"Cryptozoica -- Jurassic Park meets Mack Bolan" Topic

So you are the first person to find a lost island full of dinosaurs. Who do you run to with your discovery?

A) The National Geographic Society.
B) The U.N. (or at least a friendly government)
C) The Chinese mafia.

If you answered C, then you're a main character in Cryptozoica.

I just finished this 2010 novel by Mark Ellis, having stumbled on it on Amazon the other day. It a fun little diversion; a modern-day lost world tale intentionally mimicking the unabashedly macho pulp you used to find in the magazine section of your local grocery/drug store. (Hence the Mack Bolan reference in my post title.) The author comes from that background, having created and written most of the post-apocalyptic Outlanders series.

Cryptozoica is well-crafted but flawed. The author tries too hard to channel Dan Brown, so there is a plot involving a hidden manuscript of Charles Darwin, secret societies and Ancient Alien-like conspiracy theories. There's also the far-fetched premise that the main characters, upon discovering the island, convince the Asian mob to fund turning the isle into a Jurassic Park-like resort. And, being a dinosaur nerd myself, the author makes a lot of annoying little mistakes about his dinosaurians -- such at getting the number of fingers wrong on one of his main monsters.

Still, I enjoyed the novel, especially since there are are so few books of this type published anymore. And as a bonus, it comes with some nice black-and-white illustrations by one of the main artists for the Hollow Earth Expedition series of roleplaying games. You can currently buy a digital copy for $3 USD on Amazon, so you haven't spent much money if you don't like it. (Not sure if it is on Nook or in other digital formats.)

Website for book: cryptozoica.com

I'd sooner go for B myself. Failing that A. Can learn alot from geography- don't want to be mixed up with the mafia- sounds too much like certain countries I wouldn't want to be in.

My order would likely be C, A, B – especially if it was the UN.
I would bet the mafia would give me a better cut than any government

I read the book about a year ago. I enjoyed it quite a bit.

Jake

As soon as the Mafia found out where the island was-they'd give you a thousand cuts.

Also, I have a bridge between Manhattan and Long Island I'm looking to sell, any interest?

I'll check it out. I still have all of the Outlanders novels on my bookshelf.

The UN? I can't think of anything more useless.

I would sell my story to Geraldo.

@JLundberg: That was actually the reasoning used by the protagonists--that they could make more profit by turning the lost island into a resort. But it made no sense given once the island became public knowledge, some government or governments would come swooping into either to claim ownership or protect it as a preserve. (I could picture an Antarctica situation here.)

Heck, you discovered it, so use the fame to make a book deal, go on tour, star in a reality show. (Survivor: Dinosaur Island -- starring the Jersey Shore cast and pack of very hungry raptors.)