Cryptid - The Lost Legacy of Lewis & Clark

Cryptid - The Lost Legacy of Lewis & Clark
Eric Penz
iUniverse
ISBN: 0-595-35974-4
Fiction, Horror, Thriller
Reviewed by Douglas Arias

I believe that in most cases, history is speculation. One person’s belief of what happened based on the few facts the present presents to them. Of course, the same can said of the future. It can only be speculated based on the facts that the present presents us with. With that said, I am going to speculate that this debut novel from author Eric Penz, is going to be as big as its legendary character. Sasquatch!
The story opens with a letter from Thomas Jefferson regarding the murder of Meriwether Lewis. For those of you who don’t know, Meriwether Lewis committed suicide in 1809. Or did he?
In reality, there are unexplained gaps in the field journals written by Meriwether Lewis during his trek through the west. Some believe they were simply lost. Others believe their disappearance is no accident. In Cryptid, Eric Penz does a great job of using this mystery as the beginning of a conspiracy that spans two centuries.
Seven pages later we are in present day China where Paleontologist Samantha Russell has just received a mysterious crate from Seattle. The contents of the crate cause her to seek out its sender, cryptozoologist Jon Ostman. After meeting, they find themselves on a horrifying quest for discovery and survival as thugs protecting the interests of the logging industry and a North American ape thought to long be extinct hunt them through the Olympic rainforests of Washington State.
Cryptid will keep you enthralled from start to finish. The characters feel real and the descriptive narrative will leave you wondering if you were actually there.
The book does end with one very BIG loose end. Does that mean we can expect a sequel in the future? One can only speculate.