has been selected. You know it is going to be a blood filled dinosaur romp when they have to get by a megalodon to even reach the island, which was an exciting moment early in the book. I LOVE sharks and the bigger the better! I know you are desperate to know about the dinosaurs we meet on the island so let me give you a sneak preview. There are raptors, pterosaurs, and of course T Rex! Lovely!

There were a good range of characters led by paranormal TV presenter Colt McKinnon, our down on his luck hero. He's a guy you can like and root for and he is very capable. Other than him, my favourite was Leslie the paleontologist, who was able to tell them exactly what was chasing them and what was about to kill them! I also liked former Yakuza man Liu Hamasaki who is the ultimate tough guy in pressure situations. I think the author spends just enough time on the characters to give you an idea of who they are, without drowning you in information about them.

Joseph is quite interesting and there is more to him than being a rich fanatic. I do have to question some of Joseph's actions though. If he has been searching so long for this island and racing a rival to get there first, why was he not better prepared? He was ready to pay all the team members and get them flown to the boats so why was he not prepared with weapons and supplies? Why not have better boats, more people, proper security? I suppose he was in such a hurry to get there as fast as possible and not thinking everything through. Or maybe the author was determined to make it tougher for the poor team! Who knows!

I liked the way the author tells the story. The story is simple and flows nicely, without being over descriptive or slow. In other words we get a small amount of background information that we need and the author then gets on with the story, which suits me fine. When they get to the boats and then the island it is a rollercoaster ride of scary dinosaurs and running for their lives! That is what I hope for when I pick up these books and it is exactly what I got.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good story

Good storyline but needs editing. The author slip back & forth from 3rd person to 1st person in the same sentence quite often.