Dinosaur Summer is a coming-of-age story set in an alternate past after the two world wars. On a plateau in South America, dinosaurs still exist. In the 1920s, the creatures were captured and used in circuses. The top circus at the time was the Lothar Gluck Circus which features avisaurs, centrosaurs, ankylosaurs, and a huge T. rex type predator named Dagger. Now in the 1940s, Gluck is retiring after the circus goes bankrupt from falling attendance and plans to return the animals to their home. In Manhattan, Peter Belzoni lives with his father after the divorce. School is out, and Peter thinks he’s going to be bored all summer. His father has other plans, however; after serving in Italy, decided he no longer wanted to be a geologist but a photojournalist instead. He contracts with National Geographic to document the transfer of the animals and takes Peter along as his assistant. Peter must learn that it’s okay to not be like his father and to trust his own instincts about his life and his actions.
This is a rollicking science fiction novel set in a world similar to those created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in The Lost World, Edgar Rice Burroughs in the Pellucidar series, and Jules Verne in Journey to the Center of the Earth. The prose is taut. There is lots of adventure especially once Peter and his father get marooned on the plateau and have to face dangers they never dreamed of. A fun read.
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Dinosaur Summer (Open Road Media Sci-Fi & Fantasy, April 1, 2014) is available through:
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