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Leviathan: Ghost Rig
Bracken, a down on his luck oil man is offered a chance of redemption when a billionaire offers him a job to repair a ghost oil rig in the South Pacific Ocean. The payment is enough to retire him and his small crew. But when they arrive on ghost rig Sera, Bracken soon discovers they're not alone. Something very large circles under the water around the rig. Something that shouldn't exist, but does. A thing of nightmares. And it's hungry...
174 pages, Paperback
Published September 27, 2017
230 people are currently reading
145 people want to read
About the author
Lucas Pederson
43 books56 followersLucas Pederson is an American novelist and short story writer of horror, dark fantasy, young adult and science fiction. He lives in a small Iowa town with his family and they're all pretty sure their cat is an alien. He can be reached at lucaspederson@yahoo.com, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews
September 11, 2020
That was so incredibly awful in every way.
June 10, 2022
First off I want to say I think this book may have gone through editing Hell, but still quite bad.
Also a main character is named Sarah and the boat that they have this huge mission on is called Sera, good luck Audio book readers!
February 11, 2018
One doesn't read monster books for the richly realised characters but it would be good to do a bit more than stock your novel with thin pastiches of people from better works.
Also if you're going to have human antagonists, they need actual motivations. This book fails both those requirements and frankly the monsters aren't interesting or entertaining enough to make up for it.
Also if you're going to have human antagonists, they need actual motivations. This book fails both those requirements and frankly the monsters aren't interesting or entertaining enough to make up for it.
April 11, 2020
This title had a lot of potential but seemed too rushed. I think this should have been done as a series or just a longer novel. The characters were a bit rough, which made it hard to really care about them. Plus, the ending wasn't fulfilling.
February 24, 2020
“Don’t know what’s out there. Ain’t no trainin’ can prepare any of ya for what the sea hides.”
This is an underwater monster book taking place mostly in the South Pacific ocean (or North Pacific - it mentions both).
I liked this book for what it was - a fast-paced action monster thriller with a high body count. It would make a fun B-grade movie.
Bracken owns and runs a failing oil drilling business. This book takes place at a future time when the climates are changing and oil and fresh water are seriously depleted. His mortgage is in arrears, he hasn't paid his crew for awhile, his wife left him taking his daughter, and he's seriously thinking about diving into a bottle of booze.
After a freak accident, he is approached with an almost-too-good-to-be-true offer and he and his crew take off with some specialty help to restore an abandoned oil rig.
Great fun if you're a monster movie lover like me. I would have rated this 3 1/2 stars if I could have.
This is an underwater monster book taking place mostly in the South Pacific ocean (or North Pacific - it mentions both).
I liked this book for what it was - a fast-paced action monster thriller with a high body count. It would make a fun B-grade movie.
Bracken owns and runs a failing oil drilling business. This book takes place at a future time when the climates are changing and oil and fresh water are seriously depleted. His mortgage is in arrears, he hasn't paid his crew for awhile, his wife left him taking his daughter, and he's seriously thinking about diving into a bottle of booze.
After a freak accident, he is approached with an almost-too-good-to-be-true offer and he and his crew take off with some specialty help to restore an abandoned oil rig.
Great fun if you're a monster movie lover like me. I would have rated this 3 1/2 stars if I could have.
January 20, 2025
Enjoyable premise, easy reading style and no big stakes with choosing this novel, felt the end was short and could have been fleshed out more but overall a solid story and fun read, Will check out authors other work
September 26, 2022
I've always loved the idea of haunted or abandoned oil rigs, sitting all sorts of lonely out in the vast deep reaches of the northern Atlantic or Pacific oceans. Sitting there, huges waves lapping at the bottom of the rig's flooring, salt encrusting metal, rusting away over so many years. Its somethng thats happened for years. So many things could happen unknowingly. It all makes for a perfect storm as well as a geat novel.
That being said, This had the makings of one of those novels. The unfortunate thing, is that the whole story was incredibly rushed. It had a great set up. Some believeable characters for the most part and a plot that could have been a major page turner. It didnt develope that way Im sorry to say.
There were alot of elements that I liked, but the author didnt take those elements and run with it. Reading it, all those storylines and elements that should have been developed jsut werent. It was like the whole story was published as a rough draft. Everything was basically unfinished to the very end. I almsot wanted to take it and put all the stuff i wanted to read in it myself. Obviously, I couldnt do that, but its how I felt.
To the author's credit, his idea had some strong points, it just stayed a printed rough draft.
I never like to giive bad reviews, so I always try to find good points. The good points here was that it had potential. But unrealized.
That being said, This had the makings of one of those novels. The unfortunate thing, is that the whole story was incredibly rushed. It had a great set up. Some believeable characters for the most part and a plot that could have been a major page turner. It didnt develope that way Im sorry to say.
There were alot of elements that I liked, but the author didnt take those elements and run with it. Reading it, all those storylines and elements that should have been developed jsut werent. It was like the whole story was published as a rough draft. Everything was basically unfinished to the very end. I almsot wanted to take it and put all the stuff i wanted to read in it myself. Obviously, I couldnt do that, but its how I felt.
To the author's credit, his idea had some strong points, it just stayed a printed rough draft.
I never like to giive bad reviews, so I always try to find good points. The good points here was that it had potential. But unrealized.
March 1, 2022
Always been a fan of deep sea horror books, so the idea behind this seemed interesting - a team of oil drillers sent to an abandoned rig in the middle of the ocean to make it operational again, where they encounter a mysterious monster. There were some cool concepts like the mech suits and the creature had some potential to be intriguing. Sadly, this book feels either unfinished or a combination of several short stories mashed together.
It's never really explained why this team was chosen. why its so important that this rig begin working again after being abandoned for years, and why the guy who is funding the expedition seems to be trying to make sure it fails at the same time. The story jumps from one scene to the next without connecting them and some of the characters have no logical reason at all for being on the rig - they just come along for the ride knowing that they probably won't make it out, but seemingly not caring. There's no aftermath or closure, as if the author suddenly realized at the end they only had two more pages to wrap the story up and threw in a cheap one page epilogue. Left me feeling cheated out of a real ending. There are much better creature novels out there.
It's never really explained why this team was chosen. why its so important that this rig begin working again after being abandoned for years, and why the guy who is funding the expedition seems to be trying to make sure it fails at the same time. The story jumps from one scene to the next without connecting them and some of the characters have no logical reason at all for being on the rig - they just come along for the ride knowing that they probably won't make it out, but seemingly not caring. There's no aftermath or closure, as if the author suddenly realized at the end they only had two more pages to wrap the story up and threw in a cheap one page epilogue. Left me feeling cheated out of a real ending. There are much better creature novels out there.
December 11, 2018
This book is filled with...
Dots. So many Dots. There is an... part on almost every page it feels like. Sometimes twice a page. The author uses this to end paragraphs sometimes. It made no sense.
The monster doesn't show up until halfway through the book, then after that, it doesn't do much. This is a short book and you'd think you'd want to get to it a little faster. Instead, lots of time is wasted with characters you'll never see again. There is no sense of time, it doesn't matter much. Until you get to Clint who claims to have served in World War 2, but Bracken wishes he was back in 2017 at one point.
So how old is Clint?
They fly to the Rig in a Helicopter, from California to the South Pacific Ocean. Yeah, sorry. No.
The Mechs they have can go over 200 miles an hour, but they never go out there to get the supplies they lose.
Some characters don't seem to get more than ten lines of dialogue. The book tells us more about what is said than anything and it's frustrating.
This book is a mess on so many levels.
Save your money.
Dots. So many Dots. There is an... part on almost every page it feels like. Sometimes twice a page. The author uses this to end paragraphs sometimes. It made no sense.
The monster doesn't show up until halfway through the book, then after that, it doesn't do much. This is a short book and you'd think you'd want to get to it a little faster. Instead, lots of time is wasted with characters you'll never see again. There is no sense of time, it doesn't matter much. Until you get to Clint who claims to have served in World War 2, but Bracken wishes he was back in 2017 at one point.
So how old is Clint?
They fly to the Rig in a Helicopter, from California to the South Pacific Ocean. Yeah, sorry. No.
The Mechs they have can go over 200 miles an hour, but they never go out there to get the supplies they lose.
Some characters don't seem to get more than ten lines of dialogue. The book tells us more about what is said than anything and it's frustrating.
This book is a mess on so many levels.
Save your money.
November 17, 2017
Not enough leviathan.
I know I gave this three stars, but just barely. The main killer was virtually the same creature in The Thing remake and a few other movies. The leviathan only showed up a few times. If you change a few details, you have a very well used story line here. What saved it are some of the better developed characters. Oh, and I apologize for this minor spoiler, but who puts a self-destruct mechanism on a piece of industrial machinery? Also, the supply drop goof up was seriously implausible. I hope the author's other books are better.
I know I gave this three stars, but just barely. The main killer was virtually the same creature in The Thing remake and a few other movies. The leviathan only showed up a few times. If you change a few details, you have a very well used story line here. What saved it are some of the better developed characters. Oh, and I apologize for this minor spoiler, but who puts a self-destruct mechanism on a piece of industrial machinery? Also, the supply drop goof up was seriously implausible. I hope the author's other books are better.
May 1, 2020
I think another reviewer said it best when they said this was kind of like watching a B movie. It delivers a story, parts of it hold your attention and other parts leave you scratching your head.
This story takes place in (possibly) the near future where the world is a more hostile place with poisonous ash storms springing up, venomous genetically engineered creatures and climate catastrophes. All of this is occuring but the world still needs oil to run. This is where we meet Bracken and his team of oil drillers, desperate,running out of luck and out in a dusty dangerous oil field seeking out new veins to drill. When disaster strikes a very wealthy man is Brackens only hope at saving his life, salvaging his business and his life and the proposal seems easy enough. Fix an old ocean oil rig, lay new pipe work and come home earning millions. However, the job proves more treacherous than they thought possible.
I hought this had a lot of potential and seemed condensed, like fitting an entire movie into a 30 minute show, some things were skipped over. I think if it was expanded and we could get to know the world better and the reasons behind the desperation and madness that comes later, it would have made more sense. I wanted to just enjoy the story but I kept finding discrepancies that were distracting. Certain things are not explained like the wealthy man's motives for needing this oil rig fixed quickly and why hes willing to go so far to do it; and when we first meet the hardcore military leader she is said to have a buzz cut and then later in the story shes putting her messy nest of hair in a ponytail. For a book that is less than 200 pages I was surprised by the descriptions of the same character being so different. Overall this was what is was, entertaining and a way to kill a few hours.
This story takes place in (possibly) the near future where the world is a more hostile place with poisonous ash storms springing up, venomous genetically engineered creatures and climate catastrophes. All of this is occuring but the world still needs oil to run. This is where we meet Bracken and his team of oil drillers, desperate,running out of luck and out in a dusty dangerous oil field seeking out new veins to drill. When disaster strikes a very wealthy man is Brackens only hope at saving his life, salvaging his business and his life and the proposal seems easy enough. Fix an old ocean oil rig, lay new pipe work and come home earning millions. However, the job proves more treacherous than they thought possible.
I hought this had a lot of potential and seemed condensed, like fitting an entire movie into a 30 minute show, some things were skipped over. I think if it was expanded and we could get to know the world better and the reasons behind the desperation and madness that comes later, it would have made more sense. I wanted to just enjoy the story but I kept finding discrepancies that were distracting. Certain things are not explained like the wealthy man's motives for needing this oil rig fixed quickly and why hes willing to go so far to do it; and when we first meet the hardcore military leader she is said to have a buzz cut and then later in the story shes putting her messy nest of hair in a ponytail. For a book that is less than 200 pages I was surprised by the descriptions of the same character being so different. Overall this was what is was, entertaining and a way to kill a few hours.
April 15, 2018
It'll do.
Was it entertaining? Yeah, I guess. Were the characters fully realized? Not really. Did it pass some time? Of course. Did I enjoy the book? Sure, why not. I think the most disappointing thing about this book was the failed potential. The author started to create an interesting future world but ultimately the world building fell flat because as fast as things were introduced, they were discarded or never brought up again. Characters suffered a similar fate, I did my best as a reader to connect and care for them but most never made it past their adjectives. I have no issues with stock or stereotype characters, especially in action or horror books, but at least make them feel like more than just a name and a two word modifier. This book had a lot of attempts at making references to classics like Jaws and The Thing and the works of HP Lovecraft and they were decent attempts but, once again, ultimately they felt more like knock offs than clever homages.
That being said, I did enjoy the book. Mr. Pederson writes with good pacing so I never felt bored nor did I have trouble following what was happening. It was a quick read and while most things were half baked, he did a good job of setting scenes because I could always picture the settings in my minds eye. This book is worth the read as long as the price isn't too expensive and if I need something quick to go through on a rainy day it wouldn't be terrible to read again I guess. Honestly though, this is one of those books that would've benefited from another three dozen pages of exposition and a bit more technical research so I felt more immersed in the created world and was better able to connect with characters i wanted to feel for.
Was it entertaining? Yeah, I guess. Were the characters fully realized? Not really. Did it pass some time? Of course. Did I enjoy the book? Sure, why not. I think the most disappointing thing about this book was the failed potential. The author started to create an interesting future world but ultimately the world building fell flat because as fast as things were introduced, they were discarded or never brought up again. Characters suffered a similar fate, I did my best as a reader to connect and care for them but most never made it past their adjectives. I have no issues with stock or stereotype characters, especially in action or horror books, but at least make them feel like more than just a name and a two word modifier. This book had a lot of attempts at making references to classics like Jaws and The Thing and the works of HP Lovecraft and they were decent attempts but, once again, ultimately they felt more like knock offs than clever homages.
That being said, I did enjoy the book. Mr. Pederson writes with good pacing so I never felt bored nor did I have trouble following what was happening. It was a quick read and while most things were half baked, he did a good job of setting scenes because I could always picture the settings in my minds eye. This book is worth the read as long as the price isn't too expensive and if I need something quick to go through on a rainy day it wouldn't be terrible to read again I guess. Honestly though, this is one of those books that would've benefited from another three dozen pages of exposition and a bit more technical research so I felt more immersed in the created world and was better able to connect with characters i wanted to feel for.
March 20, 2019
While this is roughly equal in length to another monster novel I just read, in comparison I feel like it takes far too long to get to the actual monster.
For a monster novel the monster doesn’t get nearly as much page time as it should. Especially for a story of this length. The characters aren’t nearly enough to carry things especially when you expect a fair number of them to get killed off in a book like this.
The world itself has some interesting potential that isn’t really capitalized on as much as it could be which would be fine but the main selling point of the book doesn’t really do much either. I feel like the monster should have had a much more prominent focus and threat.
As is this just couldn’t hold my attention.
For a monster novel the monster doesn’t get nearly as much page time as it should. Especially for a story of this length. The characters aren’t nearly enough to carry things especially when you expect a fair number of them to get killed off in a book like this.
The world itself has some interesting potential that isn’t really capitalized on as much as it could be which would be fine but the main selling point of the book doesn’t really do much either. I feel like the monster should have had a much more prominent focus and threat.
As is this just couldn’t hold my attention.
November 29, 2018
Cross between Jaws and The Thing (newest one)
Six friends and co-workers and some others are run out to try to fix and repair an oil rig to get it producing oil again. What they meet in the ocean is a thing of nightmares. This book is sort of like watching a B movie. It has its moments here and there but not necessarily all the way through the book. If you have any other books by this author and liked them, then you'd probably like this one. I am not sure I would read another because I have so many other books to catch up on.
Six friends and co-workers and some others are run out to try to fix and repair an oil rig to get it producing oil again. What they meet in the ocean is a thing of nightmares. This book is sort of like watching a B movie. It has its moments here and there but not necessarily all the way through the book. If you have any other books by this author and liked them, then you'd probably like this one. I am not sure I would read another because I have so many other books to catch up on.
January 21, 2018
A BOOGER OF A SEA TALE IT IS...
Hello, this short story was pretty good. I think it would have been better if longer and more detailed. Even for a short story, the last 25% or so seemed really rushed. Some of the characters were quite unbelievable, while others were put together pretty good.
Hello, this short story was pretty good. I think it would have been better if longer and more detailed. Even for a short story, the last 25% or so seemed really rushed. Some of the characters were quite unbelievable, while others were put together pretty good.
March 9, 2019
It started pretty good and fell flat around the middle and the last. I think it will be far better if the author made it longer to flesh out his characters and give more details about the leviathan. Putting past it and some implausible scenarios presented, I guess it is an okay book. It left me with too many unanswered questions but it'll do.
May 25, 2020
If you have seen the movie Leviathan (1989), then you probably don't need to read this book. Though there are some scenic and character changes the premise is the same, right down to some very specific details about the monster's appearance. Many reviewers said it seems like it would make a good B-movie... and they are correct.
July 5, 2021
Terrific adventure
This was a terrific read, and a wonderful adventure. This well written action yarn kept me engrossed as the pages flew by in rapid succession. The characters were well defined and relatable, and the scenes described made me feel like I vas there. Lots of grotty descriptions of gory death, many (Too many) eyes popping out of people's heads.
This was a terrific read, and a wonderful adventure. This well written action yarn kept me engrossed as the pages flew by in rapid succession. The characters were well defined and relatable, and the scenes described made me feel like I vas there. Lots of grotty descriptions of gory death, many (Too many) eyes popping out of people's heads.
October 16, 2017
Wow.
I love DEEP sea adventures. This one does not disappoint. An oil rig out in the middle of the ocean, a massive sea monster and a crazy lady with a gun. What could possibly go wrong. Everything. My heart is still racing! Brilliant book by Lucas Penderson.
I love DEEP sea adventures. This one does not disappoint. An oil rig out in the middle of the ocean, a massive sea monster and a crazy lady with a gun. What could possibly go wrong. Everything. My heart is still racing! Brilliant book by Lucas Penderson.
January 27, 2018
I stuck it out and read the whole thing. It got weirder by the page.
My first speed bump was when the crew trained in an 800 foot deep swimming pool.
If the monster had been believable, it would have made for a better story.
My first speed bump was when the crew trained in an 800 foot deep swimming pool.
If the monster had been believable, it would have made for a better story.
March 11, 2020
Interesting
Overall it's an interesting story with memorable characters. There was loose ends that needing tied up that I think would have helped with the ending but overall a good read.
Overall it's an interesting story with memorable characters. There was loose ends that needing tied up that I think would have helped with the ending but overall a good read.
March 31, 2020
Love it!
I absolutely love this book. The characters are easy to relate to and seem like real people, not stagnant, flat characters. I read this in less than two days...I only stopped because I had to work! My heart was even pounding. Highly recommend.
I absolutely love this book. The characters are easy to relate to and seem like real people, not stagnant, flat characters. I read this in less than two days...I only stopped because I had to work! My heart was even pounding. Highly recommend.
July 18, 2020
This book is so bad it makes me grind my teeth.
Preposterous circumstances.
Events happen for no reason.
People's motivations make no sense.
Black or white infantile hollywood c movie in a book.
I can't finish it.
75% and I'm suffering.
Personal advice:
Stay away from it.
Preposterous circumstances.
Events happen for no reason.
People's motivations make no sense.
Black or white infantile hollywood c movie in a book.
I can't finish it.
75% and I'm suffering.
Personal advice:
Stay away from it.
July 21, 2021
"exhales a breathe too big to be a sigh"
that line..is in every damned paragraph....in one form or another....it might be a decent story if onky his editor had pointed out that repetitive line and told him to remove it...or even if he had a decent narrator..my god the narrator is bad :(
that line..is in every damned paragraph....in one form or another....it might be a decent story if onky his editor had pointed out that repetitive line and told him to remove it...or even if he had a decent narrator..my god the narrator is bad :(
November 22, 2017
Very good story
There were a few errors and some words left out. But this is a great book!
Honestly, I hope there is a sequel. I plan to check.
There were a few errors and some words left out. But this is a great book!
Honestly, I hope there is a sequel. I plan to check.
February 28, 2018
Interesting story
This was a great monster from the dragons book. It has a lot of action and destruction, along with fire so be prepared.
This was a great monster from the dragons book. It has a lot of action and destruction, along with fire so be prepared.
March 7, 2018
Fast and fun read!!
Great book for a spring break, cruise, or rainy weekend. It had some fun and charming characters. Bittersweet ending... though.
Great book for a spring break, cruise, or rainy weekend. It had some fun and charming characters. Bittersweet ending... though.
May 8, 2018
Wow! This book grabbed me with its claws and drug me under with the Leviathan! It will keep you on the edge of your seat and keep you there until the very end.
May 20, 2018
???
I did get this one. What's with that crazy psycho LT? There was not enough explaining and wayyyyy too much cursing. I really just wanted to see how it ended...badly.
I did get this one. What's with that crazy psycho LT? There was not enough explaining and wayyyyy too much cursing. I really just wanted to see how it ended...badly.
November 25, 2018
RTC
I can’t wait to share this one. LOL
I can’t wait to share this one. LOL
Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews