Undermountain by Eric Kent Edstrom

Six troubled teenagers and their mountain guide, Harvin, went on a ten-day hike in the Canadian Rockies. Harvin, Danny and Breyona went to get water. When they heard a shriek, Harvin went to investigate. While he was gone, Danny saw a Bigfoot chasing something. As he tried to cross the river, Danny slipped and fell in, only to be saved by the Bigfoot he had seen earlier. Breyona was hiding behind a tree, afraid to show herself. Danny went to her and they both watched as the Bigfoot was pacing and talking to himself. It looked like he was holding a cell phone in his hand. Danny thought he heard him say, “What a mess”.

When Harvin returned, they joined up with the rest of their friends and were led further into the forest. Why was Harvin leading them away from the trail? He told them to keep moving up the mountains towards the pass, so they did. They came to a huge boulder blocking the path with only a small space for them to fit through. They all made it through but Harvin and Bronson.

There was a large explosion and the boulder erupted in a hail of rubble.  A shrieker came at Danny and he turned to run, only to find a wall of fur. It was the same Bigfoot that had saved him at the river. As more Bigfoot came and led them to a cave that was the entrance to Undermountain, Em kept saying she wasn’t comfortable with this. Her feelings of anxiety were to ring true when they found the only way out was to help settle the war between the Bigfoot and the Tangoga.

Disclaimer: I received this book in return for an honest and unbiased review.

This has been the hardest review I have done so far, but here goes. I liked the cover and title. The cover is usually the first thing that catches my eye and the title related to the book. I can’t even think of a synopsis. The story is so different from what I thought it would be that I cannot find the words to describe it. I enjoyed each Bigfoot surprise and do not want to spoil it for you so you will have to read the book to find out what happens. It was so very innovative and creative, bringing to the genre a new and wonderful twist on the Bigfoot story. The city was magnificent. I love to watch B movies, and this reads like one. I could visualize the action as I was reading the words. The book was well written and hard to put down as the author kept throwing twists and turns at me, one after another. I couldn’t imagine where he was going with the story, so I had to keep reading. His imagination had my head spinning as I wondered how in the H— he came up with the things I was reading.

Afterlife by Eric Kent Edstrom

Danny came home from school and noticed a van that he thought he had seen before. Ever since they had come back from being rescued in the Canadian Rockies, it seemed like the press followed them everywhere. With Danny’s implant, it was easy for him to store each license plate and make and model of the cars in his computer memory.

He was excited about going to his Grandma’s in Indianapolis tomorrow because the group-Danny, Em Wa and Breyona were all going to meet there. Bronson invited himself and Danny knew he had some ulterior motive, because no one liked him and there was no reason for him to want to come along. They all arrived at his Grandmas, except Breyona, who had called and told him she had an emergency so she would be late.

When there was a knock on the door, Danny rushed to answer thinking it would be Breyona, but two men burst in wearing gas masks and spraying a canister at Danny. They fought but were overcome. Bronson had run out of the house but came back  just in time to stop them from taking Em or Grandma and told them to take Wa instead. When Breyona finally got to the house, she found Danny and Wa had been kidnapped.

They tried to tell the police about the Bigfoot and GorVit, but they wouldn’t listen. thinking they were still drugged from the gas. Then Breyona thought of sending a message on Twitter. She knew the Bigfoot monitored the humans so they would know what was going on above ground. It worked. Grizz talked to them on video chat and told them to come to Undermountain, that GorVit had escaped.

GorVit told Danny that he had fifteen minutes to solve the puzzle of the Spheroid. He believed it to be a weapon, but when Danny figured out the puzzle he knew it was a teleportation device. He pretended it was ticking to keep GorVit away. A projection appeared, Danny and Wa ran and jumped into it, landing in a strange jungle unlike anything they had seen before. GorVit and his gunners were right behind them. Danny and Wa ran until they reached a drop-off. They could hear GorVit and the gunners coming and had no choice but to go over the cliff.

    5 STARS – Would Buy it for Them (lol)

Disclaimer: I received this book in return for an honest and unbiased review.

As in the case of the first book, I just cannot find the words to describe the book. The cover and title were a continuation of the first book and I always like it when they relate to the story. I got lost in the characters and action, devouring the words to find out what would happen next. The ending will catch you off guard. I think I sat with my mouth open for a couple of minutes at a loss for words. I kept thinking – what? No way. What? But do not look ahead. It is well worth the wait to get there word by word. It still amazes me how the author comes up with the characters and their environment. I am eagerly awaiting the third book.

Sightings of Bigfoot in USA based on information from the BFRO Geographical Database of Bigfoot/Sasquatch Sightings & Reports (accessed 2009-04-08). (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Giveaway: International.  I am really excited that Undermountain by Eric Kent Edstrom, a book I fell in love with, will be my very first giveaway. Eric is offering 10 ebooks. The giveaway ends on August 31, 2012. Just scroll down and click on replies at the end of the post and tell me do you believe in Bigfoot? Would he look like Shaggy?

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About the Author

Eric is an author, songwriter, husband, father, and guitarist. He is the author of Undermountain and Afterlife, the first two entries in YA science fiction series The Undermountain Saga.

Eric loves working out with kettlebells and eating pretty much anything with peanut butter.

Eric has a featured article just published: http://www.kalkion.com/news/1736/scie…

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5408492.Eric_Edstrom

My twitter is @ekedstrom

Facebook.com/erickentedstrom

www.ericedstrom.com

To order any of these books, just click on the cover.

The photo and comments of Shaggy below, were copied from Eric Kent Edstrom’s blog.

Is This Hanameesovenama (aka Shaggy)?

The brilliant concept artist Cristof Grobleski created this stunning conceptual image of Hanameesovenama, one of the villains from The Undermountain Saga.

What do you think? Is that how you envision a bigfoot? I have to say, I totally love the robe.

View more of Christof’s wonderful artwork here.