Terror on the Tundra

By: J. Esker Miller

Narrated by: Ward Paxton

Length: 9 hrs and 32 mins

Publisher's summary

Jim Miller, writing as J. Esker Miller, has five previous thrillers that cover diverse but exciting times. But it was Alaska, the northernmost fringe of civilization, that intrigued him most of all. After years of flying over the desolate landscape and hearing the stories of the people there, he imagined a remote island, a desolate, hostile place where evolution was free to create unique creatures.

And so, a single pair of shipwrecked Viking war dogs evolved into terrifying Apex Predators that ravaged the island unchallenged. Eventually, the breakup of Arctic ice floated a few of the beasts to the North Slope of Alaska. There, they faced the valiant townspeople of Chintikook Village. Along with a boyish paleontologist and the local schoolteacher, the humans teamed up to battle the attacking creatures they called Super Wolves.

It’s an adventure that pits the fangs and claws of giant devil dogs against the wits and bravery of a small group of townspeople who don’t know how to give up despite impossible odds.

©2017 Jim Miller (P)2018 Jim Miller

Very easy to listen too.

Terror on the Tundra - Suspend all logic and reality and enjoy this adventure, and it is really good in places. But let down by an unfinished and rushed ending.
Still worth a read, and maybe I'm being a little harsh on my rating.
I was given a free copy of this audiobook at my own request, and voluntarily leave this review.

What the #%$ happened ?

I thought it would end in spectacular fashion was I mistaken. Good story ended unsolved with more deaths. Come on

Unusual Narration Choice

narration was unusual choice...All the characters sounded the same in that awkward tone of the narrator?

Not bad

Interesting take on a dog/wolf pack attack story. I felt the author spent way too much time on the Viking origin story and much could have been edited out. One minute the focus is on present day, then it departs into a long section about the origins of the species and the intermingling of the different races, that it starts to feel like the story will never go back to present day. Once that is done, it pretty much focuses on present day and you can get on with the story.

The story itself is fair, it seems a lot of new characters are repeatedly introduced only to die off quickly. There was a romance which kind of just.....happened. The author didn't do much work to build the emotions behind the romance. One minute the couple meet (clear attraction from the female not from the male), the next the female is berating the male for not stepping up & acting on her interest quicker, then all of a sudden they 'agree to be partnered'. This is the only way I can describe it because it came across as forced & mechanical. It's not a big part of the story but is a theme the author chose to persist with throughout the book. I liked the fact that the story was set in Alaska and is centered around the indigenous people. The story was just ok for me.

I was given this book for free of my own choosing and voluntarily left this review.

The author clearly knows Alaska

I live in Alaska, and I love horror and suspense novels set in the snow. When I saw that not only was this book set in my home state, but it featured a scary wolflike creature (another of my favorites), I knew I had to listen to it.

I have to say I'm impressed. A lot of books about Alaska are by people who have obviously never been here, but it is clear this author knows his stuff. I would bet that, at the very least, he has spent a lot of time here. He got everything right, from the character and personality of the native people, to the local environment, to the day to day living conditions. All the details are absolutely perfect.

The story itself is also pretty great. The scary wolf creature is everything I expected and more, and the characters are authentic and engaging. Also, it's the arctic! How can that not be the most interesting thing ever?

My only complaint is the narration. Thankfully most of it is alright, but when the narrator does dialogue, it gets really weird. The rhythm is all off. I'm not sure what that's all about, but at times I would have sworn it was like the narrator had never heard human speech before. The inflections, the word groupings . . . it's all a mess.

At any rate, as I said, this is only with the dialogue. It also seems worse when he is doing female voices. So thankfully I was able to get through it, and enjoy most of it, with just a few episodes of bewilderment when this quality got very noticeable.

I would still absolutely recommend the book, either in audio or in print.

I received a promotional copy of this book for free at my request, but this review is totally voluntary.

Gripping suspenseful tale!

My first thought was, Cujo meets The Thing. I was very impressed with this suspenseful tale about Devil Dogs (no, not the chocolate ones lol!). Someone else described this as "canine evolution in a closed environment," and that describes this to a T. Very intriguing listen, I was taken away by this wild tale. Great knowledge of Alaska and its wild environment, this will take you through all sorts of twists and turns and leave you breathless. Great story and narration! :)
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Solid listen

I was given this free review copy audio book at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

This was a pretty good book. The narrator has an interesting tone and made the book interesting. He is a bit limited on his voices, but that wasn't too much of an issue. All in all, the story was very engaging and the experience was a good one. Worth checking out.

Terror on the Tundra

This was a really good book!The idea of an island where terrifying animals exist is always interesting.That anyone survives is a miracle.Ward Paxton was a terrific narator.I was given this book by the narrator,author or publisher free for an honest review.

Decent story with odd ending!

We are presented with an interesting tale. The story begins present time in the bitter cold of the Arctic Circle. An Inuit hunter returning to the village after a successful fishing period is attacked by a huge wolf/dog animal. Alaska University experts are called in and it is publicized that a large creature the size of a Sabertooth tiger is on the loose. The tale abruptly reverts to ancient history of shipwrecked Vikings and their war dogs that inhabited Viking Island. As centuries passed the war dogs evolved into large ferocious Devil Dogs, which eventually migrated via the ice flows to Northern Alaska. The offered history lesson was sort of interesting, but it was not what I was expecting. Ultimately we return to the current day village, the university paleontologist, and the local villagers who band together to protect themselves and eliminate the now named Super Wolves. The story gains interest as it continues, but the ending was rather abrupt. Three.point.five for originality. This audiobook was given by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review via Audiobook Boom.

Very enjoyable story

I found this book to be both original, believable and entertaining. It drew me right in. The story and characters were well developed and it was interesting to hear what living above the arctic circle is like. The book has two story lines which flow together seamlessly and allows you to understand how the "creatures" developed. I felt the narration was only average and didn't quite do justice to the storytelling. I would have loved to hear a little more emotion in the reading. Even so, I would highly recommend this book.

I received a free audio copy of this book at my request by the publisher, this in no way affected my review.