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Co-Evolution
Another intelligent species existed on Earth long before human kind. They had a taste for human flesh and slaughtered humans by the thousands. Human kind advanced, built great cities, and learned how to defend themselves. A stalemate ensued, and a truce was negotiated, with one human a week offered as food. What better humans to offer than criminals?
Detective Victor Pargner of the Capital Crimes Division of the Wetlands City Police Department solves serious crimes and gets the culprit sentenced to a “feeding.” The truce is working out until people begin to disappear. What could be causing those disappearances? Is the other species violating the truce?
Detective Victor Pargner of the Capital Crimes Division of the Wetlands City Police Department solves serious crimes and gets the culprit sentenced to a “feeding.” The truce is working out until people begin to disappear. What could be causing those disappearances? Is the other species violating the truce?
324 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 7, 2018
6 people are currently reading
22 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
March 29, 2018
Vividly imagined but weakly executed. I commend the author and encourage him to continue writing. He might consider taking a writer's workshop to receive criticism from his peers. Right now he's sort of at the level of someone writing for the pulp magazine of the thirties and I look forward to his future development. Good luck, godspeed and don't get accidentally eaten!
August 1, 2018
There is a primal rage that exists within many of us that desires a special kind of hell for those hard-core criminals who commit rape, molestation, and murder, and while this fantasy of unmeted justice might simmer deeply within our subconscious minds, such wish-fulfillment is rarely realized within our popular culture.
After all, there is something brutish and uncivilized about demanding the worst kind of death, even for society’s biggest miscreants, especially since many of us seem to believe we are greater than our pettiest hopes for vengeance.
In Co-Evolution, author Arthur Weissmann casts this hypocrisy aside and provides a wrath worthy of modern life’s worst foes, offering delightful deaths to the hardest and most heinous of convicts, greatly satisfying readers’ hunger for retributive bloodlust.
In this novel, a truce has been reached after thousands of years of near-genocidal fighting between human beings and a lizard-like species that evolved alongside our own and that continues to crave our flesh to this day. Humanity persevered, built great cities, and learned how to defend itself, with our most loathsome criminals offered as food in exchange for maintaining a tentative peace with our reptilian rivals.
The plot unfolds over a series of loosely-related crime stories that center around Detective Victor Pargner of the Wetlands City Police Department, whose knack for solving mysteries of wrongdoing, along with a swift legal system, ensures that deserving convicts are quickly sentenced and ‘fed off’ to the lizard-like species.
Thus, there is no shortage of carnage in Co-Evolution, but Weissmann’s style is so amusingly matter-of-fact, there is also no overly-explicit gore detailed in the violence, either, to the extent I’m actually contemplating reading one of the chapters as a bedtime story to my daughter, a storyteller herself who might appreciate the bad guy ‘bastards’ getting what they deserve almost as much as Victor’s son, Hector.
The sweet and simple absurdity of the premise, along with the pace of the novel, makes for easy and fun reading. While there is a twist to the overall story arc, it’s a slow burn and, in my opinion, not nearly as juicy a pay-off as the chapter by chapter tidbits.
Still, I enjoyed Weissmann’s breakout book and look forward to reading more stories penned from his horrifically humanistic imagination.
After all, there is something brutish and uncivilized about demanding the worst kind of death, even for society’s biggest miscreants, especially since many of us seem to believe we are greater than our pettiest hopes for vengeance.
In Co-Evolution, author Arthur Weissmann casts this hypocrisy aside and provides a wrath worthy of modern life’s worst foes, offering delightful deaths to the hardest and most heinous of convicts, greatly satisfying readers’ hunger for retributive bloodlust.
In this novel, a truce has been reached after thousands of years of near-genocidal fighting between human beings and a lizard-like species that evolved alongside our own and that continues to crave our flesh to this day. Humanity persevered, built great cities, and learned how to defend itself, with our most loathsome criminals offered as food in exchange for maintaining a tentative peace with our reptilian rivals.
The plot unfolds over a series of loosely-related crime stories that center around Detective Victor Pargner of the Wetlands City Police Department, whose knack for solving mysteries of wrongdoing, along with a swift legal system, ensures that deserving convicts are quickly sentenced and ‘fed off’ to the lizard-like species.
Thus, there is no shortage of carnage in Co-Evolution, but Weissmann’s style is so amusingly matter-of-fact, there is also no overly-explicit gore detailed in the violence, either, to the extent I’m actually contemplating reading one of the chapters as a bedtime story to my daughter, a storyteller herself who might appreciate the bad guy ‘bastards’ getting what they deserve almost as much as Victor’s son, Hector.
The sweet and simple absurdity of the premise, along with the pace of the novel, makes for easy and fun reading. While there is a twist to the overall story arc, it’s a slow burn and, in my opinion, not nearly as juicy a pay-off as the chapter by chapter tidbits.
Still, I enjoyed Weissmann’s breakout book and look forward to reading more stories penned from his horrifically humanistic imagination.
April 4, 2018
Good read.
Not my usual read and it took a little while to get into after a slow start but a great little story and worth reading looking forward to reading the next book now I'm into it😄
Not my usual read and it took a little while to get into after a slow start but a great little story and worth reading looking forward to reading the next book now I'm into it😄
March 19, 2018
This book had quite a fascinating concept with the punishment of crimes. It would seem that with citizens knowing the harsh punishment, crimes would be non-existent or at an all time low. This was not the case, for frequent feeding sentences were scheduled. While I've viewed more sci-fy programs on TV than I've read, the writing in this story enabled me to better envision some of the scenes as they took place, especially scenes with Gumar & his tribe. The storyline and content were well detailed including situations similar to modern day. As a snippet for part 2 was added, my curiosity has risen on reading the next episode.
April 13, 2018
Intelligent reptiles co-exist with humans: The Reptecti adult species is scaly and stands upright at about eight feet tall weighing approximately five hundred pounds; they have been around for sixty-six million years. They share this alternate universe with the human race in a treaty system that allows both species to exist. To prevent war and hunting each other for food or hatred, the humans provide one person a week as food for the reptecti; these are the human criminal element.
Now something is happening. Humans are disappearing, and naturally the reptecti are suspected. The police must figure out what is going on or the treaty could shatter.
There is a good twist at the end, and I liked this novel better than the author’s first book, however my main complaint is with the author’s writing style; it doesn’t flow smoothly. It needs to be tightened, and a good editor could do that for the author. There is too much repeated that could be eliminated to make the narrative flow more easily. The plot and characters are unique, and readers will find the story pulls them in from the beginning. Highly recommended.
Now something is happening. Humans are disappearing, and naturally the reptecti are suspected. The police must figure out what is going on or the treaty could shatter.
There is a good twist at the end, and I liked this novel better than the author’s first book, however my main complaint is with the author’s writing style; it doesn’t flow smoothly. It needs to be tightened, and a good editor could do that for the author. There is too much repeated that could be eliminated to make the narrative flow more easily. The plot and characters are unique, and readers will find the story pulls them in from the beginning. Highly recommended.
March 31, 2018
Dino-fright
This is a long book, but the theme is amazing. I did not want to put it down. Justice between species...I know, I am just amazed at the concept. I have never read anything like this. I am not gonna add any spoilers, but the ending was amazing! Yay! No CLOVERFIELD ending. Gabby was a whiner, but became more likeable toward the end. Some of the crimes left a bad taste in my mouth, but the detectives were really good. Don't let the ending fool you...I thought I had it all figured out too. All I could think was no way!!!!! That was not seen coning. The only complaint I have is the bad language, but I noticed the next book in the series have blanks for some of the actual letters. Hope it is like that for the rest. Really looking forward to the next book in the series. I feel another interspecies war on the horizon. Like I said...long book, but hard to put down. Come on Arthur, give us more.
This is a long book, but the theme is amazing. I did not want to put it down. Justice between species...I know, I am just amazed at the concept. I have never read anything like this. I am not gonna add any spoilers, but the ending was amazing! Yay! No CLOVERFIELD ending. Gabby was a whiner, but became more likeable toward the end. Some of the crimes left a bad taste in my mouth, but the detectives were really good. Don't let the ending fool you...I thought I had it all figured out too. All I could think was no way!!!!! That was not seen coning. The only complaint I have is the bad language, but I noticed the next book in the series have blanks for some of the actual letters. Hope it is like that for the rest. Really looking forward to the next book in the series. I feel another interspecies war on the horizon. Like I said...long book, but hard to put down. Come on Arthur, give us more.
December 17, 2018
This book covers a concept like none other. Humans and other creatures live together. Those creatures called the repectus consider humans food. So, how do they coexist?. They have come in to terms and they have decided that criminals (who commit certain crimes) should be fed to the repectus. What a brilliant idea!. All is well until innocent people are found to be fed to the repectus too. Who could be behind it?.
The police procedurals described in the book is very detailed and keeps you intrigued. The main protagonist is a detective, Victor Pragner. He along with his son, Hector and his partner, Trisha Goldstar shine in this story. They are truly heroic.
This book contains so many smaller stories which come together to create the bigger picture. It's an interesting way of writing and I really enjoyed it. The book cover didn't interest me though, but kudos to the author for coming up with such a creative concept.
The police procedurals described in the book is very detailed and keeps you intrigued. The main protagonist is a detective, Victor Pragner. He along with his son, Hector and his partner, Trisha Goldstar shine in this story. They are truly heroic.
This book contains so many smaller stories which come together to create the bigger picture. It's an interesting way of writing and I really enjoyed it. The book cover didn't interest me though, but kudos to the author for coming up with such a creative concept.
April 22, 2018
Whose on Top?
This is a well written story with a very interesting theme. The beginning of the story is a bit repetitious, but as you get into the book the storyline moves on with a smooth and easy and even flow. The characters are great and the story has many surprising twists and OMG. The it's a great read for those of us who enjoy a break from reality. A to top things off, there are added excerpts of other works, by this author at the end of the story, which are very interesting.
This is a well written story with a very interesting theme. The beginning of the story is a bit repetitious, but as you get into the book the storyline moves on with a smooth and easy and even flow. The characters are great and the story has many surprising twists and OMG. The it's a great read for those of us who enjoy a break from reality. A to top things off, there are added excerpts of other works, by this author at the end of the story, which are very interesting.
May 19, 2018
Well written!
In my opinion, this story was very well written. Though it's quite lengthy, the story grabs your attention and engages the reader. On a scale of 1-10, I give this book a 5 star rating. Great job! I would definitely read more booksfrom this author.
In my opinion, this story was very well written. Though it's quite lengthy, the story grabs your attention and engages the reader. On a scale of 1-10, I give this book a 5 star rating. Great job! I would definitely read more booksfrom this author.
July 9, 2018
A very unique angle and one I'm sure many would support in law enforcement. I'm not so sure some of the crimes warranted the death penalty but this is fiction land. Has a nice flow and honest characterization. Clever ending and worth the time to read. I highly recommend for an afternoon or two of reality escaping adventure with a twist. Nice job Arthur. Creative. Don't stop now.
April 12, 2018
A five star concept hampered only by the need of a little polish. In an alternative universe, intelligent reptiles live along side modern day humans with murderous results. I look forward to seeing more from this author!
May 24, 2018
Fight to be top of the food chain!
The book is set in a world where humans live alongside an intelligent reptilian race. This is a unique and interesting concept with plenty of details which make it easy to envision. As for the story itself, the pace picks up after a couple of chapters and the main characters are well developed. There are also quite a few surprises as well, especially towards the end. A great read for sci-fi fans.
The book is set in a world where humans live alongside an intelligent reptilian race. This is a unique and interesting concept with plenty of details which make it easy to envision. As for the story itself, the pace picks up after a couple of chapters and the main characters are well developed. There are also quite a few surprises as well, especially towards the end. A great read for sci-fi fans.
September 12, 2018
Great plot
It is a very interesting story. A lot of things going on at the same time. The detectives solve cases in a quick fashion. I would imagine that the crime rate would quickly go down I mean who would want to be eaten alive? But greed does do strange things to people. It has a lot of suspense. I thought I knew who the traitor was but I was way off. It has a mixture of everything that makes for an awesome read.
It is a very interesting story. A lot of things going on at the same time. The detectives solve cases in a quick fashion. I would imagine that the crime rate would quickly go down I mean who would want to be eaten alive? But greed does do strange things to people. It has a lot of suspense. I thought I knew who the traitor was but I was way off. It has a mixture of everything that makes for an awesome read.
December 27, 2018
I am not into sci-fi books, but I think this a great book to read. I just felt that the crimes are too easy to solve. Although the main crime made the readers to think a bit which I think makes up from the easy crimes from the beginning of the book. I guess it’s to build suspense and all the crimes connects with the main crime of the books. I like that everything connects like a puzzle. The book starts off slow but after going through the first chapters the books gets more interesting ! The ending makes me be in shock, but I wasn’t surprised. I cannot wait till the sequel comes out.
August 14, 2022
The author needs find his writing. It was easy to tell that the book was written by a novice, but that's not a bad thing! I hope the writer gets more experience and possibly finds a mentor. Interesting premise. It was an okay read.
April 22, 2018
Outstanding concept, just needs some polish
I give this book 4 stars - it’s a five star concept hampered only by some early-author mistakes, and the writing gets stronger as the novel moves on.
I see lots of talent here, just needing a bit of polish to make it a five star read
I give this book 4 stars - it’s a five star concept hampered only by some early-author mistakes, and the writing gets stronger as the novel moves on.
I see lots of talent here, just needing a bit of polish to make it a five star read
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews