Ben Cartwright, former soldier, home to mourn the loss of his father stumbles upon cryptic letters from the past between the author, Arthur Conan Doyle and his great, great grandfather who vanished while exploring the Amazon jungle in 1908. Amazingly, these letters lead Ben to believe that his ancestor’s expedition was the basis for Doyle’s fantastical tale of a lost world inhabited by long … long extinct creatures. As Ben digs some more he finds clues to the whereabouts of a lost notebook that might contain a map to a place that is home to creatures that would rewrite everything known about history, biology and evolution.
But other parties now know about the notebook, and will do anything to obtain it. For Ben and his friends, it becomes a race against time and against ruthless rivals.
In the remotest corners of Venezuela, along winding river trails known only to lost tribes, and through near impenetrable jungle, Ben and his novice team find a forbidden place more terrifying and dangerous than anything they could ever have imagined.
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There are three points that make this “Lost World” adventure stand out above the pack of the many hidden-lands-where-dinosaurs-still-roam stories that I’ve read over the years. First, author Greig Beck made a credible effort to connect his Lost World to the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle novel by having an ancestor of his hero discover the land of dinosaurs and communicate his discovery to Doyle inspiring the classic novel. Second, the role of the comet, Primordia, in making the Lost World accessible added a massive and necessary element of credibility to the whole concept. And finally, and by far the most important, Beck’s Lost World doesn’t need dinosaurs to be scary. Even the insects will terrify you—and I never remember a Lost-World-style story that didn’t need the T-Rex or the velociraptors to drive home that the heroes aren’t in Kansas anymore.
As for the story…On the positive side, the action is very solid. The heroes are likeable. The villains, both human and otherwise, appropriately dastardly. I felt genuine horror as the 100-million-year-old jungle started killing the large cast off. Yet the book is not all good. To a certain extent, I felt that everyone involved in the venture was just a little bit stupid. They came to find dinosaurs but weren’t really prepared even for the Amazon jungle. And none of them brought cameras. I mean—think about it. You’re looking for the Lost World and you don’t bring the means to document the dinosaurs you hope to find? Yet the good greatly outweighed the bad in this one, and the ending, while mostly predictable, didn’t play out exactly as I had thought it would, and it’s always good when a novel is packed with surprises.
Really fun read! I would describe this book as Journey to the center of the earth meets National Treasure. The characters were well developed and likeable. Definitely ends on a cliffhanger that will make you want the next book.
Not a fan of the ending, although it was believable for the storyline.
If you like adventure in strange places this is a fun read!
good read but did not care for the “to be continued :” ending
Read everything from this author. He’s that good.
Very adventurous! Loved it. Did not expect the surprise ending!!!
I loved this book. I recommend it to anyone who might like dinosaurs .
Hair raising Adventure in the Amazon jungle
I really enjoyed this book. . Very entertaining and fast paced
I kinda like the idea of the story more than the actual story. It bogged down entering the jungle and I quit reading it.
Great story, I’m reading the third book in the series. Very entertaining.
Great what if scenarios – going back in time. Good read for this series.
No conclusion. Expected to purchase next in series to finish story.
Fun!
I just posted a review on Amazon
Special forces guys, a primordial rainforest, timewarps, dinosaurs. Need I say more? Oh yeah..
Buckle up
Good quick read, tracks well, good action, very d enjoyable
I really enjoyed this book as most books by this author. I am now reading part two which is also a great read.
Lost world revisited!