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Spinosaurus
Brett Russell is a hunter of the rarest game. His targets are cryptids, animals denied by science. But they are well known by those living on the edges of civilization, where monsters attack and devour their animals and children and lay ruin to their shantytowns.
When a shadowy organization sends Brett to the Congo in search of the legendary dinosaur cryptid Kasai Rex, he will face much more than a terrifying monster from the past.
Spinosaurus is a dinosaur thriller packed with intrigue, action and giant prehistoric predators.
When a shadowy organization sends Brett to the Congo in search of the legendary dinosaur cryptid Kasai Rex, he will face much more than a terrifying monster from the past.
Spinosaurus is a dinosaur thriller packed with intrigue, action and giant prehistoric predators.
182 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 17, 2015
147 people are currently reading
62 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
September 21, 2025
This was very ok. Usually with stories like this, there is one of several basic plots, whether a wealthy philanthropist that hires an ‘expert’ to hunt down and capture a cryptid, a military operation gone wrong, or scientists that accidentally stumble upon unknown creatures. And that’s sort of what I expected here, which I didn’t get. A very strong majority of the book included an incredible amount of dialogue and conflict between our leads and local government, militia, workers, etc. And that really made the story drag terribly. The spinosaur makes a brief appearance in the very beginning and again about 80% in. But both add up to no less than a handful of pages, which was extremely disappointing. Most of the story was focused on giant crocodiles and snakes, both of which also were kept to a minimum. The cover and synopsis did not match the content, the pacing was off, it was very hard to stay with the different characters and plot points, and the focus was in all the wrong places. This needed to appease the potential audience more and keep the attention on the cryptids, with the interpersonal dynamics as footnotes, as opposed to the other way around. I get that the author was trying something a little different, but it did not work well here.
March 30, 2017
A diamond mining operation in Congo is being disruped by a giant dinosaur who keeps attacking the worker camp and a survivor calls the US TV show Cryptoids Alive! to ask for help. The show decide to send a team to investigate but the shadowy Organisation add their own member posing as an expert.
Brett works for the Organisation, leading rich hunters on expeditions to hunt endangered animals, then sees to it that they are arrested by local authorities. Now he is being sent on this mission to Congo to assess the situation and check for endangered animals while pretending to be a cryptoid expert. I found the Organisation interesting and certainly liked the hunters get arrested for their sins. I liked Brett's no nonsense boss who has a trophy room of his own where he displays the heads of poachers he has hunted down!
The book itself is a bit slow to get into the story. It starts with the trip being prepared, the team arriving in Congo and getting into a dispute with the local law enforcement and setting up their camp. It is 40% into the book before things really get going action-wise with a fight between a mutant crocodile and snake, which was certainly quite interesting. We don't see the Spinosaurus in the early parts of the book, with Brett only hearing the sounds of attack and arriving in the aftermath of it. There are a few bits of action involving mutant monsters and a dinosaur chase scene but nowhere near what I'd hoped for.
The story goes on to focus on the mining company and the fact that someone is stealing eggs from a Spinosaurus over the river to lure it into attacking the mining camp as it searches for the missing eggs. It was obvious to me from the start which of the people at the camp were involved in this scheme and the person is a gruntled employee of the Organisation. We never find out if all the claims made by the bad guy are true or made up, we never find out if the Organisation is involved in betraying Brett or if the traitor made it up while pretending to be his boss. Has he been blacklisted by the company and stranded there or will the Organisation help him? We just don't get the answers on a lot of the questions thrown up which means to me that the book feels unfinished.
I was a little disappointed in the book. It felt more like a social environmental conspiracy thriller than a dinosaur gorefest. We don't really see much of the Spinosaurus and it isn't killing people for fun, just defending her nest, so it wasn't really the kind of story that the blurb hints at. It was ok to read but not what I was looking for.
2.5 stars.
Brett works for the Organisation, leading rich hunters on expeditions to hunt endangered animals, then sees to it that they are arrested by local authorities. Now he is being sent on this mission to Congo to assess the situation and check for endangered animals while pretending to be a cryptoid expert. I found the Organisation interesting and certainly liked the hunters get arrested for their sins. I liked Brett's no nonsense boss who has a trophy room of his own where he displays the heads of poachers he has hunted down!
The book itself is a bit slow to get into the story. It starts with the trip being prepared, the team arriving in Congo and getting into a dispute with the local law enforcement and setting up their camp. It is 40% into the book before things really get going action-wise with a fight between a mutant crocodile and snake, which was certainly quite interesting. We don't see the Spinosaurus in the early parts of the book, with Brett only hearing the sounds of attack and arriving in the aftermath of it. There are a few bits of action involving mutant monsters and a dinosaur chase scene but nowhere near what I'd hoped for.
The story goes on to focus on the mining company and the fact that someone is stealing eggs from a Spinosaurus over the river to lure it into attacking the mining camp as it searches for the missing eggs. It was obvious to me from the start which of the people at the camp were involved in this scheme and the person is a gruntled employee of the Organisation. We never find out if all the claims made by the bad guy are true or made up, we never find out if the Organisation is involved in betraying Brett or if the traitor made it up while pretending to be his boss. Has he been blacklisted by the company and stranded there or will the Organisation help him? We just don't get the answers on a lot of the questions thrown up which means to me that the book feels unfinished.
I was a little disappointed in the book. It felt more like a social environmental conspiracy thriller than a dinosaur gorefest. We don't really see much of the Spinosaurus and it isn't killing people for fun, just defending her nest, so it wasn't really the kind of story that the blurb hints at. It was ok to read but not what I was looking for.
2.5 stars.
May 23, 2017
Who opened the barn door
When I started this one, I hoped that it was going to be better than the last book I read. It was may have been the fact it had a different author. This book was entertaining from the start. The main character, Brett, was someone you could root for and the other characters were likable in one case a little too likable. Set in the Congo our happy group of cryptids are searching for a creature called the Kasai Rex, who is chowing down on the local diamond mind workers. The action is fast paced with creatures galore and bad guys, who are really bad. You'll see what I mean by the barn door if you take This story out for a spin.
When I started this one, I hoped that it was going to be better than the last book I read. It was may have been the fact it had a different author. This book was entertaining from the start. The main character, Brett, was someone you could root for and the other characters were likable in one case a little too likable. Set in the Congo our happy group of cryptids are searching for a creature called the Kasai Rex, who is chowing down on the local diamond mind workers. The action is fast paced with creatures galore and bad guys, who are really bad. You'll see what I mean by the barn door if you take This story out for a spin.
August 10, 2024
Brett works for a shadowy organization that protects endangered animals from pocators, relocating them so they don't cause harm to anyone. He is sent to the Congo in search of a very rare animal- one his boss thinks might be a real dinosaur.
The story is pretty good, and it had plenty of twists as you go along. The writing, however, was not the smoothest. There were several sentences that just felt too jumbled, too run on, or not exactly making a lot of sense. Often I would have to re-read a line a few times because it felt like I was missing something. It just had a choppy flow. The kindle version had a ton of typos on top of that. I couldn't tell if maybe it had a rough translation from another language or if it was in need of a better editor. There was also a huge LACK of said spinosaurus! We really didn't see much of her until the last 80% of the book. Not terrible, but a little disappointing. The ending was a little too open-ended. What happened with his job? Did he ever talk to his boss? Did he just disappear and never look back?
Still a fun book if you are looking for a b-movie dinosaur quick read.
The story is pretty good, and it had plenty of twists as you go along. The writing, however, was not the smoothest. There were several sentences that just felt too jumbled, too run on, or not exactly making a lot of sense. Often I would have to re-read a line a few times because it felt like I was missing something. It just had a choppy flow. The kindle version had a ton of typos on top of that. I couldn't tell if maybe it had a rough translation from another language or if it was in need of a better editor. There was also a huge LACK of said spinosaurus! We really didn't see much of her until the last 80% of the book. Not terrible, but a little disappointing. The ending was a little too open-ended. What happened with his job? Did he ever talk to his boss? Did he just disappear and never look back?
Still a fun book if you are looking for a b-movie dinosaur quick read.
March 29, 2016
I really liked this one.
This is one of the best dinosaur books I've read in a long time. Action packed, humorous at times, and violent where appropriate. The setup was done very well in fleshing out the main character and the 'Organization' that he works for, as well as all the support characters.
Once the action starts it stays intense and believable, which some books miss. I also liked the twists and little subplots that were smoothly blended into the story to make it more than just a monster story.
The only reason I didn't give it a five star rating was that about halfway in typos started showing up more frequently that looked like autocorrect gremlins. Not enough to throw me out of the story, but enough to mention. If the author corrects them he definitely has a five star book.
I highly recommend this one.
This is one of the best dinosaur books I've read in a long time. Action packed, humorous at times, and violent where appropriate. The setup was done very well in fleshing out the main character and the 'Organization' that he works for, as well as all the support characters.
Once the action starts it stays intense and believable, which some books miss. I also liked the twists and little subplots that were smoothly blended into the story to make it more than just a monster story.
The only reason I didn't give it a five star rating was that about halfway in typos started showing up more frequently that looked like autocorrect gremlins. Not enough to throw me out of the story, but enough to mention. If the author corrects them he definitely has a five star book.
I highly recommend this one.
October 27, 2020
Spinosaurus was a pretty decent dinosaur icky bug. It wasn’t what I expected, with the main icky bug not showing where I expected. Most of the action took place in a setting minus the star of the show, so to speak. However, it was still a fun ride. My only issue was that it was told in first-person point of view. I almost didn’t pick it up from the newly minted horror section at Barnes & Noble. However, since it’s a creature feature, I did a rare thing and since it was a relatively short book, clocking in at 176 pages, I took a chance. Despite the myopic viewpoint, I had a good time. Severed Press puts out some decent creature features and while I much prefer third-person, this one was engaging enough and fast-paced enough to work. It had plenty of typos, but not so much that they jerked me out of the story. I don’t blame the author for that, but the editors. Attention to detail could’ve made this one a much better read, especially for such a short novel. Overall, I had a great time and it reminded me of my favorite B-movie Saturday afternoon icky bugs. The humor was top notch, and the characters were great. Recommended.
August 18, 2020
It's a confusing book. Told in the first person, the narrator assures us how tough he is as he takes wealthy Americans (of course...the foolish rich people can never be another nationality) to hunt endangered animals. Well, then, the tables are turned because he really works for a super secret organization that is better funded than most countries. The tables are turned again when he is sent off to Congo to either find a real cryptid or kill the humungous beast that is killing the poverty stricken diamond miners. Enter the very tough armed thugs whom his party of four, even with guns trained on them, manage to outsmart and elude. Another change of scene, this time to the diamond mine, which is more a tent city next to some mud flats. The scene changes again. One of their party betrays them. In all of this, at 75% of the story, the spinosaurus is an invisible roar. Something is stomping the tent city flat, but there are so many diversions and side stories that ultimately I didn't care if it showed up or not.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 10, 2017
Great creature thriller!
This was one of the best creature thrillers I've read! Although at times the sloppy editing got on my nerves, the story grabbed my attention immediately and held it till the end. The possibilities of what kinds of creatures may inhabit the deep, dark jungle made this story even scarier. I hope he writes another one soon!
This was one of the best creature thrillers I've read! Although at times the sloppy editing got on my nerves, the story grabbed my attention immediately and held it till the end. The possibilities of what kinds of creatures may inhabit the deep, dark jungle made this story even scarier. I hope he writes another one soon!
June 26, 2020
This would have been a decent adventure story, if it weren't so incoherent at times. It needs extensive editing for typos, grammatical errors, missing words, incorrect words, and sentence restructuring. It took me out of the narrative each time I had to try to figure out what the author really meant to say.
March 26, 2018
Excellent adventure!!
The only thing I wasn't 100% happy with, was the ending. It's a bit of a cliffhanger. I am hoping there is another book after this one?
Regardless, it was worth 5 stars, it was a great book, a fun ride, and worth everything! Enjoy!!
The only thing I wasn't 100% happy with, was the ending. It's a bit of a cliffhanger. I am hoping there is another book after this one?
Regardless, it was worth 5 stars, it was a great book, a fun ride, and worth everything! Enjoy!!
October 7, 2019
Good story, lousy edit job.
I chose this rating because the edit job was lousy. Way too many typos and grammatical errors to make it a smooth read. Also several incongruancies of where a gun was/wasn't, how big a monster was etc.💜
The story was exciting, if a little far-fetched.
I chose this rating because the edit job was lousy. Way too many typos and grammatical errors to make it a smooth read. Also several incongruancies of where a gun was/wasn't, how big a monster was etc.💜
The story was exciting, if a little far-fetched.
December 7, 2019
Heading for the next one
At first I found the mc annoying but the story grabbed held on and I couldn't turn away. Inventive story
At first I found the mc annoying but the story grabbed held on and I couldn't turn away. Inventive story
Read
November 9, 2022Decent Read
The plot is OK, the author did pretty well making it plausible. There were a lot of spelling and grammar errors that were distracting. Not a bad read though.
The plot is OK, the author did pretty well making it plausible. There were a lot of spelling and grammar errors that were distracting. Not a bad read though.
May 9, 2022
I love a good dinosaur action adventure story and this is that. Well written characters a cool setting (well, it's probably pretty hot actually), and gratifying dino action including gore.
January 15, 2016
I enjoyed this book. It is full of action, twists of plots, and no lull in the progress clear thru to the end. The author doesn't know the difference between a recoilless rifle and a machine gun.
However, it is a good book that I highly recommend to the adventure lovers.
However, it is a good book that I highly recommend to the adventure lovers.
July 31, 2017
Spinosaurus
I couldn't put my kindle down, except when necessary. Lol
Loved this book. Read it for yourself. You'll love it.
I couldn't put my kindle down, except when necessary. Lol
Loved this book. Read it for yourself. You'll love it.
September 19, 2016
A chance to sit back and enjoy a fun and impossible adventure story.
November 17, 2017
The copy I have has several typos and missing words and poor fact checking.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews