Customer Reviews

Fatalis

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Fatalis is one of those books that you can read and just picture the movie that it COULD become. There's nothing too in depth, and the characters are only slightly deeper than those in say Jurassic Park. Now, this may sound like a bad thing, but this book kept me reading and left me thoroughly entertained the entire time. It doesn't have the sheer kinetic energy of Rovin's last book VESPERS (which I highly recommend) but it does have a better conflict.

In FATALIS, you have two sides - Sheriff Gearhart who is looking to safe human life at any cost and Jim Grand who wants to save the "returned" Sabre-tooth cats. Obviously one is HERO and one is ANTAGONIST, however as I read this I found myself taking strange sides. It's a tough thing to follow a 'hero' who seems more preoccupied with saving an animal than with all of the innocents who are being slaughtered around him...and believe me there is a HUGE body count in this book.

All in all I'd say buy Fatalis, read it, and wait for the movie...which if Hollywood was smart...will be made!

They were ancient predators though to have become extinct in the last Ice Age. At least two have survived by being cryogenically frozen in the heart of a glacier. When the glacier melts, the duo make their home inside the caves in the Santa Ynez Mountains near Santa Barbara. No one realizes they live there even though they kill humans. Sheriff Malcolm Gearhart is determined to hunt down the mass murderer who is leaving no clues at the crime scene save for an enormous amount of the victims' blood.

Paleoanthropologist Jim Grand studies some ancient Chumish drawings in one of the Santa Ynez caves when he finds some strange looking fur that he brings back to the college lab to be analyzed. Hannah Hughes, owner and publisher of the daily newspaper The Coastal Freeway, interviews Professor Grand. He shows her his find, fur that belongs to a living Smilidon fatalis. Hannah accompanies Jim back to the cave to see if they can locate the creature while the Sheriff tries to flush out the cave dwellers and kill them before the public learns they exist. Nobody realizes how cunning and intelligent these creatures really are or what their true agenda is.

Fans of Godzilla and Mothra movies will enjoy reading this modern day horror novel where the villains are prehistoric beings living in the twenty-first century. The audience will chillingly relish how effortlessly the monsters adapt to civilization. Jeff Rovin never allows the audience the luxury of knowing who is hunting whom, a situation that adds to the overall enjoyment of the story line. FATALIS should be a large success for the author whose vivid descriptions make for an easy movie adaptation.

Harriet Klausner

"Fatalis" is the type of book that you pick up in the bookstore, read the back cover, shake your head in disbelief of the plot, yet buy anyway. Jeff Rovin, as eclectic an author as one will find writing today, definitely knows how to spin a "yarn". (See two of his other works, "Vespers" and "The Return of the Wolf Man" as examples.)

"Fatalis" is the story of a pack sabre-tooth tigers that reanimate after some climate and topicgraphical changes to terrorize Santa Barbara, CA, on the way to their (famous) ancestral home. Hunted down by the local sheriff, a war-hardened Vietnam vet who has taken the tigers appearance in his town personal, the story also centers on the attempt of an anthropologist to resurrect his own life, while trying to save that of the tigers. Rounding out the triangle is a newspaper reporter desparately seeking personal and professional respect.

If you can accept the premise regarding the appearance of the tigers, then you'll soon find yourself immersed in a pretty good story. Graphically violent in places, it moves along at a fast clip as it hurdles to the ultimate (and expected) climax.

My main criticisms of the book are that it spends a little too much time regarding the spiritual connection between Jim Grand, the anthropologist, and his mentor college professor-turned-shaman. Their interaction was not all that vital to the development with the plot appearing to be more fluff than substance. The other problem that I had with the book was with the lack of the development of secondary characters. Rovin had a couple of great opportunities to involve some of the interesting fringe characters in the plot, but for some reason chose not to include them to any great degree.

Be that as it may, this is still an enjoyable experience. You won't find any huge plot twists, and, while Rovin can't resist sticking in technical jargon from time to time, it does add something to the story. Like a good Michael Crichton novel, the jargon gives the author a chance to show off a little of his research efforts.

Along that line, if you like the works of Crichton, James Rollins ("Subterranean"), or John Darnton ("Neanderthal"), then you're find this a comparable effort.

Jeff Rovin's Fatalis masterfully reinvigorates and elevates the suspense/horror genre with intelligent, witty writing and believable, human characters and relationships. The "monsters" here are as fascinating (and as sympathetic) as any you're likely to encounter between covers, and you'll learn some history (Rovin has clearly done plenty of research!) and encounter genuinely lyrical nature writing along the way. There's also action galore, and some diabolically delicious (and gory) set pieces. A great summer read that should make an incredibly cool movie.

Warning: Fatalis will keep you up reading all night.

If I may paraphrase the claymation character Wallace: "Cheese, Gromit! This novel is made completely out of cheese."

It's easy to see how the novel "Fatalis" may have been optioned for a film.

Certainly all the ingredients are in place: The rugged and handsome widower Professor. The plucky, attractive and independently wealthy newspaper reporter. The Napoleon-esque, Viet Nam veteran sheriff. The noble and introspective Native American mentor. And let's not forget the stars themselves, the thawed out, toothy, super-intelligent pussy cats.

"Fatalis" is a novel that is written for a long wait in an airport terminal and/or a flight stuck out on the tarmac. The chapters are extremely short. Some less than two and a half pages. The characters are two dimensional, and the dialogue is at times preachy. The sabertooths (or is that saberteeth?) come and go as they please; both on land and at sea. People get gobbled up without so much as a fight.

Another reviewer made a very astute comment. It's absolutely amazing how fully armed police-officers and national guardsmen are taken down in a matter of nano-seconds. Meanwhile, in various points throughout the story, our hero Prof. Grand, manages to elude becoming Meow Mix by using a stick, a stone and handmade prehistoric noisemaker.

Fans of Mystery Science Theatre 3000 will no doubt throw out one-liners as they read this novel. I know I did. It's cheese from beginning to end. And it's not even Wensleydale! All that was missing from the novel's climax was the obligatory . . . . THE END ??? to complete the cheesy monster movie feel.

2-1/2 stars for the Sabertooth Cats. I was rooting for them throughout the novel.

After his excellent book Vespers, Jeff Rovin returns with a new type of nature attack. Sabertooth cats that have been frozen for 11,000 years are now awake, hungry, and headed for L.A.

Although not quite as gripping as Vespers, Rovin does an excellent job of showing the modern world as it faces one of the greatest hunters of all time. Sabertooth cats have never been seen in cave paintings and traces of their hides have never been found. Rovin cashes in on this lack of knowledge to design some very fearsome predators.

Heavy rains have created sinkholes near LA. A local expert on primitive peoples is exploring cave paintings in a newly opened cave. A pair of highway workers disappear near a sinkhole. The scientist, a local reporter, and a hard-as-nails sheriff become involved as more people go missing, leaving only blood behind.

The terror escalates as incidents become less isolated and evidence begins to point to the unbelievable; sabertooth cats once again stalk California.

As the cats travel through caves and drainage systems the body count climbs. There seems little chance of capturing the beasts and only a slightly better chance of stopping them before the kill more people.

The book climaxes as the main characters, the police, and national guards clash with the fearsome predators in LA.

This book starts fast, sets the stage and characters, and then takes off running. The sabertooth cats make great monsters and the action pulls the reader to the final page. The only question is, where there be a sequel?

My kind of story. Prehistoric beasts running loose in the present day. Well done story by Jeff Rovin. The saber-tooth cats were totally bad. They made the velociraptors from "Jurassic Park" look like cute, fluffy bunnies. The storyline proceeded well. Not a lot of down time or unnecessary scenes. Nice job on the main characters. Grand is smart and tough, but is still dealing with the death of his beloved wife. The presence of saber-tooths in Santa Barbara infuses him with a renewed sense of purpose. I did find it irritating that at some points he seemed to put more of a value on the animals than the people they were killing, even when the body count really started to climb. That put him in conflict with Sheriff Malcolm Gearhart. While in Grand's eyes, Gearhart is a grandstanding bully, once you get into the Sheriff's POV, you understand where he's coming from considering his experiences in Vietnam and LAPD. Then there's reporter Hannah Hughes, who teams up with Grand to get to the bottom of the saber-tooth story. A relentless and headstrong woman who adds a lot to the book. Some very good action scenes when the saber-tooths make their attacks, especially at the climax in downtown LA.

First of all, I have to say GET THIS BOOK! With the risk of sounding un-professional, it is so cool!! This book was given to me for a present, and three days later I was just finishing one of the only stories that rivals Jurassic Park and The Lost World. Like both of these novels, this book would be a great movie. But enough about that, just the book alone was fantastic! The reader can easily imagine the scenes that are practically painted on the page. Kudos to Mr Rovin, I hope you do more like this! While it is at first painted for the reader to take sides with the characters out to save the creatures, it can become complicated. However, as an animal lover, I have to say that the animals' actions are very realistic. This is one that I recommend with one caution: don't make any plans for the weekend!! And keep a light on!

the premise-a whole "herd" of saber tooth tigers get flash frozen in a cave 10,000 yrs. ago and then the whole "herd" gets the thaw treatment from volcanic activity. right. the main hero, a modern day scientist/spelunker/rock climber/indian mystic/ecologist wants to "save" the saber tooth cats in the wild by letting loose 2 kittens that aren't weaned yet into a mountain wilderness.Since they are obviously to young to fend for themselves he guranteed their death. some scientist. at least it reads well and is a pleasant diversion if one doesn"t need plausability.

Rovin manages to take a seemingly implausible premise (prehistoric sabertooth cats in the LA hills) and let it play out in an enjoyable modern day monster thriller that actually is believable. Yes, on the surface you've got the requisite "good" girl and guy against the big bad sheriff. But when you understand where each of the characters is coming from, you can actually find yourself seeing all sides of the situation and more often than not, siding with the "bad guy" sheriff.

Some previous reviewers seem to be annoyed that there is anyone in the book that has an interest in saving the cats. Well, forgive me for suggesting that that is extremely realistic. You can't tell me that if creatures such as these actually did make an appearance in 2000 that there would not be a great moral dilemma played out between those dedicated to protecting citizens and those furthering the cause of science. And YES it would be fought out on the front pages of our newspapers.