Shadow of the Thunderbird

Cryptids #1

by D.L. Tanner, Loren L. Coleman (Foreword by)

For the past 160 years, giant birds have been reported in the skies above the Black Forest of Northern Pennsylvania. Now, it's up to one man and one woman to find out where they came from and where they've gone.

Genres: Cryptozoology, Fantasy

364 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2002

Reviews

[Calvin · Rating 1 out of 5]

I started this because because I love books about cryptozoology and had high hopes for the series. But I was really let down. Very rarely do I ever have to stop reading a book because I can't finish it, but this was one of those times. This book had great potential but got bogged down in the details. Not the most exciting premise, trying to find a mythical giant bird, but it offered some intrigue with internal company deception and mystery. It started off slow, like most books do when they're the first in a series, but the pace never picks up. The author details everything, and I mean everything. Every sight, touch, smell, feeling, and action is written down. Secondary characters walking across the street to get coffee takes a page and half to describe. If there wasn't so much unnecessary detail, the book would be significantly shorter and much easier to get through. I thought if I could get through this book the other might be more exciting, but I couldn't finish it. Some spelling and punctuation errors were mildly distracting, but that happens in every book. I hope someone was able to finish this book and enjoy it, but that just wasn't me. I hope this review didn't offend anyone, especially the author, but I just felt I had to give an honest review of this book

[dragonhelmuk]

Kindled for £2. Excellent book! Definitely worth the money. Although the author is clumsy at times that's probably to be expected in their first book of the series, and it's no worse than reading the first harry potter (better in fact since the book is written for an older audience). The synopsis on the back cover is a perfect introduction, but generally the book is about a secret organisation seeming to be led by a shadowy A.I. it has hired agents and seems to have unlimited resources devoted to investigating the supernatural (reports of ufos, conspiricies magic and most importantly to us cryptozoological creatures ("cryptoids") We follow one team on what seems to be the organisations first sucessful mission in search of american thunderbirds (that's the native american mythological creature, not the planes). I especially like the emphasis on the paranormal and the technology which is very believable. Two quotes:

(unfortunately the narrator is a bit clueless)
" Amelia was there. He tugged at Alma to stop. He thought to go inside and thank her for taking care of them while they were out in northern Pennsylvania, but stopped short when he saw her companion. It was Kyle Martin, and the two were sharing a quiet laugh. She shoved him away playfully. Reaching up, Pritchard’s niece pushed one curled, flaxen lock over her small right ear. Ian tried to learn body language, at one point. He also studied handwriting analysis, trying to understand women, but never got very far with either. He vaguely recalled that pushing the hair back behind the ear was a good sign. It supposedly meant that a woman might be interested in the man she was addressing. Ian was crestfallen, as he slowly caught back up with Alma. As they made their way together up the hall, she put her arm on his shoulder. Del Nephites squeezed the back of his neck, just a little harder than was necessary. “Snap out of it!” Alma suggested, with her usual sensitivity. "

(mixing in a bit of language work never hurt any book!)
Ian stopped his assistant curator ramblings, backing up with a sudden start. He grabbed Alma by the arm, causing her to swerve the limited edition SUV. She glared at him, until she caught the zealous glint in his eyes. “The book,” Ian said with the tone of an apology, as he shrugged his shoulders. “It’s written in Navajo. That’s the only explanation.” Alma searched the road ahead for her own conclusions. No, she decided, he’s right. It made perfect sense. Ian drew to his lengthy conclusion. “The Anasazi true name was never known, and no other Native American people called them by that name.”

(basic premise for the cryptoids, which was the most fun but also by far the most unbelievable part of the book)
Ian contended that humanity lives on only ten percent of the landmass, on a planet roughly three quarters water. Only an estimated one million species were discovered and classified thus far, with ten times that many believed to exist.