The Beast and the Silent Blue: A Novel of Prehistory and the Hunting of the Last Mammoth

From the first few pages I recognized the places of my youth growing up in Gainesville, exploring the Devil's Millhopper and Payne's Prairie. I've fished Newnans Lake and have found those projectile points as well as thousands of sharks teeth and fossils from even earlier times when Florida was covered by seas. The wildness of these places are still in evidence today. I can easily picture the abundance that allowed for human settlements towards the end of the latest ice age. Although it is very hard to picture cold and frost in the same season as hurricanes and tornadoes. But, Florida! Why not?

This book has it all…..nail-biting suspense, thrilling action, human conflict. It would be immense and powerful on the big screen. The author takes us to a long-ago world set in Paynes Prairie, now a state park in north Florida. We get to know a group of prehistoric people surviving together, confronting animals, weather and sometimes each other. Using their wits and well-honed senses, they devise complex hunting strategies while having to deal very cautiously with a malicious leader. But just as we get comfortable knowing the people and place they live, two terrifying events upend their world. This is the type of story you will find yourself thinking about when you’re partway through, wondering what is coming next. There is an opportunity for a sequel to this book and I am hoping to see more from this author!

This storyline is original in that it is from the viewpoint of an elderly hunter. His perspective on community and hunting is wise. However the new hunters lack respect. How he tries to aid his tribe is interesting and mind expanding.

A good flow to the story. Good editing also. It took me a while to tumble to the location being North America