Attacked!: By Beasts of Prey and Other Deadly Creatures, True Stories of Survivors [Paperback]

John Long (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1997

Everyone loves a good thriller. Like some of the best books in that genre. Attacked! will hook you from the first page. But this is no complex tale of international intrigue or terrorist plots. Instead, it's a spellbinder with a decidedly outdoor/adventure bent, filled with gripping, real-life stories of animal attacks and human survival. Personally selected by award-winning yarn-spinner John Long, each tale of man-eating tigers, sharks, rogue elephants, bears, and other wild creatures will both terrify and amaze you.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

"I was lying on my back with the lion on top of me, its front legs wrapped around me and its paws under my shoulder . . . the lion paused."

"All of a sudden the bear plunged through the top of our lean-to with a bellowing roar."

"With awful revulsion my mind came into focus, and I realized my predicament: a shark had me in his jaws."

You'll find these and many other stark situations and grim predicaments in this pulse-pounding collection of true stories from around the globe. Each account paints a powerful image of man and beast and the excruciating struggle to survive.

Noted outdoor writer John Long has selected the tales in this anthology--and uses them to unveil a lesson for understanding the laws of the wild, the nature of the attack.

John Long's award-winning stories have been widely anthologized, and more than 750,000 copies of his instructional outdoor books are in print. His novella, Rogue's Babylon, was the basis for the script of the Sylvester Stallone thriller, Cliffhanger.

About the Author

John Long (Venice, California) is an explorer, legendary rock climber, and best-selling author whose novella Rogue's Babylon was recast into the film Cliffhanger, starring Sylvester Stallone. His current literary fiction has appeared in everything from Granta to Reader's Digest. His rock climbing feats in the 1970s and 1980s earned him a reputation for boldness and innovation. In December 1998 he was the focus on a lengthy feature article in Climbing magazine. The article, quoting Michael Chesler of Chesler Books, noted that "Long has realized--as Conrad, London, and Hemingway before him,--that adventure literature is best written with a proper mix of real experiences and imaginary ones." His award-winning stories have been widely anthologized, and more than 750,000 copies of his instructional books are in print and have been translated into many languages.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: International Marine/Ragged Mountain Press; 1 edition (October 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0070386994
• ISBN-13: 978-0070386990
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,852,139 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An editor's collection, May 15, 2001

By 

B. Barrett (Kansas City, MO USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Attacked!: By Beasts of Prey and Other Deadly Creatures, True Stories of Survivors (Paperback)

I'd rate this as a good introductory collection of stories. There are 17 stories, 4 of them by Peter Hathaway Capstick. The book covers the following attacks: 3 lion, 1 hippo, 1 tiger, 1 jaguar, 4 bear, 1 crocodile, 4 leopard, 1 elephant, and 1 shark stories. Having already read several of the stories, I was a little disappointed with the lack of rarer material.

9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A book you can sink your teeth into, June 11, 2000

By 

J. Gifford (Las Vegas NV) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Attacked!: By Beasts of Prey and Other Deadly Creatures, True Stories of Survivors (Paperback)

This collection of true stories of animal attacks is a rip-roaring read from beginning to end. As Sherlock Holmes said (in not so many words), our fear of the wilderness is greater than our fear of the city. John Long's collected stories verify that in horrifying detail.

Imagine being on your own in the wilderness and hearing the "woof woof" of a grizzly somewhere behind you, or on an open plain in Africa, knowing there are lions are all around you.

The people in these true tales survive, which is even more horrifying. Lions gnawing on brains, crocodiles clamping down between legs, jaguars thrashing from person to person, tearing out jugulars -- all slendidly recounted.

Not a book for the faint, but a must for those in search of tales of adventure and survival.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Only Two Stories of Heroism, August 15, 2003

By 

Ivan Veller "lifelong learner" (Tampa, FL United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Attacked!: By Beasts of Prey and Other Deadly Creatures, True Stories of Survivors (Paperback)

Had I known that more than half of this anthology is nothing but hunters bragging about how they shot already wounded animals, I still would have bought this book for the other stories, including the hippo & croc ones but most notably Lion Attack! ("[W]ith the incredible bravery of the desperate, [Lee] threw himself on the lioness barehanded, punching and scratching to make the big cat drop his wife") and I Will Save You! ("Running toward [his wife's] Vina's screams...[Elfas] smacked the lioness over the back until the broom handle splintered."). As for (most of) the hunters, however, the braggadocio of their 'exploits' left me rooting for the animals!