‘Carnosaur’ – Harry Adam Knight (Valancourt Books)

 


Page Count: 205 Pages

In today’s episode of ‘Graeme knows less than he thought he did’… I’ve got vague memories of ‘Carnosaur’ being a movie from the nineties; I didn’t realise it was a book as well. I’m not a hundred percent sure what led me to the book, in the end, but I found it on Amazon and seeing as I’ve enjoyed other books by Harry Adam Knight, I couldn’t help but pick a copy up for myself. Sometimes that’s all the encouragement I need ;o)

Before I get started on the book itself, thanks need to be directed to Valancourt Books for publishing this edition. I was too young to get my hands on this, as a kid, and now I’m (a lot) older, I find myself absolutely unable to afford an original copy. I still got to read it though so, thanks for that Valancourt ;o)

Anyway…

Nothing much ever happens in the sleepy English town of Warchester. So when a farmer is found savagely killed in some sort of animal attack, it’s a big story for local reporter David Pascal. The rich and eccentric Sir Darren Penward tells the police an escaped Siberian tiger from his private zoo is to blame, but Pascal isn’t so sure. Especially when one witness describes something impossible: an enormous and deadly creature that has been extinct for sixty million years. What exactly is Penward hiding behind the walls of his massive estate? And can Pascal uncover the truth before Penward’s creatures escape to wreak murder and havoc on the unsuspecting populace?

In the vast expanse of the Multiverse, there is a timeline where ‘Jurassic Park’ still got to do its thing but ‘Carnosaur’ had its time in the sun as the book that came first. And maybe that’s a little unfair, these are two very different books, but it’s also unfair that ‘Carnosaur’ missed its moment and was overshadowed by Crichton’s work. Either way, I think that timeline sounds a lot more fun; ‘Carnosaur’ certainly is.

I’ll be honest, there are moments where I felt that the writing didn’t quite match the ambition of the plot. Part of that is on me, I’ve never got on with villains who are happy to ‘monologue’ so the reader gets a full picture of their plan (because honestly, why would any serious villain want to help the hero?) In ‘Carnosaur’, this need to explain things hobbles the plot just when a nice head of steam is building up. The plot would have been better served if Knight had just let it flow and get on with it. To be fair though, if you like your villains to share their plans, Penward’s plans are most informative. Saying all of that, Penward is a decent villain who has an evil plan and the money to finance it. It certainly drives the plot effectively so maybe I can cut his cartoonish excesses a little slack ;o) 

And again, this may just be me but I felt like some of the prose was a little too stolid for a book that clearly wants to shock. Eight times out of ten, Knight hits the target but there are also moments where I felt like Knight was taking time out to get his breath back. Don’t do that, keep going dammit! ‘Carnosaur’ isn’t a long book and there’s no time to waste…

When Knight is on song though, ‘Carnosaur’ is an absolute joy to read and completely the book you’d expect given its title ;o) Knight packs his tale full of dinosaurs let loose in a modern world that is totally unprepared for their arrival and… The results are exactly why you picked the book up in the first place. Knight almost gleefully subjects his cast to ‘death by dinosaur’ and proves to be adept at drawing the tension out and then delivering a killing blow. You can see it coming but this time round, that’s the whole point so I was fine with it ;o)

‘Carnosaur’ may not change your life but certainly satisfied a ‘Dinosaur Horror’ itch that I never realized I had, until I started reading ;o) Good fun all round, I’m glad I picked it up.

I’ve also read a couple of other books by Harry Adam Knight, click on the links for my reviews of ‘Slimer’ and ‘The Fungus’.

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