Dead body mars search for flying creature

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This article was published 07/05/2022 (1632 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A quick scan through cable TV networks will find dozens of pseudo-nature shows involving impassioned enthusiasts searching for evidence of the paranormal. There are programs devoted to ghost hunting, tracking Bigfoot, lost treasure and monsters in lakes and oceans throughout the world. Such TV fare attracts huge viewership, even though the objects of these quests always elude the hunters.

Umboi Island is the third in a new series of novels following the crew of the fictional and ill-fated TV show Creature X, whose goal is to find evidence for cryptids such as Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster and living dinosaurs. Unfortunately, the TV crew also seems to have a habit of attracting cold-blooded murderers.

Canadian writer J.J. Dupuis has created an entertaining mashup of paranormal adventures and murder mysteries centered on his character of Laura Reagan, a “cryptozoologist” bent on uncovering the truth behind stories of creatures said to exist but never proven.

We discover that Laura has an ulterior motive to find her missing father who disappeared while on his own monster hunt many years ago.

Dupuis’s first two books in the series are Roanoke Ridge and Lake Crescent, the former involving a Bigfoot hunt in the Pacific Northwest and the latter a search for a giant sea serpent off the coast of Newfoundland. In both, Reagan uncovers more than evidence of unknown creatures — including human killers bent on keeping their own secrets hidden.

The Creature X TV crew includes a motley collection of creature hunters, including an unscrupulous director who is not above hanky-panky, a zoologist with a storied past, an appropriately techy cameraman and a mild-mannered geek.

In Umboi Island, a real geographical location off the coast of Papua New Guinea, the Creature X team is searching for evidence of a ropen, a giant winged prehistoric relic that has, according to accounts in our reality, been seen gliding over thick jungle in the region.

A nice touch throughout all three volumes in the series is the peppering of real quotes from experts and newspaper clippings regarding the various creatures, providing readers with an education in cryptozoology ranging from a review of the much-memed Roger Patterson Bigfoot film to the pirate lore of Newfoundland.

As Laura and her team land at Umboi Island, they meet another TV crew filming a decidedly more hard-science series on local flora and fauna, and are treated less than amicably, especially after a dead body is found in Laura’s own tent. As they are about to call for help from the mainland, it’s discovered that all the satellite phones have gone missing and a research station’s radio has been sabotaged.

And then the bullets start flying.

Fortunately, Laura is resourceful, capable and a force to be reckoned with.

Part detective novel, part thriller and part paranormal travelogue, each Creature X episode builds on the last, adding curious story arcs and depth to the characters and heralding more in the series.

In fact, the series definitely has the potential for a Raiders of the Lost Ark-type TV or film treatment, with a female lead who can definitely rise to the occasion.

Umboi Island is an exciting romp, mixing science and the paranormal with mystery and intrigue. Although it can be read as a standalone novel, readers are encouraged to grab Roanoke Ridge and Lake Crescent first for the full effect.

Chris Rutkowski is a science writer who has dabbled in cryptozoology himself, and will accept Matt Damon playing him in a movie.