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2 of 2 people found the
following review helpful:
"Epic?", May 2, 2008
"Epic?"
This is the word and question that continued to
pop into my mind as I read "Wake of the Lake
Monster" by Dallas Tanner.
To be sure I was correct in my impression I
looked up the definition of "Epic" and found
that I was indeed correct. An Epic is defined as
being "very imposing or impressive; surpassing
the ordinary (especially in size or scale)."
One gets the sense of this before even beginning
to read this engrossing book. In fact, in taking
a quick glance inside the back cover we read:
"We live on just 10% of the Earth's surface.
Only an estimated 10% of all the known species
of animals on this planet have been encountered
and classified. Cryptozoology is the study of
unknown or undiscovered, cryptids, animals out
of place or out of time. There are no degrees or
curriculum in any college or university to
become a cryptozoologist. Ian McQuade tries and
fails to become the first, and embarks on the
adventure of a lifetime."
And the experiences of Dr. Ian McQuade truly are
an adventure. They begin, in fact, with Dallas
Tanner's first two novels, which make up the
first parts of his trilogy. However, "Wake of
the Lake Monster" is so impressive that it
stands on it's own as a novel of high adventure.
By the time you reach page 18 of this book you
will be hooked. By the time you reach page 52,
you will feel as though you can't put it down.
You will find yourself drawn into the story as
the primary protagonist, Dr. McQuade, recounts
the stories of unexplainable creatures in the
oldest and most historically reliable documents
known to mankind. And, he reasons, if these
documents have proven to be correct about
everything else, would they not also be correct
about the creatures they describe, even if they
are not commonly encountered today? And with
this, we're off.
The adventures in this "final" installment of
Tanner's trilogy begin with McQuade's travels to
the northwest where he encounters heretofore
unknown tribes with knowledge that is undreamed
of by most modern humans. This knowledge enables
him to return to the scientifically advanced
headquarters of his former employer, the
Chimaera foundation, where he again teams up
with his former partner, the South American
beauty, Alma Del Nephites.
From there, the pair narrowly escapes the armed
takeover of the company's technologically
advanced facility to follow the clues that they
think will lead them on a quest to find, at the
very least, mysterious animals. However, as you
might imagine if you are familiar with this
author, their quest ultimately leads them to
buried treasure and forbidden technology.
Before the book is half way finished, Dallas
Tanner has identified, most likely correctly,
some of the most elusive and widely reported
"Lake Monsters" reported. (Including the
mysterious Altamaha-ha, which haunts many of the
backwater swamps and rivers in the Southeast
USA.) But this is only the beginning for him.
It is a pleasure to see this amazingly well read
and educated author weave a story incorporating
history, advanced technology, and zoology with
such skill. As in Tanners' other books, besides
being completely enthralled the reader ends up
being well educated on topics that stump the
average researcher.
So read this book. You will enjoy the ride and
end up being much more knowledgeable about
science, history, and nature than you would have
thought possible from the reading of an
adventure story.
If you want to enhance your experience, go back
and read Dallas Tanner's first two novels. He
takes the same approach to his subject in all
three. The third is an epic in itself, while the
three in combination exceed any expectations you
might have in terms of enjoyment and learning.
Without revealing the conclusion to "Wake of the
Sea Serpent" I can at least tell you that in
closing the author lays the foundation for
another book that promises to be even more
exciting than the first three.
Let's hope that he writes that book soon.
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