Phantom Beast

By: Luke Phillips

Narrated by: Andrew Pond

Length: 11 hrs and 10 mins

Publisher's summary

Wyoming.

Unsurpassed wilderness soon to become a battleground. A lone warrior has harnessed the raw, natural power of one of the greatest predators of all time. And the land to which he has kinship will no longer tolerate its desolation and decimation. War has been declared, and a zoological superweapon has been unleashed.

As ranchers begin to lose their cattle, their lands, and their lives, a small community reaches out to the only person who can help: Thomas Walker, a hunter turned conservationist. And he will soon discover that the creature is more familiar to him than he ever thought possible.

Drawn back to his past, and targeted by a man with a score to settle, Thomas faces a fight on every front. But he’s not alone. His wife and daughter insist on accompanying him to the lands he belonged to—before he belonged to them.

In Phantom Beast, carnage and adventure come to the American West, and prove that it still belongs to the wild. A modern-day chiller that will have you on the edge of your seat. Not to be missed.

©2021 Luke Phillips (P)2022 Luke Phillips

Awesome listen! Great book and story!

These books keep getting better and better. Also you can enjoy them as one as the author gives you the background when it is needed. Can’t wait for the next one!

It just gets better

I am in awe of the author. The books keep getting better with each volume. This volume was set in the American West and serves to set up, not one, but two follow up books.

I recommend this book for anyone who likes a good creature story, but without anything too fantastic kicking off the action. The technology mentioned is well within the realm of feasibility. This is very nicely balanced with an emphasis on balance in nature. The one caveat I will provide is that the reader will benefit greatly from first reading the previous two books.

I anxiously await the next book(s).

Do Less

I want to preface this review with a simple fact, I like this series. If I didn't, I wouldn't be on book three nor would I write the following detailed review. The author has built a very interesting premise in a unique world. I desperately want that to continue.

That said, some thoughts:

Contrivance:
- I don't have the time to go back and figure out where Thomas gets his implied wealth from, but based on the fact that he owns various properties, a number of retro-mod vehicles - in the tune of $150k plus each - various customized firearms and equipment he truly has to be worth millions. He gets thousands of lbs of equipment shipped immediately overseas; did you look up how much that would cost and how unrealistic that timeframe is? How? I seriously can't remember, but is he a trust-funder that happens to spend his life in conservation? Last time I checked conservationists are typically not known to have the funds to travel the globe, hunting, living long stretches in various regions, and somehow owning real estate and equipment around the globe.
- Stop making characters into Marty or Gary Stus. Thomas does not need to be damn near perfect at everything. Is he an expert in everything? Does he ever have to do research?
- Governments do not work fast. Just saying that the characters were amazed at the speed at which the government bent to your needs does not make it realistic, and makes for contrived, then formulaic plot devices. Slow down, jump in time if needed, but don't just magically allocate multi-million dollar air platforms. How and who paid for the fuel? Who is flying it? Who is paying for the permits, the military escort, the enclosure, the food, etc. There are so many examples of incredibly contrived parts of this story that it was beginning to get frustrating.
- There was an incredible amount of evidence at the stable that also implicates a protagonist in the violence. Any consequences?

Tactics and Firearms:
- For the love of all that is Holy, the vessel that rounds go into is not called a "clip"! Seriously, stop. If your editor did that for whatever silly reason, fire them. Yes, clips do exist. But no, they are NOT used in a B&T submachine gun nor in any pistol, let alone the most recent models of Sig.
- Look at tactical movement and shooting. Take a course if you have not. If anything at least troll YouTube or talk to some former SAS. Do something, because what we got with the "raid" on the stable was overwrought and silly. The great thing about this series is that it is not John Wick (nothing against that series). The stories generally keep to some semblance of realism, please go back to it.
- This is not an 80s B-level action movie, real shooters don't fire two guns simultaneously. That was so painful I almost stopped the audiobook completely.
- Stop having the uber-hunter go off hunting insanely dangerous creatures by himself. It is not realistic, it's just dumb. Humans are the most dominant species because we work as teams.
- Not to harp on the stable scene, but there are so many things wrong with the use of the dogs. (1) A tactically proficient person would not take an unknown element into battle, the dogs were more likely to become a liability than an asset; (2) how did the dogs know to perceive the mercs as a threat, and kill on the behest of Jericho?; (3) did these dogs get destroyed when they got back to the ranch? They have killed numerous people, they would likely have to be put down.


The Supernatural and Dread:
- There is oftentimes a feeling of supernatural elements. Don't rush to that confirmation with the characters. You don't need the wise old Indian women to simply state it. Build that relationship, show more interactions and allow the reader to discover the unique qualities.
- The feeling of being hunted is truly primal. Delve deeper into the horror of hunting what can hunt you. Take more time, build that atmosphere and let us feel the dread of the characters.