Fatalis

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: 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: 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: 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!

Rating:
Summary: A bit long in the tooth...
Review: I searched for this title after learning it was to be made into a feature film... I admit it. I [like] rampaging creature features and novels. It appears the film project has been indefinitely postponed, and perhaps this isn't such a bad thing.

Taking advantage of the quite familiar plot machination of extinct creatures finding new life in modern times, Rovin uses the equally familiar surroundings of Southern California as a backdrop for unthawed saber-toothed cats running about doing what massive predators do best. Invariably, these types of stories involve "the most successful hunter the planet has ever known." This seemingly exclusive designation might be getting a bit crowded now.

The story behind the cats' arrival borders on ludicrous, as does a fair amount of their carnage. They can't hold a candle to Grand, however. The manner in which he repeatedly (and lovingly) thwarts them with the equivilent of a large stick, while the heavily-armed folks about him are torn to shreds, stretches credibility to the breaking point. Luckily, as with the other two leads, his character is more stereotype than flesh and blood. All three spend more time seething for principle's sake than paying attention. Luckily, the cats have no such foibles. While the humans pontificate, they're busy disemboweling the populace.

Rating:
Summary: It's Cheese, Gromit! Cheese!
Review: If I may paraphrase the claymation character Wallace: "Cheese, Gromit! This novel is made completely out of cheese."

It's easy to see how the novel "Fatalis" may have been optioned for a film.

Certainly all the ingredients are in place: The rugged and handsome widower Professor. The plucky, attractive and independently wealthy newspaper reporter. The Napoleon-esque, Viet Nam veteran sheriff. The noble and introspective Native American mentor. And let's not forget the stars themselves, the thawed out, toothy, super-intelligent pussy cats.

"Fatalis" is a novel that is written for a long wait in an airport terminal and/or a flight stuck out on the tarmac. The chapters are extremely short. Some less than two and a half pages. The characters are two dimensional, and the dialogue is at times preachy. The sabertooths (or is that saberteeth?) come and go as they please; both on land and at sea. People get gobbled up without so much as a fight.

Another reviewer made a very astute comment. It's absolutely amazing how fully armed police-officers and national guardsmen are taken down in a matter of nano-seconds. Meanwhile, in various points throughout the story, our hero Prof. Grand, manages to elude becoming Meow Mix by using a stick, a stone and handmade prehistoric noisemaker.

Fans of Mystery Science Theatre 3000 will no doubt throw out one-liners as they read this novel. I know I did. It's cheese from beginning to end. And it's not even Wensleydale! All that was missing from the novel's climax was the obligatory . . . . THE END ??? to complete the cheesy monster movie feel.

2-1/2 stars for the Sabertooth Cats. I was rooting for them throughout the novel.

Rating:
Summary: Lions and Tigers and...okay...just Tigers
Review: Rovin, with "Fatalis" has created a book that brings back the spirit of the old monster movies. You know the ones...where a creature is frozen and is somehow miraculously revived in modern times and begins to wreak havoc among human beings. In this book, sabre-toothed tigers are the monsters (or is the humans who want to kill them) and they, predictably, start eating their way through California. Fun book but predictable. Nothing new here. Grab some popcorn and relive those monster movie memories.

Rating:
Summary: Claws
Review: Think Jaws with paws, and you've pretty much got the idea of this one. It's an old-fashioned 1970s style animal-monster-on-the loose story, though Fatalis is a little better than its genre.

The characters are stock, but Rovin ponders several interesting subjects during the story, such as cryogenic preservation, the nature of instinct, ecological balance, the role of evolution and the question of extinction of species. Anyone interested in anthropology and American Indian lore will discover a lot of material on the Chumash tribe.

Rovin's natural history of the cats is fascinating. Since no one's ever seen what a saber-tooth "tiger" really looks like, Rovin makes the cats his own. They're not really tigers, but described something more like outsize-incisored wildcats, and they behave more like a pride of lions. The explanation for their being around is a little hard to swallow, and once or twice they pull some tricks it's difficult to imagine any kind of big cat even attempting, but the author makes it credible enough to enjoy the ride.

This is a very fast, very easy read, and very enjoyable as well.