Loch Book

I was lucky to find this book on Audible. After listening to it, I couldn't help but feel like I'd just seen a really great movie because that's what it feels like when you're listening to it.

It's an engaging and suspenseful tale of terror, fantasy, adventure and intrigue in Paul Zindel's 1995 horror/thriller "Loch." Ironically as you'd expect, the story takes place on the banks of the most famous lake in the world: Loch Ness, Scotland. Here, we are introduced to our young and adventurous hero Loch, whose inquisitive nature leads him to discover one night something terrifying and mysterious lurking in the depths as a herd of sheep becomes prey for a ravenous Plesiosaur. As the years pass, Loch matures into a 15-year-old who is being dragged along for the ride as his Biologist father Sam, sets up shop in Vermont not far from Lake Champlain. Drawn to mysterious creatures long believed extinct known as cryptics, he can't shake the belief that there's more to his lakeside home than meets the eye. Fate is about to prove his suspicions right as a series of mysterious and disturbing occurrences on the water sends the small lakeside community into a panic and the scientific community scrambling for answers as an aggressive expedition is launched with Loch's father and his antagonistic boss at the helm. They quickly get more than they bargain for as a family of Plesiosaurs stirs up trouble with a malevolent alpha male known as a "Rogue" putting lives in mortal danger.

Interestingly enough, Loch is kept at arms-length from the expedition's activities and its leader's true intentions. While he continues to explore more of his enchanting surroundings, he happens upon a baby Plesiosaur who has wandered away from its herd and the pair forges a unique relationship. The only other humans that know of the creature's existence are Loch's sister Zaidee and his love interest Sarah. Together the trio sets out on an adventure of a lifetime to protect and reunite their beloved creature named "Wee Beastie" with its family, and bring order to a lakeside community that is being torn apart by greed, fear and nefarious agendas with the last of the dinosaurs marine cousins at the center of what will become the most daring and dangerous adventure of all time.

Paul Zindel crafts a young adult tale of adventure and suspense that's right up there with Michael Crichton's "Jurassic Park" and Steve Alten's "The Loch." Though not as engrossed with the science of what could be lurking beneath the surface of uncharted waters, "Loch" offers the reader an intriguing and exciting journey into the unknown. With subplots eerily similar to memorable blockbuster classics as: "Jaws," "E.T.," "Free Willy" and "The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep." If you're a fan of Steve Alten's 2005 horror novel "The Loch" then Paul Zindel's adaptation of "Loch" makes for a great companion book to read or listen. This should be a movie! Hollywood doesn't know what it's missing!