Aquasaurus

by Ernie Lee

*WINNER Texas Authors Book Award 2017 in Fiction/Suspense* Rules are set in stone – that is until someone shatters that rock and all hell breaks loose. A determined oil driller uses an illegal fracking method, causing a devastating earthquake and fire which destroys much of San Antonio. Cave explorers, Jesse and Jake, are trapped in the dark with a monster crocodile, long thought to be extinct – Aquasaurus – a forty-foot, 8-ton descendent of Carnufex – “The Butcher”. World-class rock climber, Rita, must overcome her lifelong fear of darkness to rescue her boyfriend Jesse. A state senator must juggle her fear losing a child, with the greater need of thousands of disaster survivors. A businessman must deal with the fear of losing a business his dying father spent a lifetime building. Why is Rita afraid of the dark? What happens when Aquasaurus escapes from the cave system and runs loose among disaster survivors? What will happen if the dangerous crocodile escapes into the Gulf of Mexico? Fear can cause people to react in unpredictable ways. Fear can distort judgment, and cause likeable people to commit irrational acts. Fear can masquerade as bravado. Fear can paralyze. Fear can provide a cover for the truth. The problem with fear, is we think fear is the problem. Everyone has a fear of something. What are you afraid of?

324 pages, Paperback

Published May 16, 2016

Reviews

[Rox Burkey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Aquasaurus takes place across parts of Texas that are beautiful, rich in history, endearing, and often dangerous. When the drive to strike it rich has an oil driller using an illegal fracking method which sets off a chain reaction that devastates San Antonio and traps some young spelunkers in an extensive cave system in Central Texas. A monster crocodile 40-feet long and up to 8-tons is thought to be a descendent of the extinct Carnufex known as “The Butcher” is freed from his underground prison in the cavernous caves with disaster survivors available to stalk and kill. Jesse and Jake are trapped and college friends, Katie and Rita, commit to find and rescue them after the earthquake. The search for them is seriously scary, and so believable, you’ll look up the last earthquake in San Antonio, I promise. This Action Thriller Fiction will grab you for the entire ride, just to find out the fate of everyone and everything.

What was most impressive for me about this story were the pictures that Author, Ernie Lee painted with his words. All of my senses became engrossed in this story, right from the start. For example, you get the first glimpse of the monster from this passage. “Exploding from the murky water, the predator’s crocodilian maw, gaping wide, engulfs the cloud of surprised bats. The jaws snare a huge segment of the moving cloud, fifteen feet wide, which disappears inside the creature’s massive mouth. Splashing back into the water the massive animal twists and turns, and churns the water, devouring hundreds of bats in huge snaps and chomps. The sounds of water roiling, wings flapping, and bones crunching fill the cavern.” The descriptions of the locations like Enchanted Rock, the Texas Hill Country, and the Texas oil business pulls you in, keeps you reading.

I loved the characters, Katie and Rita, who are strong females forced to overcome their deep-seated fears to locate their friends, Jake and Jesse. The strength of these young folk causes them to grow up fast as well as realize the value of team work and friendships as they search for solutions. Katie’s father, Clint Marshall, is so desperate to reach the oil that he uses a faster but far more dangerous method to attempt to crack the granite dome blocking him from success. His actions and the results did not disappoint me.

Ernie Lee clearly knows the history, charm, and geology of Texas. He takes that knowledge and undoubtedly hours of research weaving a story that captivated my imagination. The character development is exceptionally good. He models very different characters with varied backgrounds, fears and dispositions that allows for interesting interactions. In placing them into a situation to test the best and worst in each of them. I like the characters I look forward to reading about them in the next adventure and I hope I never have to face these kinds of challenges. A must read if you like being on the edge of your seat.

[Alan Renfro · Rating 4 out of 5]

Being born in Austin, TX and living in Central Texas for the majority of my life it was fun to read this book knowing of some of the local areas. I've been on the hunt for good crocodile related books and this one was a good read. I did enjoy it but it wasn't without some frustrations. I felt it was a bit rushed. There were missed opportunities in this book to make the star shine but didn't. It needed more gore. How destructive can a forty foot crocodile be on soft human flesh??? We can only imagine. For one group of people it was deadly destructive but those moments were never captured. When this prehistoric beast finally has the opportunity to showcase his might you feel a little let down at the extreme fortunate GOOD luck the victims have. One of my biggest complaints is the lack of hard scene breaks within the chapters. All-in-all I liked the book. For what its worth it did keep me entertained enough that I will read the next book.

[John Howard Hatfield]

An interesting story about "what might coulda happened" presented by Ernie Lee. He keeps the plot twists going and leaves you wondering at every twist and turn. I'm ready for the next part!

[Gretchen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Don't be fooled by the first couple of chapters, if you're the sort of reader who loves disaster movies (and books), you'll like Aquasaurus a lot. It really gets going about Chapter 3. Set in Central Texas Hill Country by an author who's done his homework, it's Sharknado without all the dumb humor, and with a prehistoric crocodile. Looking forward to his next book.

[Julie Sandel · Rating 1 out of 5]

Only worthwhile thing is it made me look up the "Ring of Gyges" and that was interesting.

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