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Dr. Laura Powell #2
The Stone Serpent
“Nicholas Kaufmann offers up an unputdownable blend of gruesome body horror and fast-paced suspense.” – Ray Garton, author of Live Girls and Ravenous
Medical Examiner Dr. Laura Powell didn't think anything could be more frightening than what she uncovered in an autopsy a year ago. Yet, in this chilling sequel to Nicholas Kaufmann’s bestselling The Hungry Earth, the cause of death is literally petrifying.
When a completely petrified corpse ends up on her autopsy table, Laura is convinced it must be a fossil, but the evidence says otherwise. Impossibly, the man on her table died in a car crash earlier that day. But what could cause a human body to transform so quickly from flesh to a hard stonelike substance?
Laura’s investigation takes her out of her hometown of Sakima, New York, and into dangerous new territory. From the streets of Valley Grove, home to a fundamentalist religious sect under the thumb of a brutal, vindictive leader, to the bowels of Thurmond Biotech, a secretive pharmaceutical company hellbent on developing the first anti-aging miracle drug, what she unearths is far more terrifying than she could have imagined.
Vicious, deadly creatures are preying on the people of Valley Grove, killing them with a highly toxic venom that ravages and transforms their bodies in horrifying ways. As the creatures claim more victims, striking from out of the darkness with lightning-fast speed, Laura must find a way to stop them before they spread to the rest of the Hudson Valley. But will her search for answers put her in even more danger by sending her into the heart of the creatures’ den?
With The Stone Serpent, multiple award-nominated author Nicholas Kaufmann delivers another gripping thriller in the Dr. Laura Powell series.
Medical Examiner Dr. Laura Powell didn't think anything could be more frightening than what she uncovered in an autopsy a year ago. Yet, in this chilling sequel to Nicholas Kaufmann’s bestselling The Hungry Earth, the cause of death is literally petrifying.
When a completely petrified corpse ends up on her autopsy table, Laura is convinced it must be a fossil, but the evidence says otherwise. Impossibly, the man on her table died in a car crash earlier that day. But what could cause a human body to transform so quickly from flesh to a hard stonelike substance?
Laura’s investigation takes her out of her hometown of Sakima, New York, and into dangerous new territory. From the streets of Valley Grove, home to a fundamentalist religious sect under the thumb of a brutal, vindictive leader, to the bowels of Thurmond Biotech, a secretive pharmaceutical company hellbent on developing the first anti-aging miracle drug, what she unearths is far more terrifying than she could have imagined.
Vicious, deadly creatures are preying on the people of Valley Grove, killing them with a highly toxic venom that ravages and transforms their bodies in horrifying ways. As the creatures claim more victims, striking from out of the darkness with lightning-fast speed, Laura must find a way to stop them before they spread to the rest of the Hudson Valley. But will her search for answers put her in even more danger by sending her into the heart of the creatures’ den?
With The Stone Serpent, multiple award-nominated author Nicholas Kaufmann delivers another gripping thriller in the Dr. Laura Powell series.
282 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 29, 2022
3 people are currently reading
57 people want to read
About the author
Nicholas Kaufmann
37 books217 followersNicholas Kaufmann is the Bram Stoker Award-, Thriller Award-, Shirley Jackson Award-, and Dragon Award-nominated author of numerous books and stories. In addition to his own work, he has written for such properties as Zombies vs. Robots, The Rocketeer, and Warhammer. He lives in Brooklyn, NY with his wife.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
October 20, 2022
Firstly, huge thanks to David at Crossroads Press and Nicholas for sending me a digital ARC of this one.
This is a sequel to 2021’s ‘The Hungry Earth’ which I read and really enjoyed earlier this year, and while it is a ‘sequel’ in the sense it continues on with Dr. Laura Powell and the aftermath of what happened, it has moved onto a different plotline. So, if you’ve not read ‘The Hungry Earth’ you’ll be good to dive in here, although you will miss a bit of some of what they discuss surrounding those who didn’t survive book one.
I was curious to see where Kaufmann went with this one. I knew it involved the discovery of a strange, petrified person, but that was about it. So, I dove in head first, not completely sure how deep the water was.
What I liked: Funny enough, it wasn’t until I started this one, that I really understood how enjoyable a character Laura is. She was the star of book one and now, with book two, her and her boyfriend, Booker, become a solid and dependable team, especially after the opening sequence where a young man dies and when his body is found it is solid as a rock.
The story within here is a told at break-neck pacing and Kaufmann does a great job of leaving a few potential possibilities lingering that give us a trail and then diverted as needed. Unlike book one, where we know it’s this crazy fungus infecting everyone, we are not 100% certain of what is going on until finally the reveal occurs and the book shifts into yet another gear.
Much like book one, ‘The Stone Serpent’ has a ton of really intriguing and fantastic research crammed in, with so much of it forcing you to put down the book and head to Google. I guarantee that will happen when you hear the true story of a dog and a discovery involving petrification. Kaufmann has really made sure he’s done his due diligence and the reader is all the better for it.
As for the characters within, we get some really solid new ones, some vile despicable ones and it all works to keep the plot moving along until we get to the bonkers, everything thrown at us ending.
What I didn’t like: There’s two subplots that push the reader regarding the ‘what is going on’ aspect of the story. I actually found the religious storyline to be fairly formulaic at times – crazy leader, someone challenging them, faith is tested, etc etc. There was the underlying bit about biotech and big company that had me far more intrigued, so I wish we would’ve gotten more in that realm than the religious realm, although it was necessary for the family backstory aspect for Laura.
Why you should buy this: I actually loved this one, while I only liked the first one. Both are great, but if I had to choose, this one would win. We get crazy people, insane attacks and a slithery creature-feature aspect that also leaves the door open for things to continue on in a book three. I for one would love to see more of what Dr. Laura Powell and Booker get up to!
This was a blast!
This is a sequel to 2021’s ‘The Hungry Earth’ which I read and really enjoyed earlier this year, and while it is a ‘sequel’ in the sense it continues on with Dr. Laura Powell and the aftermath of what happened, it has moved onto a different plotline. So, if you’ve not read ‘The Hungry Earth’ you’ll be good to dive in here, although you will miss a bit of some of what they discuss surrounding those who didn’t survive book one.
I was curious to see where Kaufmann went with this one. I knew it involved the discovery of a strange, petrified person, but that was about it. So, I dove in head first, not completely sure how deep the water was.
What I liked: Funny enough, it wasn’t until I started this one, that I really understood how enjoyable a character Laura is. She was the star of book one and now, with book two, her and her boyfriend, Booker, become a solid and dependable team, especially after the opening sequence where a young man dies and when his body is found it is solid as a rock.
The story within here is a told at break-neck pacing and Kaufmann does a great job of leaving a few potential possibilities lingering that give us a trail and then diverted as needed. Unlike book one, where we know it’s this crazy fungus infecting everyone, we are not 100% certain of what is going on until finally the reveal occurs and the book shifts into yet another gear.
Much like book one, ‘The Stone Serpent’ has a ton of really intriguing and fantastic research crammed in, with so much of it forcing you to put down the book and head to Google. I guarantee that will happen when you hear the true story of a dog and a discovery involving petrification. Kaufmann has really made sure he’s done his due diligence and the reader is all the better for it.
As for the characters within, we get some really solid new ones, some vile despicable ones and it all works to keep the plot moving along until we get to the bonkers, everything thrown at us ending.
What I didn’t like: There’s two subplots that push the reader regarding the ‘what is going on’ aspect of the story. I actually found the religious storyline to be fairly formulaic at times – crazy leader, someone challenging them, faith is tested, etc etc. There was the underlying bit about biotech and big company that had me far more intrigued, so I wish we would’ve gotten more in that realm than the religious realm, although it was necessary for the family backstory aspect for Laura.
Why you should buy this: I actually loved this one, while I only liked the first one. Both are great, but if I had to choose, this one would win. We get crazy people, insane attacks and a slithery creature-feature aspect that also leaves the door open for things to continue on in a book three. I for one would love to see more of what Dr. Laura Powell and Booker get up to!
This was a blast!
December 29, 2022
Another excellent read in the Dr. Laura Powell series. This time we are following the small-town medical examiner as she investigates a petrified corpse which leads her to a fundamentalist religious sect and a cutting-edge pharmaceutical company. And snakes. Lots of snakes!
This throws you right into the story from page one and it is really well paced in the way that the story develops and how we get to know the characters. You can tell that the author has done plenty of research into certain elements of the book to make them believable and realistic. I have definitely learned some interesting nuggets that I didn’t know before from reading Nicholas Kaufmann's work! (Although I’m not sure I’m ready to forgive him for the fact that I looked up the dog-related story to see if it was true haha O_o).
This is the second book in a series and story-wise you don’t necessarily need to have read the previous book, The Hungry Earth, but there are some references to it and some spoilers regarding certain characters so I would suggest reading it first if you haven’t.
I received a copy of the book from the author.
This throws you right into the story from page one and it is really well paced in the way that the story develops and how we get to know the characters. You can tell that the author has done plenty of research into certain elements of the book to make them believable and realistic. I have definitely learned some interesting nuggets that I didn’t know before from reading Nicholas Kaufmann's work! (Although I’m not sure I’m ready to forgive him for the fact that I looked up the dog-related story to see if it was true haha O_o).
This is the second book in a series and story-wise you don’t necessarily need to have read the previous book, The Hungry Earth, but there are some references to it and some spoilers regarding certain characters so I would suggest reading it first if you haven’t.
I received a copy of the book from the author.
January 1, 2023
As with every review I write, I urge folks to remember that I'm just one reader. Sample size, n = 1. I have my own likes and dislikes. What worked for me (or didn't) might be different for others, so take my thoughts with a grain of salt.
Nicholas Kaufmann’s newest horror novel, “The Stone Serpent" is the sequel to his 2021 novel “The Hungry Earth.” It takes place a year after the events of the first book and follows the main character, Dr. Laura Powell, as she tries to re-establish some semblance of normalcy in her life. The story’s premise (which you can read over on Goodreads) was a lot of fun, and the fast pace kept me engaged from start to finish.
Kaufmann does love his research. In all his novels, he adds a sense of authenticity by including numerous (and often terrifying) scientific details. The science was one of the things I enjoyed so much in his vampires-on-a-submarine horror novel, “100 Fathoms Below.” As with his other books, “The Stone Serpent” is packed with interesting and accurate scientific facts and descriptions. That said, the science sometimes felt wedged into scenes without good reason. Often, descriptions felt included just for the sake of serving up a creepy or interesting fact. More than once, I wondered why a small-town medical examiner would know about so many facts unrelated to medicine. Nevertheless, all those not-necessarily-needed scientific facts were so interesting (and morbid) that I enjoyed their inclusion regardless.
The main character, Dr. Laura Powell, is a woman I could easily root for–smart, self-confident, capable, and caring. Booker, her boyfriend, is equally likable if a bit passive. His role in the story was mostly to offer emotional support for Laura and to tell her to be careful. There were a few moments when I wanted him to step up and step in, saying, “No, sorry. I can’t let you do this crazy thing because I care about you. It would be irresponsible to let you do such this incredibly dangerous and poorly thought-out thing.” But, this is a somewhat campy horror novel we’re talking about, and characters acting illogically is part of the genre.
As Laura navigates her way through a new crisis, she grapples with a prickly new police Chief, Elena Morales. The chief’s cold affectation and constant micromanaging makes her highly unlikable. Once Kaufmann shared her backstory, though, I started rooting for her as hard as I was rooting for Laura.
A general issue I had with this book was with Kaufmann’s heavy use of exposition as a writing technique. While some explanations helped establish setting or provided context, the abundant exposition did occasionally detract from the immediacy of the action. I wanted to be told less and shown more. A related issue was with the use of dialogue to explain things. There was a lot of “as you know, Bob” conversations throughout this story.
There were two subplots to this story competing for the readers’ attention. One involved the cutting-edge pharmaceutical company, Thurmond Biotech. The other was a plot involving a fringe religious community (the details of which reminded me strongly of Warren Jeff’s extreme sect of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints). Of the two competing plots, this was the one that got the most time on the page, yet I found it to be distracting from the main premise of the novel. The characters dominating the religious plot line were, in my opinion, clichéd and two-dimensional. I would have liked more development of the dodgy biotech company and its involvement in the creation of the main threat of the novel: killer snakes!
Ah, the snakes. I won’t say too much about them lest I spoil the horror of them. Let me simply say that if you are naturally squeamish about snakes, this book will have you crawling out of your skin (haha, pun intended).
The final confrontation between the main characters and the snakes was intense and well-written, and the resolution felt earned. As a reader, I felt fully sated. Overall, I would recommend “The Stone Serpent” to fans of just-for-fun, campy horror novels with some cool science packed into the terror.
Nicholas Kaufmann’s newest horror novel, “The Stone Serpent" is the sequel to his 2021 novel “The Hungry Earth.” It takes place a year after the events of the first book and follows the main character, Dr. Laura Powell, as she tries to re-establish some semblance of normalcy in her life. The story’s premise (which you can read over on Goodreads) was a lot of fun, and the fast pace kept me engaged from start to finish.
Kaufmann does love his research. In all his novels, he adds a sense of authenticity by including numerous (and often terrifying) scientific details. The science was one of the things I enjoyed so much in his vampires-on-a-submarine horror novel, “100 Fathoms Below.” As with his other books, “The Stone Serpent” is packed with interesting and accurate scientific facts and descriptions. That said, the science sometimes felt wedged into scenes without good reason. Often, descriptions felt included just for the sake of serving up a creepy or interesting fact. More than once, I wondered why a small-town medical examiner would know about so many facts unrelated to medicine. Nevertheless, all those not-necessarily-needed scientific facts were so interesting (and morbid) that I enjoyed their inclusion regardless.
The main character, Dr. Laura Powell, is a woman I could easily root for–smart, self-confident, capable, and caring. Booker, her boyfriend, is equally likable if a bit passive. His role in the story was mostly to offer emotional support for Laura and to tell her to be careful. There were a few moments when I wanted him to step up and step in, saying, “No, sorry. I can’t let you do this crazy thing because I care about you. It would be irresponsible to let you do such this incredibly dangerous and poorly thought-out thing.” But, this is a somewhat campy horror novel we’re talking about, and characters acting illogically is part of the genre.
As Laura navigates her way through a new crisis, she grapples with a prickly new police Chief, Elena Morales. The chief’s cold affectation and constant micromanaging makes her highly unlikable. Once Kaufmann shared her backstory, though, I started rooting for her as hard as I was rooting for Laura.
A general issue I had with this book was with Kaufmann’s heavy use of exposition as a writing technique. While some explanations helped establish setting or provided context, the abundant exposition did occasionally detract from the immediacy of the action. I wanted to be told less and shown more. A related issue was with the use of dialogue to explain things. There was a lot of “as you know, Bob” conversations throughout this story.
There were two subplots to this story competing for the readers’ attention. One involved the cutting-edge pharmaceutical company, Thurmond Biotech. The other was a plot involving a fringe religious community (the details of which reminded me strongly of Warren Jeff’s extreme sect of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints). Of the two competing plots, this was the one that got the most time on the page, yet I found it to be distracting from the main premise of the novel. The characters dominating the religious plot line were, in my opinion, clichéd and two-dimensional. I would have liked more development of the dodgy biotech company and its involvement in the creation of the main threat of the novel: killer snakes!
Ah, the snakes. I won’t say too much about them lest I spoil the horror of them. Let me simply say that if you are naturally squeamish about snakes, this book will have you crawling out of your skin (haha, pun intended).
The final confrontation between the main characters and the snakes was intense and well-written, and the resolution felt earned. As a reader, I felt fully sated. Overall, I would recommend “The Stone Serpent” to fans of just-for-fun, campy horror novels with some cool science packed into the terror.
December 23, 2022
Nicholas Kaufmann has done it once more: Made me scared to go outside. Nature is no friend to humans, especially when you can argue it's only striking back at human meddling!
As in "The Hungry Earth," which precedes this book, medical examiner Dr. Laura Powell is up against the elements -- and the humans who permit such horrifying things to occur. Being the hero of "Earth" doesn't put her in good stead against a new, surly police chief, an isolated town of evangelists who have cut themselves off from the world, or a new breed of copperhead whose bite will petrify you in minutes.
Also as ever, Kaufmann creates a propulsive page-turner of a tale that's irresistible, based in actual science, horrifying without ever wallowing in too much gore, and full of characters you immediately care about and worry for. His attention to detail gives his stories verisimilitude, but his writing is deeply human and sympathetic. Why did it have to be snakes? Because snakes scare the S out of most of us. A hissy fit of a good time.
As in "The Hungry Earth," which precedes this book, medical examiner Dr. Laura Powell is up against the elements -- and the humans who permit such horrifying things to occur. Being the hero of "Earth" doesn't put her in good stead against a new, surly police chief, an isolated town of evangelists who have cut themselves off from the world, or a new breed of copperhead whose bite will petrify you in minutes.
Also as ever, Kaufmann creates a propulsive page-turner of a tale that's irresistible, based in actual science, horrifying without ever wallowing in too much gore, and full of characters you immediately care about and worry for. His attention to detail gives his stories verisimilitude, but his writing is deeply human and sympathetic. Why did it have to be snakes? Because snakes scare the S out of most of us. A hissy fit of a good time.
May 8, 2024
Another fast-paced, exciting adventure in the Dr. Laura Powell series. It's a hard to categorize group of books because there are elements of mystery, body-horror, science fiction (in the strict definition of fiction that extrapolates from real science), and suspense. Kaufmann does a remarkable job of moving the story along quickly while still developing the characters into real people and not caricatures and explaining the science behind the weirdness that drives the story. Highly recommended.
March 27, 2024
As intense as the first one
There were so many tense moments in this story that kept me flipping pages faster and faster. I can’t wait to read the next one in the series.
There were so many tense moments in this story that kept me flipping pages faster and faster. I can’t wait to read the next one in the series.
May 29, 2023
I've been enjoying all of Nicholas Kaufmann's books and powered through this one. Terrific to see another in the series with Dr. Laura Powell, and to find out what happened to her and her beau after surviving the 'shrooms in The Hungry Earth.
But the great thing is that you can pick this one up without reading the first. We jump right into her life and what she does when a petrified corpse shows up in her Medical Examiner's office. Kaufmann does an excellent job of depicting the neighboring town and its highly religious community.
I started with the Kindle version and immediately switched to the audiobook because I didn't want to stop reading. Good performance.
Looking forward to more Dr. Laura Powell!
I'll go ahead and say it: WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE SNAKES? (LOL)
But the great thing is that you can pick this one up without reading the first. We jump right into her life and what she does when a petrified corpse shows up in her Medical Examiner's office. Kaufmann does an excellent job of depicting the neighboring town and its highly religious community.
I started with the Kindle version and immediately switched to the audiobook because I didn't want to stop reading. Good performance.
Looking forward to more Dr. Laura Powell!
I'll go ahead and say it: WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE SNAKES? (LOL)
March 9, 2023
Even though I like snakes, these were very nasty snakes indeed! Kaufmann's characters always come across as real people involved in real problems--well, maybe not real to us--which get increasingly complicated because of their relationships and the hidden agendas some of them have. The snakes take on personality, too, and the visuals of their movements, massing, and striking will stick with you, as will (and this is what I keep thinking about) the terrible inexorable ordeal of turning to stone.
December 3, 2022
The Stone Serpent was a lot of fun to read. Review to come…
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews