By Kaylie Seed
The second installment of J.J. Dupuis’s Creature X Mysteries takes readers on another adventure with Laura Reagan, who is now hosting a cryptozoology documentary called Creature X. Readers will follow Laura as she travels to Newfoundland, Canada, in search of a giant eel named Cressie that supposedly stalks Lake Crescent. While shooting the documentary, Laura and her team end up dredging a body up from the depths of Lake Crescent, and while the cold case unfolds in front of them, secrets once buried begin coming to the surface.
Laura’s characterization flows nicely from Roanoke Ridge into this second installment. The reader is able to see that she has grown as a character and continues to be interesting, with room to grow. On the flip side, the number of secondary characters can feel overwhelming, and the reader may find them hard to keep track of because they lack uniqueness. The setting moves around a lot as the characters boat, walk, or drive, which is a distraction from the overall plot rather than an added dimension. Dupuis’s love of nature is present yet again throughout Lake Crescent, and his descriptions of the landscape are vivid, making them easy to imagine in the reader’s mind.
While the book is labeled as science fiction, the story is more of an adventure mystery filled with a number of subplots that weave in and out of the main plot. It can be a little difficult at times to follow all of the subplots, and there is also the history of Cressie throughout the story, so it can feel like there is a lot going on at. The prose at times was dry, especially when action scenes came around, and there was a lack of urgency when the plot demanded a more commanding presence. While this is the second book in the Creature X Mysteries series, readers can pick this one up without having to read the first. Readers who enjoy the outdoors, cryptozoology, and mysteries will likely enjoy this novel.
Thank you to Dundurn Press for the complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.