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Event Group Thriller #5
Primeval
The New York Times bestselling author of Ancients and Leviathan returns with another adrenaline rush—the latest thriller in the Event Group Series Twenty thousand years ago, when man crossed the land bridge to North America, creatures called They Who Follow made the great trek as well. But once in the new continent, the giant beasts disappeared, whether into hiding or extinction, no one knew. Centuries later, a battered journal—the only evidence left from the night of the Romanovs’ execution—turns up in a rare bookstore. As the U.S. and Russians vie for the truth, and the lost Romanov treasure, they collide with a prehistoric predator thought long-extinct. It’s up to the Event Group to lay to rest the legends. On an expedition into the wilds of British Columbia, Colonel Jack Collins and his team make a horrifying discovery in the continent’s last deep wilderness, where men have been vanishing for centuries.
356 pages, Hardcover
First published July 6, 2010
55 people are currently reading
977 people want to read
About the author
David L. Golemon
24 books532 followersDavid L. Golemon (a.k.a. David Lynn Golemon ) is the author of the Event Group Thrillers, including Event, Ancients, Leviathan and Primeval. Legend, the second book in the series, was nominated for a RITA award for paranormal fiction.
Golemon learned an early love of reading from his father, who told him that the written word, unlike other forms, allows readers to use their own minds, the greatest special effects machines of all—an idea Golemon still believes. The only thing he loves more than writing is research, especially historical research, and he sees the subtext of his Event novels as being that understanding history allows us to create a better future. Golemon grew up in Chino, California, and now makes his home in New York.
Golemon learned an early love of reading from his father, who told him that the written word, unlike other forms, allows readers to use their own minds, the greatest special effects machines of all—an idea Golemon still believes. The only thing he loves more than writing is research, especially historical research, and he sees the subtext of his Event novels as being that understanding history allows us to create a better future. Golemon grew up in Chino, California, and now makes his home in New York.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 90 reviews
December 11, 2016
4.5 Stars
Can always count on this series to be good. It manages to blend science, history, action, humor, fantasy, mystery and science fiction into a fantastically interesting world.
Can always count on this series to be good. It manages to blend science, history, action, humor, fantasy, mystery and science fiction into a fantastically interesting world.
January 2, 2019
Some people look for Bigfoot, and find him. He isn't any too happy, and the people soon regret their discovery. Somehow, this triggers a confrontation between the US and Russia that could start World War III.
The Event Group has to alleviate the whole situation.
Not bad, sort of a minor league Cussler.
The Event Group has to alleviate the whole situation.
Not bad, sort of a minor league Cussler.
July 8, 2012
We begin in the wilds north of Seattle, only it's twenty thousand thousand years ago and there's an ice age. Early man is hunting mammoth and running from saber tooth tigers. Luckily, in the moment when your grandpappy was about to become cat food, some giant brave handsome hairy pithecus shows up and wrassles kitty with his while OUR forebears haul tail into the woods. It's a little hard to see why, but boom, an ageless inter-species friendship is formed.
Slam forward to today and the Russians are involved and there're diamonds the size of ostrich eggs and Czarina Anastasia and a planet splitting nuke and wagonloads of gold and Bigfoot (Yah, Bigfoot. You really didn't see that coming?) Think Louis L'Amour meets Johnny Quest. Think Jason Bourne meets Edgar Rice Burroughs, most of all think Tom Clancy, 'cause this is a rip-off of his Nerve Center, or the Avengers, or whatever they're called.
only...
Easily the worst written book I ever read.
Let's start with the by now reliable indicator of one eyebrow arched, sardonically, move right past "a warm feeling she didn't understand" and bad grammar and even fantastic kinematics and marksmanship to settle on plain old plot screwups.
Example: (and it hurts all the more that this is the absolute crescendo, where our hero outsmarts the villain, as you'll shortly see if you care to read the... )
Slam forward to today and the Russians are involved and there're diamonds the size of ostrich eggs and Czarina Anastasia and a planet splitting nuke and wagonloads of gold and Bigfoot (Yah, Bigfoot. You really didn't see that coming?) Think Louis L'Amour meets Johnny Quest. Think Jason Bourne meets Edgar Rice Burroughs, most of all think Tom Clancy, 'cause this is a rip-off of his Nerve Center, or the Avengers, or whatever they're called.
only...
Easily the worst written book I ever read.
Let's start with the by now reliable indicator of one eyebrow arched, sardonically, move right past "a warm feeling she didn't understand" and bad grammar and even fantastic kinematics and marksmanship to settle on plain old plot screwups.
Example: (and it hurts all the more that this is the absolute crescendo, where our hero outsmarts the villain, as you'll shortly see if you care to read the... )
October 3, 2021
There is some good stuff here. The opening was actually quite intriguing and had me hooked, and the ending also had some nice revelations. I didn't realize it was book 5 in the series when I started it so that might be part of my issue. However, my main problems was that the middle seemed to lag way too much and eventually I just started speed reading it, which I don't like to do. My main points were that 1), it was way too long, way too wordy. Shaving off a hundred and fifty pages would have made this sing and zing and I bet I'd liked it much better. 2), too many characters, many with big roles to play. Perhaps if I'd met some of these in early books in the series it would have helped me keep them straight. 3), too many subplots. For example, an Amelia Earhart subplot. All the subplots were actually interesting but the book would have been better off without some of them, in my opinion.
Your experience may differ. I'd definitely suggest you start with the first book in this series (Event group).
Your experience may differ. I'd definitely suggest you start with the first book in this series (Event group).
March 6, 2011
While the story was quite interesting, I was very much put off by the many misspelled words, sloppy punctuation, and grammatical errors throughout the book. This publisher is in dire need of a good proofreader.
February 4, 2022
An interesting installment of the Event Group series. This time around Col. Collins and his team must save his agency sister from the hands of Russian spies and special forces turned gangsters as they themselves pursue a treasure born from the love of a Father for his children that was lost in the Canadian wilderness and a device born and lost during the Cold War. To add to the list of difficulties is a race of long lost creatures that do not look kindly on those that trespass in their domain.
I look forward to the next installment.
I look forward to the next installment.
September 7, 2025
An amazing thriller that weaves a story involving The Russian Revolution and treasures from that time era, a Secret Cold War Mission, and the Cryptic "They pWho Follow". This story can stand alone, however there are call backs and tie-ins to previous books in The Event Group Series. An absolute page turner!!!!
August 10, 2012
Primeval by David L. Golemon is the fifth book in his Event Group Series. There is a lot of back story to set up for this one. It begins in 20,000 BCE with people and creatures crossing the Bering Strait land bridge. Then jumps to Russia in 1918 where Tsar Nicholas has a plan in place to save some of his children, Anastasia and Alexei. Then the action is back east of Glacier Bay, Alaska. Next it's 1962 and Operation Solar Flare has begun. Finally, before the present day, it's 1968 and the novel follows a group of grad students following the Stikine River in Canada.
Finally we are all up to date. In the present day someone is after a treasure connected with the Romanov dynasty. Jack's sister Lynn has been taken captive by the murderous thugs and it's time for the Event Group to step in, figure out what is really going on, and save the day. Even though this all sounds complicated, Golemon moves us pretty quickly through the back story to the present and then the action takes off.
Golemon has a large cast of characters in his books and you need to keep track of them as you are reading. Although Primeval could be a stand alone novel, it really helps if you already know many of the characters and their back stories.
The Event Series books are all fast, fun reads and perfect escapism.
highly recommended - especially if you are following the series http://shetreadssoftly.blogspot.com/
Finally we are all up to date. In the present day someone is after a treasure connected with the Romanov dynasty. Jack's sister Lynn has been taken captive by the murderous thugs and it's time for the Event Group to step in, figure out what is really going on, and save the day. Even though this all sounds complicated, Golemon moves us pretty quickly through the back story to the present and then the action takes off.
Golemon has a large cast of characters in his books and you need to keep track of them as you are reading. Although Primeval could be a stand alone novel, it really helps if you already know many of the characters and their back stories.
The Event Series books are all fast, fun reads and perfect escapism.
highly recommended - especially if you are following the series http://shetreadssoftly.blogspot.com/
December 12, 2017
Originally read 7 Sep 2011; listened to via Audible 15 Mar 2015; listened to via Audible 11 December 2017
This time, the legend in question is Bigfoot, the children of Russian Tsar Nicholas, some jewels, and a missing nuke, but the main focus is on Jack's sister, Lynn, a CIA agent who is taken captive by some big time Russian mafia types. Jack and his team go to great lengths to rescue her.
Still completely loved this one, but I do have one complaint... too much time was spent on other people rather than on Jack, Sarah and the rest of the Event team. We've invested four books up to this point in these people and it took at least a third of the book to even bring them into it, and then there seemed to be long passages without them in it. Despite this, I loved loved LOVED it, and am really annoyed that I can't get the latest book here in Australia, unless I order it as an actual book (not Kindle) from Amazon, which will take ages unless I'm willing to pay lots of postage... at this point, I think I just might be LOL. The little moments between Jack and Sarah are lovely and I can't wait to see how this relationship continues to progress. The interaction between (what I consider to be) the main four guys (Jack, Carl, Will and Jason) is awesome and makes me laugh. More Event team and less extraneous characters, please!! Mr Golemon, you are on a winner!!!
This time, the legend in question is Bigfoot, the children of Russian Tsar Nicholas, some jewels, and a missing nuke, but the main focus is on Jack's sister, Lynn, a CIA agent who is taken captive by some big time Russian mafia types. Jack and his team go to great lengths to rescue her.
Still completely loved this one, but I do have one complaint... too much time was spent on other people rather than on Jack, Sarah and the rest of the Event team. We've invested four books up to this point in these people and it took at least a third of the book to even bring them into it, and then there seemed to be long passages without them in it. Despite this, I loved loved LOVED it, and am really annoyed that I can't get the latest book here in Australia, unless I order it as an actual book (not Kindle) from Amazon, which will take ages unless I'm willing to pay lots of postage... at this point, I think I just might be LOL. The little moments between Jack and Sarah are lovely and I can't wait to see how this relationship continues to progress. The interaction between (what I consider to be) the main four guys (Jack, Carl, Will and Jason) is awesome and makes me laugh. More Event team and less extraneous characters, please!! Mr Golemon, you are on a winner!!!
May 23, 2018
For this series, I’m enjoyed the plausibility of it. It’s written like it could be real, just that most of us aren’t privy to the knowledge of the Event Group. I love that. I like the characters, and could get over not seeing the usual cast for the first bit of the book. And details seeem to be close to what I imagine places to be, and setting matched what I’ve seen for The Canadian description of the book.
Pg 184: “....Lynn saw several boxes of large caliber ammunition. What were these men waiting for, a Canadian Mountie’s full scale invasion - or maybe something else?”
Pg 205/206: “...Punchy recognized the green uniforms. He mouthed the word “ Mounties.” “
Oh, Goleman. You had me until that point. If you’re going to include the RCMP, who would be the law enforcement in Northern BC (good research), why, oh why, couldn’t you google their uniforms? Regular uniforms are NAVY pants with a yellow stripe on each leg, generally with a grey shirt, and dress uniforms are same pants with our iconic bright red jacket. Am I being picky? Yes. But you’re selling me a fantasy here, and I can’t believe enough to buy.
Sincerely,
A Proud, Unapologetic Canadian
Pg 184: “....Lynn saw several boxes of large caliber ammunition. What were these men waiting for, a Canadian Mountie’s full scale invasion - or maybe something else?”
Pg 205/206: “...Punchy recognized the green uniforms. He mouthed the word “ Mounties.” “
Oh, Goleman. You had me until that point. If you’re going to include the RCMP, who would be the law enforcement in Northern BC (good research), why, oh why, couldn’t you google their uniforms? Regular uniforms are NAVY pants with a yellow stripe on each leg, generally with a grey shirt, and dress uniforms are same pants with our iconic bright red jacket. Am I being picky? Yes. But you’re selling me a fantasy here, and I can’t believe enough to buy.
Sincerely,
A Proud, Unapologetic Canadian
February 7, 2021
This book took me forever to read!
** Also, when I picked this book up, I didn't know that this was book 5 in a series; this was my introduction to The Event Group.**
My thoughts:
Pgs 1- 11
YES!!! The legend of They Who Follow! This book is going to be awesome!
Pgs 11-33
How did we go from the Ice Age to the fall of Tsar Nicholas II ? Oh well? This is pretty cool, I dig it...a coup for power and the disappearance of Anastasia! To the wilderness of Canada? I'm for it.
Pgs 33-40
Government top secret air mission?
This is boring, give me Big Foot back or at least the Princess.
Pgs 40-55
A bunch of hippies and an old prospector. Ok, I could get into groove. Oh they found the diary from the Russians that had Anastasia? Things are getting better, I can go along with this plot.
BUT save for the last 100 pgs of this book I couldn't get into it at all. Normally I am all for the mystery, FBI, government secrets, but for this book, it was a chore for me to read
** Also, when I picked this book up, I didn't know that this was book 5 in a series; this was my introduction to The Event Group.**
My thoughts:
Pgs 1- 11
YES!!! The legend of They Who Follow! This book is going to be awesome!
Pgs 11-33
How did we go from the Ice Age to the fall of Tsar Nicholas II ? Oh well? This is pretty cool, I dig it...a coup for power and the disappearance of Anastasia! To the wilderness of Canada? I'm for it.
Pgs 33-40
Government top secret air mission?
This is boring, give me Big Foot back or at least the Princess.
Pgs 40-55
A bunch of hippies and an old prospector. Ok, I could get into groove. Oh they found the diary from the Russians that had Anastasia? Things are getting better, I can go along with this plot.
BUT save for the last 100 pgs of this book I couldn't get into it at all. Normally I am all for the mystery, FBI, government secrets, but for this book, it was a chore for me to read
April 3, 2016
By itself, this is probably a 3 star book, but the previous entries drag it down a star because they're so much better.
This is the main problem with using myths as your source material: they can't all be on the same level. So this series went from potential world destruction, to potential government destruction to... bigfoot and some diamonds.
I think the author realized this as well since he used a family member to drag the Event group on. But even that is a blatant admission that this is isn't really worth the group's time. Even in this book's reality, no one would even know this was going on even if the bad guy's plan went off without a hitch. Oddly enough, it would probably be BETTER for everyone if bad guy's got away with it completely.
This is the main problem with using myths as your source material: they can't all be on the same level. So this series went from potential world destruction, to potential government destruction to... bigfoot and some diamonds.
I think the author realized this as well since he used a family member to drag the Event group on. But even that is a blatant admission that this is isn't really worth the group's time. Even in this book's reality, no one would even know this was going on even if the bad guy's plan went off without a hitch. Oddly enough, it would probably be BETTER for everyone if bad guy's got away with it completely.
February 6, 2014
I don't usually review books I haven't finished, but I can't read any more! The writing is sloppy and riddled with grammatical errors. I have to give the author a thumbs up for getting this published.
Here are some clunkers from the book:
"Even with the massive four-decade search for the lost superweapon, Solar Flare, the cover-up of an event of that magnitude would be kept secret-until fifty years later."
"As much as they questioned him on where he had been, the more Charlie clammed up."
"'Jack has done more for the stability of this nation than anyone in both houses, or the other branches of service.'"
Here are some clunkers from the book:
"Even with the massive four-decade search for the lost superweapon, Solar Flare, the cover-up of an event of that magnitude would be kept secret-until fifty years later."
"As much as they questioned him on where he had been, the more Charlie clammed up."
"'Jack has done more for the stability of this nation than anyone in both houses, or the other branches of service.'"
February 7, 2017
Great series. Love the way the author uses interesting myths and legends and builds a book around them. Utterly gripping and engaging. Cannot wait to see what the rest of the series will bring.
July 25, 2017
I enjoy Mr. Golemons' stories. I have them all on my kindle, after reading a couple other books, I treat
myself to another in his Event Group series. When you struggle through a book that barely holds your interest it's nice to get into one you can't put down, Golemon writes those kinds of books. Sometimes
I just want to go the next book, but I would rather have something to look forward to, savior the
anticipation. I have thought the "Event Group" would make a great T.V. show!
myself to another in his Event Group series. When you struggle through a book that barely holds your interest it's nice to get into one you can't put down, Golemon writes those kinds of books. Sometimes
I just want to go the next book, but I would rather have something to look forward to, savior the
anticipation. I have thought the "Event Group" would make a great T.V. show!
August 5, 2011
This book was kind of slow and hard to get into, even though it was about Bigfoot and the children of the murdered Tzar. Also lots of typos, missing punctuation and sloppy editing.
January 14, 2014
Very intense. Never a dull moment. I am looking forward to reading the rest of this series.
November 18, 2014
Like slogging through wet cement.
May 11, 2021
This was a decent book which featured espionage, action, betrayal and one of cryptozoology's greatest legends: Sasquatch. The Event group's military leader, Colonel Jack Collins learns that his sister has been kidnapped by a mysterious group hell bent on drawing him out into the open as he is one of only a handful of men who can help them accomplish their nefarious goals. It leads Collins and his small band of associates (and even one former enemy) to the Pacific Northwest where they are accosted by Russian commandoes, terrible storms and the legendary Bigfoot itself. Nothing overly serious about this book which is meant to entertain with its nonstop action and thrills, it fulfilled its legacy and was easy to read to boot.
November 19, 2018
though this book is well-written, this is not the first in the series, so I found it very slow. Even now I have 3 chapters left, and I don't care! A primeval beast lurks in the forest, but it does nothing in the first 7 chapters.
March 24, 2021
The Russian czar's children and bigfoot, meet a left over atom bobm, in an EVENT GROUP THILLERset in the rugged Canadian wilds.. What more needed for this exciting adventure could one want. Did I mention diamonds and gold?
August 5, 2023
Primeval: An event group thriller
Fantastic book! I read from the edge of my seat! Great story line ( I love anything about Sasquatch), and well developed characters. On to the next Event book!
Fantastic book! I read from the edge of my seat! Great story line ( I love anything about Sasquatch), and well developed characters. On to the next Event book!
October 3, 2017
Good read
Great plot development, maybe a little confusing at times. I would have enjoyed more on Those Who Follow and how they related to the Tsars children. But, overall good.
Great plot development, maybe a little confusing at times. I would have enjoyed more on Those Who Follow and how they related to the Tsars children. But, overall good.
February 23, 2018
3.5 stars
June 16, 2018
Golemon does it again .
Mr. Goldman has been consistent throughout His subjects may be somewhat dubious in nature, but thrilling and edge of your seat great reading.
Mr. Goldman has been consistent throughout His subjects may be somewhat dubious in nature, but thrilling and edge of your seat great reading.
December 20, 2018
Don't read this during lunch at work or if you are supposed to be studying for school/college. Will keep you focused and you WILL loose track of time. Great read.
July 18, 2019
An easy summer read with lots of action and some interesting twists.
Read
August 21, 2020could not put it down
February 27, 2021
My favorite so far
April 16, 2021
First book I've read by this author. Not my usual type of book but there are mysteries to solve and several groups are out to find the answers.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 90 reviews