It’s been several months since dinosaur eggs were found in a sea cave along the San Francisco coastline  (click here for more details). The time had finally come for a group of cave-diving commandos to embark on a  journey to the center of the earth. 

These potholers were comprised of various military and security personnel, doctors and scientists. The assignment was straightforward: Explore the cave system and destroy the eggs. They all knew their mission was a one-way ticket to Hell. 

The leaders of the expedition were Callie Breyer and Lara Newcomb, the heroines from the two previous novels in the series (including Rise of the Titanosaurus and Rage of the Titanosaurus). Both women felt a personal responsibility to protect their hometown of San Francisco from an insurrection of giant monsters. And, if necessary, they were willing to protect the rest of the world too. Their commitment was unwavering. 

In the past, Callie and Lara were the champions of their own separate narratives. This time, I was hoping to finally see them working together side by side. Unfortunately, rotating chapters and divergent catastrophes kept the alpha ladies (mostly) apart. That’s too bad. It was like they were on two separate adventures. 

As expected, the cavern contained a sundry of prehistoric dangers, but the biggest threat was the spelunking itself. Twisty passages, vertical shafts, unstable bridges, claustrophobia and hallucinations plagued the search party the entire time. It didn’t help matters that the roar of a baby Titanosaurus was like a sonic boom. Each roar caused a seemingly insurmountable mini-disaster of its own. 

The underground labyrinth was completely baffling to Callie, Lara and everyone else. From the git-go they became disorientated and didn’t know up from down. The tunnels, caverns and cliffs weren’t random, however. It was obvious they were created with a purpose. 

The passageways all pointed toward a vast common area that looked like a Garden of Eden for dinosaurs. It was, wrote John Grover, a primordial ecosystem that had somehow blossomed beneath the world of man. “An emerald green carpet blanketed the cave floor in the form of moss, algae, liverwort and ferns. A thin river ran right through the cavern. The air was moist and the area was lush—a place untouched by human existence.”

Paleontologist Theo Stanfield wasn’t too surprised to discover the underground oasis. Dinosaurs were a lot more intelligent than anyone realized, he said. “Some were even smarter than dolphins. They were social creatures and they had the capability to work together.”

Despite the discovery of the idyllic prehistoric paradise (and all the invaluable biological information it contained), the spelunking squadron still had a mission to complete. To save San Francisco from any future dinosaur attacks, they brought the cavern down with enough explosives to obliterate a micro-neighborhood. Only four members of the original troop survived the ordeal, but the dinosaurs and their eggs were destroyed. I guess you could call that a success. 

[ Den of the Titanosaurus / By John Grover / First Printing: September 2023 / ISBN:9798860661530 ]