Primordial

Publisher's Summary

Sometimes, the legends are true.

When eccentric billionaire Ellis Holloway hires renegade marine biologist Sam Aston to investigate the legend of a monster in a remote Finnish lake, Aston envisions an easy paycheck and a chance to clear his gambling debts. But he gets much more. There is something terrible living beneath the dark waters of Lake Kaarme and it is hungry.

As the death toll mounts, Aston faces superstitious locals, a power-hungry police chief, and a benefactor's descent into madness as he races to find the legendary beast of the lake.

©2017 David Wood and Alan Baxter (P)2017 Adrenaline Press

Creature feature!!

I'm such a sucker for a good underwater adventure, or indeed any adventure that has prehistoric creatures trying to eat you!! So upon seeing this, I dived in. And, as I kind of guessed before starting, I found myself immersed in an action packed, enthralling, underwater adventure, that ticked all the right boxes.

Plot wise, I loved it. Sam Aston is called upon by an eccentric billionaire, Ellis Holloway, after one of Ellis's previous employees disappeared. He left behind some compelling evidence to show that there may be something in the lake in a Finnish village. Sam knows the guy is crazy, but with a chance to clear his growing gambling debts, he decides to entertain the man. Easy money, right? Nope, there is something lurking in the lake and it's hungry!!! The plot was fast paced, entertaining, actually quiet believable (when it came to how the beast came into the lake) and a rollicking adventure!!

All the characters were well written and developed. Sam is the lovable rogue whom you can't help but love. We have a hot tv host whom is also quite smart, and we have the eccentric billionaire whom loves all things cryptids and is willing to fund the trip to find the proof of a prehistoric creature, and we have other characters who all add up to make the book interesting and intriguing.

It's also not just about the beast. We see and hear things from the small village to question whether the creature is there by choice. There seems to be other beasts around... the two legged kind, and it just goes to show that beasts aren't always just animals. I was intrigued about the books in the basement and need to know more about their origin and what they are!! I really, really hope there's more to come!!

In all, this was awesome. I flew through it and absolutely need more!! I will definitely check out more from both authors and can only hope they have some creature feature books written!!!

Jeffrey Kafer is one of the best in the business. He has narrated numerous books, in numerous genres and never fails to deliver. It's the same here!! He is so easy to listen to and nails the performance. He had me on the edge of my seat all the time but especially during the tense moments. He just knows how to bring a story to life!!

I was voluntarily provided this audiobook for free from the author, narrator, or publisher. This in no way affected nor influenced my thoughts.

13 of 14 people found this review helpful

A great monster book

Primordial is a fun monster hunting book with more than one twist. David Wood and Alan Baxter give a grand adventure in a sleepy village lake. With a motley crew of septics and fanatics bent on exposing a monster led by a eccentric billionaire Primordial keeps you hooked all the way through.

Jeffrey Kafer does a great job as narrator and gives everyone their own voice accents included.

This book contains some mature language and content but nothing too graphic, but depends on your preference.

Overall I would highly recommend this book as a fun monster book and an easy listen.

***I received a free copy at my request from the author, publisher or narrator in exchange for an honest review***

6 of 7 people found this review helpful

A good Listen in a Sparse Genre

I was in the mood for a book about a scary sea monster (go figure), and this one fit the bill. I have to say I didn't care much for the main character, but I was immediately drawn into the story nonetheless, and it held my attention. The author managed to keep it interesting and not devolve into implausibility or cheese, as is so often the case in the monster genre. Probably the best all around sea monster book I've read thus far.

The narration was great. I'm going to keep an eye out for Jeffrey Kafer in the future.

I received this book for free at my request from the author, publisher or narrator and have voluntarily left this review.

5 of 6 people found this review helpful

Fun Lake Monster Story

I really enjoyed 'Primordial.' I expected an awesome lake monster story going in and I definitely wasn't disappointed. A nice mix of mystery, monster thrills, romance, badass female characters and criminal cops all set in a unique and interesting place - a small town in Finland. This book also had a rare example of an open ended ending that I actually enjoyed and thought was well executed. The story held my attention from top to bottom! The narration wasn't bad but it also definitely wasn't consistently good, either. Some of the accents went in and out but it didn't prevent me from enjoying the story. I would recommend this book to any friends who enjoy a good monster story!

I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.

3 of 4 people found this review helpful

Scary Good!

Sam Aston, a marine biologist, desperately needs a big paycheck to clear his gambling debts. When a billionaire in search of a mysterious and deadly deep sea monster comes calling, Sam sees a way out of his problems. He couldn’t possibly be more wrong!

Primordial is horror, sci-fi and Indiana Jones all rolled up into one! It’s one exciting story from the first paragraph. Trust me when I say the human monsters in this story are every bit as frightening as the prehistoric one!

Jeffrey Kafer is one of my favorite narrators of the sci-fi/horror genre and he does an amazing job on this audiobook which clocks in at just over 8 hours. Authors David Wood and Alan Baxter penned a fantastic story and the ending leaves an opening for more adventures from Sam Aston!

This audiobook was given to me at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review, thanks, Audiobook Boom!

3 of 4 people found this review helpful

An Absolute Blast

People disappear from this lakeside town in Finland a few times a year, but no one really talks about it. They think that there is something in the water, but to keep it at bay they just accept that people and animals may disappear. In comes an overzealous billionaire who wants to get footage of this beast that no one has ever seen (and lived to tell the tale).

I love a good “monster” book, and I love it, even more, when it takes place in the water. I think that it makes the books more believable because we’ve explored more in space than we have of our own waterways.

Primordial was an absolute blast from beginning to end. The main character is one of those ‘down on his luck’ protagonists that you want to root for and believe me, you’re given lots of opportunities to root for him. The TV crew that was brought in could have been hateable or likable and by the end, I’ll let you make up your own opinion.

The story itself was fun with lots of action intermixed with a little love and other scenes. It really kept me interested throughout and I kept trying to guess what was going to happen next and couldn’t. I love when a book can keep me guessing but also keeps me interested to find out what will actually happen.

Primordial was written by excellent adventure writers and you can tell, it’s not just about the monster, but also about the stories and history around it. I particularly enjoyed the Nazi history of the area too, that was an unexpected turn and a really interesting part of Primordial.

As I said in my “title” – an absolute blast from beginning to end.

Jeffrey Kafer provides the narration for Primordial. If you don’t know who he is yet, then I think that’s on you! Kafer is absolutely one of the best in the business and is one of my favorite narrators to listen to. He is able to add drama to an already dramatic book and makes reading Wood’s novels even easier.

I received a free copy of this book. It has not affected my review of my opinion.

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3 of 4 people found this review helpful

Interesting story, difficult reader.

I enjoyed the story with good action and an interesting monster. The narrator, however, seemed to be channeling a poor Philip Marlowe voice. His versions of accents were lackluster and nearly nonexistent, making an Aussie sound like a faded Boston, MA. Seeing as the main story takes place in Scandinavia, the local characters had almost no accents at all. I like to feel myself immersed in a story and having all the voices nearly identical did not lend to that immersion.

4 of 6 people found this review helpful

It was just ok...

I had higher expectations for a good thriller. The character development and storyline was pretty basic with not alot of depth.

The narrator did an average job on the accents but would have been better off not trying.

Giant Monster Story

I bought it wanting a giant monster story and it delivered. They even managed to deliver a nice ending but leave it open for a sequel. The opening of the story, however, is pretty rough. Try to imagine Sam Spade as an Australian marine biologist. I kept on expecting him to refer one of the female characters as "a good looking dame." Anyhow once they get to Finland the story picks up. If you want to hear about a sea monster, you've found your story.

Good story; horrible narration.

The story was good, but the distraction was the Bostonian accent sometimes used for the Australian??? At other times, there was no accent at all. It sometimes pulled you out of the story.

A brilliant creature-feature thriller - Cool!

The book begins at a good pace giving us some information and backstory on the characters. I really like the characters in it. From the TV host that's interesting and not just animal fodder to Sam who is a tad roguish to our rather eccentric billionaire funding it all they are all solid characters.

It's a thrilling ride! It seems plausible which I like. It's also not just about the monster/animal. We see and hear things from the village to question whether the creature is living there through it's own choice.

It leaves you wanting more. It's certainly a book I could (and will) listen too again. It ends well but with enough questions that make you want a sequel and gives you scope for one!

Also really great narration. A voice that you can listen too and that sweeps you along with the pace of the book.

This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.

Jurassic Park meets Indiana Jones

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

This was a fun listen which moved along at a fair pace. There was very little down time or backstory and it moved briskly from action scene to action scene. There are some fun, if predicable, characters and well detailed locations.

The narration is generally pretty good with only a few dubious accents.

Some of the writing is fairly cliched and basic, the characters are fairly shallow but the premise was interesting and enough to carry it through to the end.

For a short, entertaining listen I'd recommend this book.