Review of Dinosaur Lake by Kathryn Meyer Griffith
5 stars
I received a complimentary copy in return for my provision
of a fair and honest review.
I found this novel to be really terrifying: author Kathryn
Meyer Griffith has the gift of making the implausible and the impossible seem
not only possible, but actual fact. The twist she puts upon the prehistoric
creature (and reader, you will know exactly what I mean as you read the story;
I’m not giving it away) brings that aura of implacability which is so essential
to good horror. If you can believe that one day the Yellowstone Volcano might
super-erupt, you can certainly believe the premise of “Dinosaur Lake.” Just
because it hasn’t occurred yet doesn’t mean “never.”
In Crater Lake National Park in Oregon, near Klamath Falls,
are tens of thousands of mostly untouched acreage, wild and free, inhabited by
all sorts of animals, forested, and beautifully scenic. The volcanic lake
formed inside a caldera, and has been stocked for fishing; it’s also a popular
site for tourists to take boat tours. It’s certainly become home over the past
eight years to Chief Ranger Henry, his journalist wife Ann, their adult
daughter Laura and toddler granddaughter Phoebe. But trouble looms on the
horizon: a series of earthquakes commences; a wall of dinosaur fossils is
uncovered, bringing in paleontologists to excavate; the fish in the lake
disappear; the lake is heating up, indicating subterranean lava flow; and now,
boat captains have also begun to disappear, and tourists and rangers both spot
tracks near the lake, and something in the water that is far too enormous to be
a fish of any sort.
I really could not put this book aside till I had raced to
the end to find out who wins—humanity or prehistory. It’s very skillfully written,
with good characterizations as well as a thriller of a plot.
Thank you GMTA Literary Community for reviewing and liking my Dinosaur Lake. Warmly, author of 17 novels, and a writer for over 40 years, Kathryn Meyer Griffith
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