Review: "Kronos" by Jeremy Robinson

Let me tell you something about author Jeremy Robinson. He's dangerously good at what he does. The man is also a generous and kind-hearted soul -- he recently read my manuscript for Personal Effects: Dark Art and called it "creepy as hell," which is a big win for a little guy like me -- but mostly, I think he was put on this planet to scare the hell out of you.

I had the great privilege to read Robinson's soon-to-be released seabound thriller, Kronos.  The book, which will be released next January by Variance Publishing (and is available for pre-order now, hint-hint), is an adrenaline-pumping descent into the dangerous waters of the Gulf of Maine. Here, Jeremy spins a blood-soaked story that's packed with more wily hand-to-hand combat, testosterone and gunplay than a Bruckheimer flick. Oh, and there's a sea monster, too.

Yep, an honest-to-goodness sea monster.

This is the kind of sea-dweller that makes Jaws look like a tadpole. The kind that might even make Meg turn her carcharodon megalodon tail and head for safer waters. Robinson's creature effing rocks.

The story: Former Navy SEAL Atticus Young and his teenage daughter Giona have been in an emotional rough patch since Atticus' wife died two years ago. He's been drifting; she's been rebelling. A new chapter awaits them across the country; they'll soon leave Maine. Father and daughter decide to take one last scuba diving trip in the Gulf ... and that's where things go horribly wrong.

Giona is swallowed whole by an unspeakably large, ancient and dangerous animal; the beast is the size of a jumbo jet. And as Atticus is consumed by revenge -- and quickly recruited by morally bankrupt billionaire Trevor Manfred to hunt the monster at sea -- he learns that the creature may be more intelligent than he'd ever imagined.

What is the beast Kronos? What does it want? And where did it come from?

The pursuit for those answers leads Atticus and his allies (and more than a few enemies) on a high-stakes adventure filled with betrayal, more than a few "gasp" plot twist moments, and an intriguing origin for Kronos that hints that it might not have been born ... it may have been made.

It's killer fiction, and well worth a read -- especially if you dig tales in the vein of Jaws, and Meg -- and it's a helluva follow-up to Robinson's thriller Antarktos Rising, which I also highly recommend. Book trailer is below.

What is Kronos? On Jan. 20, 2009, discover its secret ...

--J.C.