There’s been a string of Bigfoot sightings in Roanoke Ridge. Do they have something to do with the body in the woods? When Bigfoot researcher Professor Berton Sorel goes missing in the temperate rainforest of Roanoke Ridge, Oregon, help is summoned in the form of his former star pupil, Laura Reagan, online science populist and avowed skeptic. But what begins as a simple search and rescue … simple search and rescue operation takes a drastic turn when a body is discovered — and it isn’t the professor’s.
Caught in the fallout of the suspicious death, perplexed by a sudden wave of Bigfoot sightings, and still desperately searching for Professor Sorel, Reagan reluctantly admits two things: her old mentor was right about there being secrets hidden in Roanoke Ridge, and it’s up to her to uncover them.
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ROANOKE RIDGE by J.J. Dupuis is the first book in the new Creature X Mystery series. It is also my first book by this author. Bigfoot researcher Professor Berton Sorel is missing near Roanoke Ridge, Oregon. Laura Reagan and her friend Saad Javed arrive to help find him. She is a former student of his, a sceptic, and currently the owner of a popular science-based website called Science Is Awesome (Science IA). The story occurs just before and during the annual Roanoke Valley Bigfoot Festival.
The plot blends crime and cryptozoology into a contemporary setting. It was interesting and had a mystery, but the pace seemed slow to me. The characters did not seem fully developed and three-dimensional. However, their motivations seemed believable and there was an interesting array of secondary characters.
With a suspicious death, a wave of Bigfoot sightings, and the missing professor, I was expecting more suspense and a faster pace. While the plot twists were not unexpected, it was still an entertaining read. Additionally, the author did a great job of giving a clear sense of time and place through vivid descriptions that were not overdone. The author’s interest in the natural world came through clearly as well.
Overall, this was an enjoyable book with a satisfying ending.
Thanks to Dundurn Press and J.J. Dupuis for a complimentary ARC of this novel via NetGalley and the opportunity to provide an honest review. Opinions are mine alone and are not biased in any way.
Thanks to Netgalley, Dundurn and the author for sending this my way. When I saw it announced I was excited, but wasn’t that confident I’d get approved, so thank you!
Why was I excited specifically you may ask? My love of Bigfoot based thrillers and horrors. Since my childhood, all things cryptozoology have caught my interest and Bigfoot most of all. Maybe it was because I grew up in British Columbia and there had been sightings a few hours from my house, or maybe it was the thrill of the idea that a massive creature could still be living in the trees had me intrigued.
The book itself is pretty straight forward. Laura has a science website. Her dad believed in Bigfoot and while she spent many summers in the Roanoke area, she herself is a sceptic. Because, as I mentioned before, she has a science website and believes in science.
A Professor who was like a grandfather to her has now been reported missing in the area, so Laura gets a call to head there and help with the search.
What I liked: as with most Bigfoot books, I liked the tension and excitement of the possibility of them discovering Bigfoot.
What I didn’t like: truthfully, a fair bit. The pace is glacial at times, offering up very minor bits but stretching them out. At the beginning, we are treated to an author’s note, which states they are a sceptic, and that should be your mindset going in. We are treated to a science lecture with detailed statistics at the start – which I get, it did play well with a potential shift in Bigfoot habitat’s – but it was put in there purely to stereotype all Bigfoot searchers as science disbelievers, climate change deniers and rednecks who like to shoot guns. While each chapter starts with a real quote from various Bigfoot researchers and newspapers, most of the characters appear to be direct parodies/caricatures of real people – we get the Loren Coleman twin opening up the Bigfoot fesitival, we get the Todd Standing hoaxer twin, there are the characters that don’t matter who are trying to be the Finding Bigfoot crew and even the Science is Awesome website felt like a take on the site I F+++ing Love Science.
The ending was rushed and frustrating and just left me fuming that more could have been added in. It felt like a Hardy Boys Lite release.
Why you should buy it: if you love Bigfoot or creature features and want a single sitting read, this could be right up your alley. Be warned though, as I mentioned – the author is a sceptic – which means this book frequently makes sure that we understand that no rational mind can believe in Bigfoot.
Does it exist? Who knows? I sure hope so. But this book doesn’t add much to that side of the argument.
3 stars
Laura Reagan and her friend Saad travel to Roanoke Ridge in Oregon to look for her former professor Berton Sorel who has gone missing on a hiking trip in search of Bigfoot. Laura now runs a website that is science-based, either supporting or debunking current theories about new (or old), discoveries in the science fields.
At the same time, there is a Bigfoot Festival going on in the little town, adding several hundred people to the crowds in the street. There are several “sightings” of the beast, but the images caught on a cell phone are too blurry to make out much.
On Laura and Saad’s first foray into the woods searching for the professor, they find a dead man on t he trail. Ranger Ted accompanies them and feels it is an accident, but Laura spots signs that it was murder.
Laura learns some hard truths about her beloved father and his friends, as well as Professor Berton Sorel.
I am not sure how I feel about this book. It was fairly well written, but it wandered a little bit. The characters weren’t as engaging as I had hoped. Saad was almost a non-person. I had no grasp of him at all. I like to get to know the main characters in any book I read (even if I don’t like them). Neither was there very much science in the book. I was also disappointed in that. This book was just not as good as the novels Dundurn usually publishes.
I want to thank NetGalley and Dundurn for forwarding to me a copy of this book for me to read, enjoy and review.