James Robert Smith The Flock

The Flock

James Robert Smith

Five Star, Aug 2006, $25.95

ISBN: 1594143773

Berg brothers Studio of Florida is responsible for making quality family films and amusement parks. They built Salutations, "the perfect American township", abutting over four hundred thousand acres of underdeveloped wilderness. The only neighbors are the ranch of retired Colonel Winston Grisham who uses the land to train militia, and the research center of billionaire Vance Holcomb.

When Fish and Wildlife employee Ron Riggs is called to Salutations to see what is causing residents dogs and cats to vanish, he is clueless that he will soon be caught in a life and death struggle involving three adversarial groups pondering what to do about THE FLOCK. These creatures are saurian in form and thought long extinct.. They are intelligent and know how to hide from humans, but now are endangered because they have been discovered.

Anyone who has read Jurassic Park will enjoy the FLOCK, an action-adventure thriller with pulp fiction elements. Although the main players are stereotyped as the poster children representing a specific group (mega business, tree huggers, and paramilitary), the fun is observing these "faces" interact or perhaps better put fight one another as each has an agenda when it comes to dealing with the flock. James Robert Smith provides a fine tale of survival of the fittest.

Harriet Klausner