A Fun Creature Feature

4 out of 5 stars

Ian and his wife, Abigail, are in Madagascar exploring when they are suddenly attacked by creatures that shouldn’t exist. Abigail doesn’t survive and nobody believes Ian about what happened. Fast forward a few years and people are still disappearing in the area. Mackenzie Moore is a reporter and knows there’s a story here so she decides to hire Ian and investigate the place. Mackenzie, Ian and two of his associates enter the jungle and climb the mountain. Ian knows there are things here that shouldn’t be, but even he doesn’t know the extent of it!!
I love a good creature feature book so was excited to listen to this. You are brought into the story right from the start and it doesn’t let up till the very end. It was an incredibly fast paced read and one I thoroughly enjoyed.
The plot was well developed and it’s something you could believe since there are so many different animals that thrive in the dark. The group finds so many different animals in the underground chambers and it was awesome!!! I loved that the author threw in so many different ones and didn’t just stick to dinosaurs. I’m intrigued about some of the other things they found out while down there and can only hope there is a sequel because there’s a lot left unanswered.
I really liked Ian. He is an ex-Navy SEAL, yet he isn’t infallible. He gets his butt whooped a few times and it made him easier to relate to. I find it hard to connect with characters that know everything and can do everything so it’s nice when a strong military type can still be seen as human. It took me a little while to connect with Mackenzie and I don’t know why! There was just something about her that I didn’t like at first, but she grew on me eventually.
One thing I really didn’t like about the book is the needless fact that two of the characters find love….. you don’t need two guesses to figure out who!! At no stage do they really get to know each other, in point of fact, they are separated for a good portion of the book, yet they love each other. Honestly, it annoyed me and was something that didn’t add to the story.
In all though, this was a fun read. It ticked a lot of the boxes for a good creature feature and left me wanting more from the world.
This is the first book I’ve listened to that’s narrated by Michael Lesley and I enjoyed his performance a lot. He had plenty of different tones and voices and gave a good performance, but I felt like he was very slow to read it…I had to amp up the speed to make it bearable, and he paused at odd times. I don’t know if it was for effect but it got a bit annoying after a while. Other than that, his performance was good.

Book Description:

Dark Island by Matt James (Narrated by Michael Lesley)four-stars
Dark Island by Matt James
Narrator: Michael Lesley
Length: 8 hrs and 11 mins
Published by Tantor Audio on February 26th 2019
Genres: Dinosaur Thriller
Buy from Audible

Like the "Dark Continent" of Africa, the dark island of Madagascar holds many chilling secrets. One of them is a long-thought extinct species of dinosaurs living at the country's core.

A massive earthquake rocks the mountain range within the Andringitra National Park. The splitting Earth reveals a network of tunnels, hidden away for millennia. Responding to the series of violent upheavals, a pack of hypersensitive predators flee their subterranean home; frenzied and hungry, they head for the surface.

Former Navy SEAL Ian Hunt begrudgingly accepts an offer to lead an exploratory team. What they uncover is the find of a lifetime... if they survive long enough to tell anyone.

Dinosaurs are alive and well at the heart of the dark island.

I received this book for free. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Also by this author: SUB ZERO

four-stars
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