A review by sydnapped
The Loch by Steve Alten
2.0
An o-kay tale of nessie mystery and environmentalism that's overshadowed by a dubious murder trial with plot twists that may as well be Scooby Doo canon.
Alten, while I applaud his willingness to write and bring awareness about cryptozoology from a grounded angle, fell short of delivering a fulfilling and balanced blend of science and nessie lore.
While the Scottish countryside sounded charming, I frankly found everything else in the book to be a rollercoaster that went from tedious and boring to uber melodramatic in too short of a time frame. Also, was really put off by his truly vacuous and avaricious female characters.
Suffice to say, there's not a whole lot of well-edited cryptofiction out there written by authors that have the reach that Alten does, so I do give a nod to the attempt, however I hope to see better from him in the future, and I know he is capable of it because I really loved MEG.
My teenage self would probably have enjoyed this book a lot more, so I do recommend it for the younger audience interested in sea monsters, cryptozoology and marine biology, or for anyone who my summary sounds appealing for.
My summary -
PROS: Scottish history, nessie cryptofiction, supports an interesting theory on the loch ness monster phenomenon
CONS: TOO much Knights Templar history, not enough suspense, flat or inconsistant characters, too many main character flashbacks
WHAT I LIKED BEST: The accounts of nessie eyewitnesses intermingled between chapters.
If you like Secret societys, Knights Templar and scooby-doo plots, this is the book for you, as Nessie almost seems secondary.
Alten, while I applaud his willingness to write and bring awareness about cryptozoology from a grounded angle, fell short of delivering a fulfilling and balanced blend of science and nessie lore.
While the Scottish countryside sounded charming, I frankly found everything else in the book to be a rollercoaster that went from tedious and boring to uber melodramatic in too short of a time frame. Also, was really put off by his truly vacuous and avaricious female characters.
Suffice to say, there's not a whole lot of well-edited cryptofiction out there written by authors that have the reach that Alten does, so I do give a nod to the attempt, however I hope to see better from him in the future, and I know he is capable of it because I really loved MEG.
My teenage self would probably have enjoyed this book a lot more, so I do recommend it for the younger audience interested in sea monsters, cryptozoology and marine biology, or for anyone who my summary sounds appealing for.
My summary -
PROS: Scottish history, nessie cryptofiction, supports an interesting theory on the loch ness monster phenomenon
CONS: TOO much Knights Templar history, not enough suspense, flat or inconsistant characters, too many main character flashbacks
WHAT I LIKED BEST: The accounts of nessie eyewitnesses intermingled between chapters.
If you like Secret societys, Knights Templar and scooby-doo plots, this is the book for you, as Nessie almost seems secondary.