Der Fluch der vergessenen Stadt

by Jethro Wegener

Eine uralte Stadt, von der Zeit vergessen … Lady Amelia Swift ist davon überzeugt, dass die vergessene Stadt Z wirklich existiert, und fest entschlossen, sie zu finden. Zusammen mit einer Gruppe wagemutiger Abenteurer, darunter der Weltkriegsveteran und Bootskapitän Willy Rivers, wagt sie sich in den undurchdringlichen brasilianischen Dschungel. Doch die Jagd nach Ruhm und Reichtum wird schnell zum Kampf ums Überleben. Irgendetwas hat die Kreaturen des Amazonas in bizarre Monstrositäten verwandelt. Und es gibt einen Grund, warum die geheimnisvolle Zivilisation im dunkelsten Herzen des Dschungels unterging. Denn die schrecklichste Kreatur wartet in den Ruinen der vergessenen Stadt nur darauf, wiedererweckt zu werden … Eine kurzweilige Geschichte mit kreativ überzeichneten gruseligen Krabbeltieren und einer im Dschungel verborgenen mysteriösen Stadt. Ein atemloser Actionspaß. Dieser Roman versprüht den Charme der großen Abenteuer eines Indiana Jones, Quatermains oder Doc Savage. Ein Retro-Abenteuer voller gefährlicher Riesenmonster, unerschrockener Haudegen und sagenhafter Geheimnisse.

Genres: Horror

312 pages, Paperback

Published April 1, 2021

Reviews

[Sarah B · Rating 5 out of 5]

"There are stories about things in the jungle, spirits and great beasts that kill men as easily as looking at them. I think there are things in the world from before, godforsaken creatures that live only to kill."

This was the very first book I've read on my new Kindle fire and I must say it's a fun adventure story. If you love those creepy movies with giant bugs running around and chomping on people then you'll love this story. It's just like those movies. And the story moves fast too, especially once they get into the jungle. Then there's lots of action, a wide variety of gigantic bugs, nasty humans and a few twists too. There's heroes and villians. Plus the lost city of Z. What more could you want? Great descriptions too! You could almost feel the heat and humidity of the jungle, the hum of the insects and the loud mysterious sound of something...

There's lots of characters in here. I admit near the beginning I had a tough time keeping some of them straight...who was who...but once the action started in the jungle it really didn't matter. It was a race to survive then against the hordes of huge insects. So don't really worry if you can't keep them all straight.

There's a nice message in here about what is really a civilization, about the rights of indigenous people. I didn't expect that in here so it was a very pleasant surprise. The story also talks a lot about the horrors of war and what the after affects does to a person, how it can affect their mind and behavior. So this is a lot more than just a random creature story.

The story itself is about a young woman and her uncle who travel to the tropics in search of the lost city of Z. But what they actually find is far different than what they were expecting. Truthfully, I'm shocked they had enough ammunition...or did they? Guess you'll have to read it to find out. Only thing I can say is I had a delightful evening reading this.

[Bandit · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve recently read the book that sort of rekindled my love for pure classic adventure stories, treasure hunting mythical world magical/ancient flora and fauna, etc. scenarios. This book fitted the category quite nicely. This is my second read by the author and he maintains the quality, his books are just so much fun to read. This one revisits the lost world of Percy Fawcett’s dreams, or nightmares as it is very much the case here, as in the post WWII world the mission to a place he died trying to find is assembled, a rag tag team of upper class Brits, a black American former G.I., some locals. Just enough to play around with various stereotypes of the era and deliver the message of equality. Together they boldly go where…well, where some have gone before and vanished. There’s danger everywhere. The nature is hostile. The locals might be too. And then there are some Nazis on their tails too. Because, why wouldn’t there be. So all in all it’s good fun. It’s basically a creature feature/classic adventure story mashup, it’s really short, 151 pages or so, an easy one sit read and plenty entertaining for what it is without overstaying its welcome. A whambam of a story with some creatively exaggerated creepy crawlies and a mysterious city secreted away in the jungle. Oodles of silly high octane fun. Much like a B movie done right. Recommended.

[Sandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eigentlich hätte ich 4 Sterne vergeben, wenn das Ende nicht so mega blöde gemacht worden wäre...

Generell fällt das Buch, trotz des sehr trashigen Covers, für mich nicht mehr unter Trash-Horror, da es überraschend gut geschrieben ist. Es hatte eine Mischung as Indiana Jones und B-Movie-Horrorfilm intus.

Amelia ist nicht wie andere Frauen (wenn ich das schön höre ...) und will sich nicht in die Klassengepflogenheit Englands kurz nach dem 2ten Weltkrieg einbringen - und glücklicherweise tut sie das wirklich nicht. Die Frau kann schießen und sich verteidigen, flucht wie ein Rohrspatz und lässt sich von Kerlen nicht den Mund verbieten - und das bleibt auch bis zum Ende des Buches so. So big yay for her.

Amelia macht sich jedenfalls zur Aufgabe die verlorene Stadt Z mit ihrem (ebenso weltoffenen) Onkel zu suchen, der nichts für Rassen-Klassendenken übrig hat. Sie lernen Rivers, einen schwarzen Ex-Soldaten, der Amerika verlassen hat, kennen, und seinen Freund Carlos, der den Indios im urwald helfen will.
Und es darf natürlich auch Hawkes und sein Sergeant fehlen - die sind von der alten Garde und sehen Nicht-Weiße als minderwertig und Frauen als schwaches Geschlecht an. Das alles hält sich aber gu tin Grenzen (und passt gut in die Zeit), und es wird auch nicht so exorbitant gepredigt, wie schlimm die Einstellung ist - die Themen kommen natürlich vor. Aber es ist okay und ist nicht der Großteil des Buches.

Achja, und dann gibt es noch Ex-Nazis, die die Gruppe verfolgt... den Sinn von denen hab ich nicht so ganz verstanden, außer das Nazis halt böse sind und .. ???? ich weiß auch nicht, die waren ziemlich sinnlos.

Generell bleibt das Buch durchweg actionlastig und spannend - zum Ende hin kommen auch die Monster vor. Es ist nicht supergorig geschrieben, aber liest sich flott. Nur das Ende war eine reine enttäuschung, da es wieder so ein "Ich reiß alle aus der Actionszene raus, um die Hintergründe zu erklären" war. Sowas hasse ich. Aber sonst. Eigentlich ziemlich gut.

[Kristina Trawick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nazis and monsters and bugs, oh.....

Set after WWII, a group of people, led by a spunky British noblewoman and her uncle, head into the jungles of the Amazon looking for the famed Lost City of Z. On the same path are a bunch of self exiled Nazis that inexplicably heard about the aforesaid expedition at some point, evidently in London. What I found was a few drama queens, giant bugs mind controlled by something, no answers to how or why, and the author's use of other people's fictional adventurers. I gave the book three stars because I found, like others, it refreshingly free of the bad editing so usually rampant in the KU set. But the writing was sophomoric, the characters too stereotypical. I wanted a tale to keep me up at night, not one that played out like a really bad made for tv sci fi flick.

[Adam Wilson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I learned two things

I learned that white people are the bane of all civilizations everywhere and that war is a horrible shell.

The grammar, spelling and punctuation were all well done considering this was a Kindle Unlimited book but I don't read books about Amazon jungle adventures to get a class in political correctness.

Give me action and adventure, not a sermon.

[Alexa · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was ultra disappointing. I completely don't support the "stay in your own lane" idea. BUT I think I am going to make an exception for this book... If you are not an African American, who descendant from slaves and also fought in WW2 (?) do not try and write a character who has nothing going on in his world or in his head other than those 3 things. It was the most irritating thing, and with how bad
ALL the writing is, that is saying a lot.

Because on top of our solider/captain man, we also have a girl boss being crushed by the patriarchy, despite all efforts however this babe is the smartest, bravest, richest of the bunch. *eyeroll and sigh* and I cannot understand why Wegener chose to write this as a post WW2 novel in the first place (I mean other than giving out victim points and mentioning that Nazi's are bad.

I skimmed a huge portion of the book after the first half didn't progress at all. There is the first scene and then a bit at the end that involve the monsters the rest is a LONG set of monologues and dialogues that add nothing to the story. This should have been a short story if anything but instead 4 hours of audiobook nonsense.

[Jon Theisen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great reading

I really eyed reading this tale of adventure and discovery especially with the supernatural twist with the evil spirits that plagued every moment once they where get close to Z.

[Tauriel89 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining read!

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent! In the same tradition as the Indiana Jones and the Brendan Fraser mummy movies. Make this movie happen!!!!

Short read, fast paced, well written.