Serpente Gigante by J. Allan Danelek

This Monster Thriller Packs a Bite

Horror is not my genre of choice, but I do dip into unfamiliar waters occasionally, if only to make sure I’m not missing something. As a fan of several non-fiction titles on reincarnation and other paranormal phenomena by J. Allan Danelek, I thought I’d give his latest fiction work, Serpente Gigante, a wary try, even though the antagonist, as described on the back cover, “a genetically engineered anaconda of extraordinary size with a ravenous appetite for the things that live on and beneath the river—especially human beings,” did nothing to coax my interest.

But once the story got going there was something, perhaps its realistic telling, which wakened the sense of suspended judgment and wonder that I once had about such tales as a boy. For the first time in decades, I remembered how I devoured every Tarzan and Bomba the Jungle Boy book I could find. Through them I toured Africa and South America for endless imaginative adventures even though my youth was spent all within a hundred miles of my birthplace. I can credit them and other such adventure stories, easily digested by the juvenile mind, for a lifelong curiosity about the planet’s geography, diverse cultures, and customs, which blossomed as an adult life into a love of travel to places off the beaten tourist path. As I continued the book, I was delighted that Serpente Gigante provided a similar vicarious experiencing of the Amazon River region, which I have not yet visited, and its possibilities.

The “science” of the book, despite the preposterous critter at its center, is credible. No obvious use of the deus ex machina that makes the discerning reader jump out of the story with a disgusted “No way.” Rather than in the Introduction, I would have put the information that his protagonists would eventually marry and form a snake-hunting partnership, something that happens in a later volume of the series, Paul and Sarah Manhart Cryptozoological Adventures, in an Afterword or not at all. Having access to that tidbit in advance took the edge off the scenes where Sarah was in mortal distress or the success of their romance seemed unlikely.

In total, a captivating and curious yarn by Mr. Danelek, already quite the established expert in Fortean phenomena. Caution: some of the scenes presented in the book may cause macabre nightmares in the susceptible.