Pulp sci-fi/horror tale that reminded me of the monster movies that I watched when I was a kid. Imagine Godzilla but much nastier with full on horror elements. Very traditional story, but I found the dimension crossing elements to be very original and more than a little creepy.

Great fun. ( )

This novella was a blast!

Johnny Horowitz needed to take a vacation. As a full fledged member of the paparazzi, (or as he likes to think of himself, a photo journalist), he was well known by the glitterati and hated by all of them. As such, he was advised by his boss that a forced vacation begins now. Johnny heads to a deserted beach with his camera and his beer and was relaxing quite nicely. Until he found something on the beach. Something that looked like bones. Human bones.

And so begins Johnny's fascination with this particular beach and its secrets. And boy...they are big secrets...straight from the Cretaceous period. This is where Mr. Curran's outstanding descriptive skills kick in. If you've ever read his work, you know what I'm talking about. If you haven't, this novella is a great place to start. Things come out of that sea that defy description, but Mr. Curran's skills kick in to help you picture the scene perfectly. And it's a scary scene.
Actually it's a long series of scary scenes and they rocked!

This novella took just an hour or two to read and what a fun time it was. If you like stories about the sea and/or creature features, this story is for you. Highly recommended! ( )

While an entertaining read, LEVIATHAN could have been better. The idea for a story was there but it didn't strike me that enough effort was put into developing the idea. The result ends up being, as another reviewer pointed out, a book that compares to a Syfy original movie.

Johnny Horowitz has overextended himself. As a member of the paparazzi, he is currently on the bad side of enough celebrities that he needs to take a break to let things cool down. That's how he finds himself on vacation on Seagull Island. It is there that he finds an abandoned beach where, when the conditions are right, a gateway to another world or time is opened. A world where monsters and dinosaurs still live. With a hurricane on its way and causing the gateway to open more frequently, Johnny is determined to get irrefutable proof.

There are lots of holes in the story that detract from the book. Why has no one really discovered this occurrence in the last eighty years that the beach has been closed? Why do people get trapped or disappear into the other world but no creatures end up on Johnny's world? What happened to the sheriff who appeared at the beginning of the book but was never seen again? Unfortunately I think poor or lazy writing is the answer to that last question. Realistically I think a lot of my issues with the book could have been addressed relatively easily. Expand the book to novel length instead of a novella by inserting a conspiracy on the part of the islanders. The occurrence could have been well-known by the locals but purposefully hidden. Then the book could have had a dual focus of the island's secret and the creatures. This could have led to some character development which would have helped to make me care whether they lived or died. Overall, the book wasn't bad; it just should have been better. ( )