Rating: 
Summary: Wholly implausible, but an exciting read nonetheless!
Review: "Fatalis" is the type of book that you pick up in the bookstore, read the back cover, shake your head in disbelief of the plot, yet buy anyway. Jeff Rovin, as eclectic an author as one will find writing today, definitely knows how to spin a "yarn". (See two of his other works, "Vespers" and "The Return of the Wolf Man" as examples.)"Fatalis" is the story of a pack sabre-tooth tigers that reanimate after some climate and topicgraphical changes to terrorize Santa Barbara, CA, on the way to their (famous) ancestral home. Hunted down by the local sheriff, a war-hardened Vietnam vet who has taken the tigers appearance in his town personal, the story also centers on the attempt of an anthropologist to resurrect his own life, while trying to save that of the tigers. Rounding out the triangle is a newspaper reporter desparately seeking personal and professional respect. If you can accept the premise regarding the appearance of the tigers, then you'll soon find yourself immersed in a pretty good story. Graphically violent in places, it moves along at a fast clip as it hurdles to the ultimate (and expected) climax. My main criticisms of the book are that it spends a little too much time regarding the spiritual connection between Jim Grand, the anthropologist, and his mentor college professor-turned-shaman. Their interaction was not all that vital to the development with the plot appearing to be more fluff than substance. The other problem that I had with the book was with the lack of the development of secondary characters. Rovin had a couple of great opportunities to involve some of the interesting fringe characters in the plot, but for some reason chose not to include them to any great degree. Be that as it may, this is still an enjoyable experience. You won't find any huge plot twists, and, while Rovin can't resist sticking in technical jargon from time to time, it does add something to the story. Like a good Michael Crichton novel, the jargon gives the author a chance to show off a little of his research efforts. Along that line, if you like the works of Crichton, James Rollins ("Subterranean"), or John Darnton ("Neanderthal"), then you're find this a comparable effort.
Rating:
Summary: Wholly implausible, but an exciting read nonetheless!
Review: "Fatalis" is the type of book that you pick up in the bookstore, read the back cover, shake your head in disbelief of the plot, yet buy anyway. Jeff Rovin, as eclectic an author as one will find writing today, definitely knows how to spin a "yarn". (See two of his other works, "Vespers" and "The Return of the Wolf Man" as examples.) "Fatalis" is the story of a pack sabre-tooth tigers that reanimate after some climate and topicgraphical changes to terrorize Santa Barbara, CA, on the way to their (famous) ancestral home. Hunted down by the local sheriff, a war-hardened Vietnam vet who has taken the tigers appearance in his town personal, the story also centers on the attempt of an anthropologist to resurrect his own life, while trying to save that of the tigers. Rounding out the triangle is a newspaper reporter desparately seeking personal and professional respect. If you can accept the premise regarding the appearance of the tigers, then you'll soon find yourself immersed in a pretty good story. Graphically violent in places, it moves along at a fast clip as it hurdles to the ultimate (and expected) climax. My main criticisms of the book are that it spends a little too much time regarding the spiritual connection between Jim Grand, the anthropologist, and his mentor college professor-turned-shaman. Their interaction was not all that vital to the development with the plot appearing to be more fluff than substance. The other problem that I had with the book was with the lack of the development of secondary characters. Rovin had a couple of great opportunities to involve some of the interesting fringe characters in the plot, but for some reason chose not to include them to any great degree. Be that as it may, this is still an enjoyable experience. You won't find any huge plot twists, and, while Rovin can't resist sticking in technical jargon from time to time, it does add something to the story. Like a good Michael Crichton novel, the jargon gives the author a chance to show off a little of his research efforts. Along that line, if you like the works of Crichton, James Rollins ("Subterranean"), or John Darnton ("Neanderthal"), then you're find this a comparable effort.
Rating: 
Summary: A Big Letdown
Review: A lot of interesting information about sabertooth tigers is contained here. The book's premise is that some of them survived extinction. However, how they survived 11,000 years frozen in Southern California did not seem plausible. The book seems to plod along at an excrutiatingly slow pace. Jim Grand, a caver seems to be the only one who can accept the existance of the cats. Jim's wife had died in a boating accident and he seems to have lost himself to his work. Enter Hannah, a reporter that gets thrown together with Grand when some highway workers are killed. You expect a romance to develop between them but their relationship throughout the book seems awkward. Meanwhile the sabertooths ruthlessly maul anyone they come across. Even a speeding truck and a catamaran in the ocean prove no match for the cats. Grand however, seems to have a knack for going toe-to-toe with the big cats with no problem. I had a real problem with this. Another main character is Sheriff Gerhart who is a Viet Nam vet. Gerhart has a nasty personna with a vendetta against the world. He saw a lot of his fellow soldiers killed by booby traps. In the specific trap mentioned, the victim sees the trap sprung and cannot get out of the way of the killing part of the mechanism. The only hope is that it is not aimed at you. Gerhart seems to go through life like he had just sprung one of those traps. The ending seemed like it was put in as an afterthought. Rovin has written some much better titles than this one, specifically "Return of the Wolf Man." I recommend reading that book instead
Rating:
Summary: Lions and Tigers and...okay...just Tigers
Review: After his excellent book Vespers, Jeff Rovin returns with a new type of nature attack. Sabertooth cats that have been frozen for 11,000 years are now awake, hungry, and headed for L.A. Although not quite as gripping as Vespers, Rovin does an excellent job of showing the modern world as it faces one of the greatest hunters of all time. Sabertooth cats have never been seen in cave paintings and traces of their hides have never been found. Rovin cashes in on this lack of knowledge to design some very fearsome predators. Heavy rains have created sinkholes near LA. A local expert on primitive peoples is exploring cave paintings in a newly opened cave. A pair of highway workers disappear near a sinkhole. The scientist, a local reporter, and a hard-as-nails sheriff become involved as more people go missing, leaving only blood behind. The terror escalates as incidents become less isolated and evidence begins to point to the unbelievable; sabertooth cats once again stalk California. As the cats travel through caves and drainage systems the body count climbs. There seems little chance of capturing the beasts and only a slightly better chance of stopping them before the kill more people. The book climaxes as the main characters, the police, and national guards clash with the fearsome predators in LA. This book starts fast, sets the stage and characters, and then takes off running. The sabertooth cats make great monsters and the action pulls the reader to the final page. The only question is, where there be a sequel?
Rating:
Summary: Sabertooths sink teeth into modern day
Review: After his excellent book Vespers, Jeff Rovin returns with a new type of nature attack. Sabertooth cats that have been frozen for 11,000 years are now awake, hungry, and headed for L.A. Although not quite as gripping as Vespers, Rovin does an excellent job of showing the modern world as it faces one of the greatest hunters of all time. Sabertooth cats have never been seen in cave paintings and traces of their hides have never been found. Rovin cashes in on this lack of knowledge to design some very fearsome predators. Heavy rains have created sinkholes near LA. A local expert on primitive peoples is exploring cave paintings in a newly opened cave. A pair of highway workers disappear near a sinkhole. The scientist, a local reporter, and a hard-as-nails sheriff become involved as more people go missing, leaving only blood behind. The terror escalates as incidents become less isolated and evidence begins to point to the unbelievable; sabertooth cats once again stalk California. As the cats travel through caves and drainage systems the body count climbs. There seems little chance of capturing the beasts and only a slightly better chance of stopping them before the kill more people. The book climaxes as the main characters, the police, and national guards clash with the fearsome predators in LA. This book starts fast, sets the stage and characters, and then takes off running. The sabertooth cats make great monsters and the action pulls the reader to the final page. The only question is, where there be a sequel?
Rating: 
Summary: Lacks teeth
Review: Dinosaurs get too much press, let's face it. It was nice, for a change, to see some other prehistoric superstars get their due - but, sadly, this book doesn't do them justice. Instead of real animals we get B-grade movie monsters. All the sabertooth cats do is move from one scene to the next, slaughtering an amazing amount of people along the way. There's no personality to these cats that makes them realistic, or makes them scary. Is you want an idea of how this book should've turned out, read "Ghosts of Tsavo" by Philip Caputo, which is a non-fiction account of man-eating lions in Africa. Now that's scary. If Rovin just stuck to a more realistic picture of his monsters, this could've been a far more thrilling work. Remember, the best thing about "Jaws" is you could believe the shark. Well, that and the great human characters. Rovins strikes out on that department too. But I'll give him two stars to giving a little attention to an under-appreciated creature.
Rating:
Summary: FATALIS WILL "ROAR" ON THE BIG-SCREEN
Review: Fatalis is one of those books that you can read and just picture the movie that it COULD become. There's nothing too in depth, and the characters are only slightly deeper than those in say Jurassic Park. Now, this may sound like a bad thing, but this book kept me reading and left me thoroughly entertained the entire time. It doesn't have the sheer kinetic energy of Rovin's last book VESPERS (which I highly recommend) but it does have a better conflict. In FATALIS, you have two sides - Sheriff Gearhart who is looking to safe human life at any cost and Jim Grand who wants to save the "returned" Sabre-tooth cats. Obviously one is HERO and one is ANTAGONIST, however as I read this I found myself taking strange sides. It's a tough thing to follow a 'hero' who seems more preoccupied with saving an animal than with all of the innocents who are being slaughtered around him...and believe me there is a HUGE body count in this book. All in all I'd say buy Fatalis, read it, and wait for the movie...which if Hollywood was smart...will be made!
Rating:
Summary: Fang you very much
Review: Fatalis reads like a B-horror movie at times, but the majority of the book is fairly well written. Jeff Rovin's other book Vespers, was made into a horrible movie "Bats", and I hear that this is being made into a movie also, but hopefully the film makers will stay true to the book on this one.
Fatalis explores a topic that has been delved into many times: prehistoric creatures that appear in the modern day world. It used to be that one could simply explain the appearance of these creatures to thawing from ice, which Fatalis takes to another step, using a fairly plausible explanation (read it to find out). In this book, the creature resurrected is a smilodon, or a "saber-toothed-tiger", an animal that would certainly threaten humanity if it existed today.
People are starting to die in the hills of Santa Barbara (actually they disappear, but immense amounts of blood are found). Anthropologist Jim Grand, explorig caves in the area, has an idea of what is killing the people in the area, but the authorities will not listen to him.
The story moves quickly from here, with numerous others dying, the authorities find that the attacks are getting closer and closer to Los Angeles, and that they need to stop whatever is making them before the attacker moves to the city. The book comes to a very captivating climax, with a shoot-out and smilodon attack on a lawn party included.
I thought it was a good premise, but could have been more thought out; but I enjoyed it anyway, because this is what I enjoy. I would suggest reading Fatalis because it is an enjoyable and interesting book that not only entwines horror and occasional scenes of gore and action, but also informs the reader of what animals of the past were like. The cryptozoological theme of this book is quite engaging, and provides for a good time of sitting next to a light and reading.
Rating:
Summary: A good idea, but at times is poorly executed
Review: Fatalis reads like a B-horror movie at times, but the majority of the book is fairly well written. Jeff Rovin's other book Vespers, was made into a horrible movie "Bats", and I hear that this is being made into a movie also, but hopefully the film makers will stay true to the book on this one.
Fatalis explores a topic that has been delved into many times: prehistoric creatures that appear in the modern day world. It used to be that one could simply explain the appearance of these creatures to thawing from ice, which Fatalis takes to another step, using a fairly plausible explanation (read it to find out). In this book, the creature resurrected is a smilodon, or a "saber-toothed-tiger", an animal that would certainly threaten humanity if it existed today.
People are starting to die in the hills of Santa Barbara (actually they disappear, but immense amounts of blood are found). Anthropologist Jim Grand, explorig caves in the area, has an idea of what is killing the people in the area, but the authorities will not listen to him.
The story moves quickly from here, with numerous others dying, the authorities find that the attacks are getting closer and closer to Los Angeles, and that they need to stop whatever is making them before the attacker moves to the city. The book comes to a very captivating climax, with a shoot-out and smilodon attack on a lawn party included.
I thought it was a good premise, but could have been more thought out; but I enjoyed it anyway, because this is what I enjoy. I would suggest reading Fatalis because it is an enjoyable and interesting book that not only entwines horror and occasional scenes of gore and action, but also informs the reader of what animals of the past were like. The cryptozoological theme of this book is quite engaging, and provides for a good time of sitting next to a light and reading.
Rating: 
Summary: Awesome Read!!
Review: First of all, I have to say GET THIS BOOK! With the risk of sounding un-professional, it is so cool!! This book was given to me for a present, and three days later I was just finishing one of the only stories that rivals Jurassic Park and The Lost World. Like both of these novels, this book would be a great movie. But enough about that, just the book alone was fantastic! The reader can easily imagine the scenes that are practically painted on the page. Kudos to Mr Rovin, I hope you do more like this! While it is at first painted for the reader to take sides with the characters out to save the creatures, it can become complicated. However, as an animal lover, I have to say that the animals' actions are very realistic. This is one that I recommend with one caution: don't make any plans for the weekend!! And keep a light on!
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