Cryptozoica [Paperback]

Mark Ellis (Author), Jeff Slemons (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 18, 2010

Lost World - Lost Souls Deep in the jungled hell of Big Tamtung, a forgotten island in the South China Seas, lies a miraculous ancient substance that will unlock the secrets of life on Earth-- Prima Materia, a fabled material that has been whispered about since Biblical times. Two centuries before, Charles Darwin discovered the last pool of Prima Materia on Big Tamtung but his discovery was suppressed by The School of Night, a secret society of scholars founded by Sir Walter Raleigh. Now, when a small group of scientists and fortune hunters explore the jungles of Big Tamtung, they must endure frightening tests of their ingenuity and courage, as they struggle against ancient terrors--a lost world of dinosaurs and a miracle older than time. With a non-human language spoken by Biblical patriarchs and coded secrets scribbled in the suppressed log of Darwin as their only clues, "Tombstone" Jack Kavanaugh and his partner, Augustus Crowe, discover secrets linking Prima Materia to the hidden history of humanity. Kavanaugh and Crowe lead a pair of cynical scientists and the notorious Madame Bai Suzhen through the seething cauldron of a bizarre ecosystem--the remnant of an Earth that was and might be again. Pursued by a crew of bloodthirsty Triad assassins and frighteningly intelligent monsters spawned by a twisted evolution, Kavanaugh and Crowe are no longer interested in seeking a fortune, but merely in staying alive. Deep in the broiling jungle, amid ruins half as old as time, they plunge into the heart of humanity's greatest mystery--and to a violent confrontation with a misshapen madman who lusts after a miracle but will settle for murder. Lavishly illustrated by Jeff Slemons. Cryptozoica…where the past has not stopped breathing! "CRYPTOZOICA is a novel for those who really want to sink their teeth into something engrossing to the finish. For a modern take on pulp adventure, you would be hard-pressed to find one that delivers like this. -Bruce Grossman, Bookgasm

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

A master of combining historical and speculative science with blazing action, the writer of Doc Savage and the creator of the best-selling Outlanders series, Mark (James Axler) Ellis returns with his most high-impact, high-octane thriller yet-a terrifying tale of an ancient conspiracy that can shatter the world.

Product Details

• Paperback: 434 pages
• Publisher: CreateSpace (June 18, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1453604693
• ISBN-13: 978-1453604694
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,192,801 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Grand Slam Pulp Adventure, July 1, 2010

By 

Jack Murphy (USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Cryptozoica (Paperback)

I just finished reading Cryptozoica a few minutes ago and had to drop a few lines in here about it. The short version is if you are a fan of Indiana Jones, Action-Adventure, Robert E. Howard, and were sadly disappointed by Dan Brown's latest non-adventure then this is the book you want to turn to. This is the book that delivers with heroes that some would say are larger then life (I say some just live interesting lives!), Dinosaurs, and lost civilizations. This is Zacharia Sitchen and David Hatcher Childress in novelized form.

Cryptozoica draws you in from the beginning with plot build up and interesting, if zanny, characterization of a group of down on their luck misfits mixed in with descriptions of a secret society, a suppressed part of Charles Darwin's journal, and a lost island in the south china sea. You get introduced to the pulp down and out hero who has turned the booze, the wild child with switch blades, the triad princess, a paleontologist, a evil dwarf, and a black dynamite style ex-Navy SEAL. I was not expecting such a large build up in the beginning of the book however the writing was strong throughout and I never lost interest so I won't detract any stars here, just expected something else by making the mistake of judging a book by its cover!

I won't give away any of the plot points Mark Ellis carefully crafted out but it was great to see him combine dozens of subjects I've always been interested in and throw them together in this novel. The descriptions of the natural environments were great, very visual and the action clear and concise, also cool to see some lesser known Dino's in the book.

Of course something needs to be said about the illustrations in Cryptozoica as well. Jeff Slemons did a outstanding job with the cover and interior artwork. Just the right style, the characters look great and the dinosaurs look pretty anatomically correct as well as the intended sense of motion looking very fluid. On a side note I also thought the placement of the pictures themselves was very well thought out in relation to the text of the chapter that described them.

In the entertainment industry I think corporate committees have pretty much rendered most fiction generic and boring but Cryptozoica is a refreshing change, probably because its self published so you get the real deal from the author rather then something watered down. Alright, now lets see a sequel...

Jack Murphy
Author of "Reflexive Fire"

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Familiar faces, new places., November 2, 2010

By 

Chris Van Deelen "Chris Van Deelen" (Calgary, Alberta, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cryptozoica (Paperback)

I finally finished reading the creator of Outlanders first independent novel Cryptozoica. This novel had all of Mark's trademarks... beautiful, intelligent women - even if one was nothing more than the classic dragon lady, stalwart companions, rough and ready albeit flawed heroes and scheming dastardly bad guys.

And of course exotic locations, ancient mysteries as well as monsters - well at least in this case, dinosaurs.

Unlike other books that deal with dinosaurs set in the modern era, the concepts that the author wrote about, if the reader takes the time to do a little research of their own, will find that they are sound and rooted in actual science, nothing that was simply made up on the spot, or as it is otherwise known science fantasy.

Without really giving away much of the plot, the novel isn't set strictly on the isle of dinosaurs, that is only a small part of it. The novel deals with the background story of the island that goes back to the Victorian era, and further.

If anything, the novel is heavily character driven. Unlike some franchises that I can mention, the characters don't take a back seat to the Dinosaurs, but are fully realized and given complex personalities and backgrounds, of which there is still plenty that can be written on them and expanded upon in the (I hope) inevitable sequel(s).

Also, unlike other franchises, the dinosaurs don't represent the only danger to the protagonists of this rousing adventure.

Simply put, if you want a rousing classic style adventure that pits the heroes against man and nature and that deals with what could be science fact and not simply fiction, then I would strongly recommend that you pick up this novel and give it a read.

I can't write the review without talking about the interior artwork. There are at least a dozen full page panels of art throughout the book, not including the character sketches in the very beginning. The art is reminiscent of the classic pulp style art found throughout the 70's and 80' adventure style comics and is right at home here. Kudos to Jeff Slemons for his contribution to this work!

5 out of 5

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lost World Meets Da Vinci, August 14, 2010

By 

BJ Fraser (Michigan) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Cryptozoica (Paperback)

A perennial hot button issue in science and religion is on the origin of life. Were humans created by God--in which case, whose God?--or by evolution or by something else entirely? In "Cryptozoica," Mark Ellis adds fuel to the fire by offering another theory on the origin of man that involves dinosaurs and some very special goo.

Like "The Da Vinci Code," the story also involves secret societies. In this case it's the School of Night, an ultra-secret club of scholars that included Charles Darwin himself. In the book's prologue, we learn that Darwin and the crew of the Beagle ran across the Tamtung islands, which were home to some very weird creatures. They didn't really know what to call them since the word "dinosaur" hadn't been invented yet.

Skip forward to the present. "Tombstone" Jack Kavanaugh is living on Little Tamtung along with his friend Crowe. They, along with an eccentric billionaire, tried to start a sort of Jurassic Park/dinosaur safari on Big Tamtung, but the venture was shut down after three people died. Now the School of Night is getting involved, along with some Asian gangsters who helped bankroll the original venture. This means that Jack, Crowe, and some new and old friends all have to return to Big Tamtung and unlock its secrets.

What secrets are those? You'll just have to read to find out.

"Cryptozoica" is a taut and engaging pulp adventure. If I have one complaint, it's that there wasn't enough of a body count. I wanted the dinos to munch a few more people. Still, this is a fun, exciting read with some great illustrations too that should bring to mind old school adventure stories like "The Lost World" while adding a little modern science and conspiracy theory to the mix to freshen it up.

That is all.