What do you think?
Rate this book
Kronos Rising #1
Kronos Rising
"Steve refused to surrender. Even though he knew the creature was right behind him, he wouldn't quit. He would make it. Just as that beacon of hope began to shine down upon him, the bright sun overhead vanished from view. Confused, he gazed wide-eyed as the daylight grew dim. Then he realized the ultimate horror: the creature had overtaken him, its jaws opened wide."
"He was in its mouth."
A coastal community faces the wrath of a mysterious sea creature in Max Hawthorne's heart pounding new novel, "Kronos Rising."
Devastated by his wife's tragic drowning, Olympic hopeful Jake Braddock turns his back on fame and fortune and retreats to his childhood home of Paradise Cove, Florida. He accepts the job of town sheriff, hoping to find the solace he so desperately craves.
He finds anything but.
A series of horrifying deaths and disappearances send a flood of panic through the idyllic town. It is only after the ravaged carcass of a full-grown whale surfaces, however, that the real terror begins.
Soon Jake finds himself drawn into an ancient-a mystery that ends with him adrift at sea, battling for survival against the deadliest predator the world has ever seen. It is a creature whose ancestors ruled the prehistoric seas. Now freed after eons of imprisonment, it has risen to reclaim the oceans of the world as its own.
And it's hungry.
"He was in its mouth."
A coastal community faces the wrath of a mysterious sea creature in Max Hawthorne's heart pounding new novel, "Kronos Rising."
Devastated by his wife's tragic drowning, Olympic hopeful Jake Braddock turns his back on fame and fortune and retreats to his childhood home of Paradise Cove, Florida. He accepts the job of town sheriff, hoping to find the solace he so desperately craves.
He finds anything but.
A series of horrifying deaths and disappearances send a flood of panic through the idyllic town. It is only after the ravaged carcass of a full-grown whale surfaces, however, that the real terror begins.
Soon Jake finds himself drawn into an ancient-a mystery that ends with him adrift at sea, battling for survival against the deadliest predator the world has ever seen. It is a creature whose ancestors ruled the prehistoric seas. Now freed after eons of imprisonment, it has risen to reclaim the oceans of the world as its own.
And it's hungry.
563 pages, Unknown Binding
First published April 2, 2014
522 people are currently reading
1578 people want to read
About the author
Max Hawthorne
15 books86 followersMax Hawthorne is an American author. He grew up in Philadelphia, where he graduated with a BA from Central High School and a BFA from the University of the Arts. He is the author of Memoirs of a Gym Rat, an outrageous exposé of the health club industry, as well as the award-winning Kronos Rising novel series.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 161 reviews
September 27, 2018
Makes Jaws look like a goldfish!
Krono s Rising is the kind of great stories U love where something thought extinct is really not! It ends up causing chaos and excitement, fear and political intrigue. This book has great characters and I like how the author also brings up important animal issued through his characters. (Killing baby seals, whale hunting, murdering sharks just for their fins, etc.) Lots of great suspense as the creature from the past stalks the ocean and harbors.
Krono s Rising is the kind of great stories U love where something thought extinct is really not! It ends up causing chaos and excitement, fear and political intrigue. This book has great characters and I like how the author also brings up important animal issued through his characters. (Killing baby seals, whale hunting, murdering sharks just for their fins, etc.) Lots of great suspense as the creature from the past stalks the ocean and harbors.
February 27, 2023
4.5 Stars for Kronos Rising (ebook) by Max Hawthorne.
The ocean super predator from the time of the dinosaurs is back and it’s hungry. The story may not be real plausible but I enjoyed how knowledgeable the author was about marine life. The characters and dialogue may be a little weak but the author really brings the monster to life.
The ocean super predator from the time of the dinosaurs is back and it’s hungry. The story may not be real plausible but I enjoyed how knowledgeable the author was about marine life. The characters and dialogue may be a little weak but the author really brings the monster to life.
June 9, 2022
This was a super creature feature! I was looking for something fun I could read while on vacation on the Florida beaches this summer, and this was the perfect choice. Tons of action made for a great pace as well. I've already ordered book 2 and look forward to reading more of this. 4.5/5.0 stars rounded up!
October 3, 2018
Trigger warnings: Blatant animal torture and death abounds, and it's not just enacted by the sea creatures. That hot mess is followed by domestic and child abuse. Fun times.
The first 25% of Kronos Rising drags horribly. It alternates between the points of view of many different characters, but each character is constantly flashing back on various life stories; page after page of not-so-pleasant memories. Thankfully, the book does pick up, but unfortunately, I found the character's actions to be downright stupid and highly implausible. Frankly, I wasn't really a fan of any of the characters, protagonists and antagonists alike. Amara, especially, was ridiculous. I understand wanting to save animals. Truly. I'm the same way. But you can't save animals while risking the lives of countless humans. And just when you thought she couldn't become any more pathetic, you find out
A long-time fan of Steve Alten's MEG series, I was hoping for another creatures of the deep series which would provide just as much entertainment and enjoyment. Unfortunately, this isn't the series. Jonas Taylor puts Jake Braddock to shame. I did enjoy reading the Kronosaur's perspective...and the flashbacks to 65 million years before--they were very effective, although I did feel it was pulled straight from a Steve Alten pre-write. Not to mention the female lead of both authors is of Japanese descent. Considering MEG was written nearly 2 decades before, I'm going to assume Max Hawthorne was simply inspired by Steve Alten. Very, very inspired.
Oh yea...and the final 25% of the novel was unequivocally goofy and repetitive. It took FOREVER to get where it was going--one crisis after another, after another. By the time it ended, I sort of felt like I'd prefer a root canal.
Bottom line, this novel could be have easily been cut in half. As a reader, I have no desire to be forced to limp through so much unnecessary drudgery,
Give me the Carcharodon Megalodon any day!
The first 25% of Kronos Rising drags horribly. It alternates between the points of view of many different characters, but each character is constantly flashing back on various life stories; page after page of not-so-pleasant memories. Thankfully, the book does pick up, but unfortunately, I found the character's actions to be downright stupid and highly implausible. Frankly, I wasn't really a fan of any of the characters, protagonists and antagonists alike. Amara, especially, was ridiculous. I understand wanting to save animals. Truly. I'm the same way. But you can't save animals while risking the lives of countless humans. And just when you thought she couldn't become any more pathetic, you find out
A long-time fan of Steve Alten's MEG series, I was hoping for another creatures of the deep series which would provide just as much entertainment and enjoyment. Unfortunately, this isn't the series. Jonas Taylor puts Jake Braddock to shame. I did enjoy reading the Kronosaur's perspective...and the flashbacks to 65 million years before--they were very effective, although I did feel it was pulled straight from a Steve Alten pre-write. Not to mention the female lead of both authors is of Japanese descent. Considering MEG was written nearly 2 decades before, I'm going to assume Max Hawthorne was simply inspired by Steve Alten. Very, very inspired.
Oh yea...and the final 25% of the novel was unequivocally goofy and repetitive. It took FOREVER to get where it was going--one crisis after another, after another. By the time it ended, I sort of felt like I'd prefer a root canal.
Bottom line, this novel could be have easily been cut in half. As a reader, I have no desire to be forced to limp through so much unnecessary drudgery,
Give me the Carcharodon Megalodon any day!
June 24, 2020
Lesson for today: editors are your friend.
May 15, 2014
As much as I love Jaws, Kronos Rising is the successor! This book has everything Jaws had and more, with a much bigger monster!
Max Hawthorne gets the beast right, his characters and action are well written and fleshed out. I recommend this book immensely for anyone who likes a big beastie attacks small town kind of story. I really hope he writes another one, but this book stands perfectly fine without any sequel. Give Kronos Rising a shot!
Max Hawthorne gets the beast right, his characters and action are well written and fleshed out. I recommend this book immensely for anyone who likes a big beastie attacks small town kind of story. I really hope he writes another one, but this book stands perfectly fine without any sequel. Give Kronos Rising a shot!
July 6, 2016
This book contains a laundry list of tropes. There are so many unrealistic scenarios that suspension of disbelief is impossible. It also seems that research was not a priority. All that being said, it is very entertaining. This would make a hell of a B movie. I’m a sucker for this type of story, but that doesn’t make up for the ridiculousness of many of the scenes in this book. I might pick up the sequel, but it won’t be high on my list of next books to read.
November 17, 2020
An exciting sea monster tale. The first of five. I got this thriller via Amazon Prime. Will continue on with KOLL or just outright buy a book or two. Plenty of action. I enjoyed the characters and got into this sea creature.
May 5, 2014
This was one of the best books I have ever read, for one thing I love reading about prehistoric creatures coming back from seeming extinction and destroying things, not for truly malicious reasons, but because the object was in its way. And I love when the main characters themselves aren't perfect, they have issues they need to resolve within themselves. On top of those 2 things this book gives, it also has all the thing I expect from a book. Drama,suspense, horror, sort of I mean it is a giant creature from the past, anyway, you want it this book probably has it. I will recommend this book to everyone I know personally that love to read books like this. All I can say for myself, I couldn't put down Kronos Rising, I almost fell asleep over it, that should tell everyone how great this book is.
January 6, 2016
This book was not good. The ending was predictable and the story was sophomoric. I would not recommend it.
April 25, 2021
I had no idea what to expect when diving into this one. I wanted a sea creature thriller and I got all that and more. After a natural disaster strikes off the coast of Cuba, a creature long thought extinct makes its way into the open ocean where it reeks havoc on a coastal Florida town. This was a really thrilling read and while i feel it may have been a bit long, I enjoyed it from start to finish. I did read the prologue before diving in and while I enjoyed it, after reading this I gotta say I dont think it’s really necessary to read, especially as there are chapters here and there from the past that detail more and more how it got to be living within the caldera and even survived for millions of years.
A local cop and a oceanic researcher team up to corral this new ocean terror. It was insane to witness a creature like this (one believed to be extinct) take on the real world with ships, communities and modern marine life, things it’s either never known or been sheltered from for thousands of years. Scary to think of how much hell we’d be in if something like this truly decided to come out of hiding. After all the harm humans have done to our oceans, the addition of a creature like this, a predator so large and unstoppable would undoubtably threaten life everywhere and turn the food chain upside down.
On that note I did only have one issue with the book. Without sounding like a psycho-I was here for the monster taking out ships, humans and the like. There were many scenes from the creatures pov which to some may be weird but I thought really gave you an inside look into it’s thought and kill process. While it does take on some humans, we sadly witness many more atrocities by our species that I wanted revenge on. There’s ship full of dickshits de-finning sharks and thus needlessly killing them. The worst was the heroine rehashing a past injury that occurred during a sea lion slaughter. In hindsight I get it, but really, so much detail for me was unnecessary and all it did was make me bloodthirsty for humans to die not other aquatic life especially at our hands. Sadly the creature didn’t take on the boat of shark killers like I wanted & we ended up getting some pretty brutal scenes of other animals getting killed and not as much human death. I know I know, it’s an aquatic predator but damnit I wanted it to have some wins against us especially since I expected I knew we’d eventually be bringing along modern weapons. This thing is savage and throw in it hunting a pregnant blue whale and even a great white and I was a bit shell shocked-more than I’d have expected. But really I guess at the end of the day I should stop whining and be happy it doesn’t come on land as well 😝. The ending definitely has me wanting to continue on with this series which I was not expecting. Very horror cliche end but I’m so here for it. The romance was extremely minor but still a pleasant surprise and I loved all the science/historical information even if I didn’t fully understand every bit of it lol 🐊🐬🐟🦕🦭
A local cop and a oceanic researcher team up to corral this new ocean terror. It was insane to witness a creature like this (one believed to be extinct) take on the real world with ships, communities and modern marine life, things it’s either never known or been sheltered from for thousands of years. Scary to think of how much hell we’d be in if something like this truly decided to come out of hiding. After all the harm humans have done to our oceans, the addition of a creature like this, a predator so large and unstoppable would undoubtably threaten life everywhere and turn the food chain upside down.
On that note I did only have one issue with the book. Without sounding like a psycho-I was here for the monster taking out ships, humans and the like. There were many scenes from the creatures pov which to some may be weird but I thought really gave you an inside look into it’s thought and kill process. While it does take on some humans, we sadly witness many more atrocities by our species that I wanted revenge on. There’s ship full of dickshits de-finning sharks and thus needlessly killing them. The worst was the heroine rehashing a past injury that occurred during a sea lion slaughter. In hindsight I get it, but really, so much detail for me was unnecessary and all it did was make me bloodthirsty for humans to die not other aquatic life especially at our hands. Sadly the creature didn’t take on the boat of shark killers like I wanted & we ended up getting some pretty brutal scenes of other animals getting killed and not as much human death. I know I know, it’s an aquatic predator but damnit I wanted it to have some wins against us especially since I expected I knew we’d eventually be bringing along modern weapons. This thing is savage and throw in it hunting a pregnant blue whale and even a great white and I was a bit shell shocked-more than I’d have expected. But really I guess at the end of the day I should stop whining and be happy it doesn’t come on land as well 😝. The ending definitely has me wanting to continue on with this series which I was not expecting. Very horror cliche end but I’m so here for it. The romance was extremely minor but still a pleasant surprise and I loved all the science/historical information even if I didn’t fully understand every bit of it lol 🐊🐬🐟🦕🦭
May 12, 2014
This book is a fun, summer read. I enjoyed the first half much more than the latter for a variety of reasons that I will explain in detail. I found the story fairly predictable and there was little, to no character development, outside that of the local sheriff in the story. I found the dialog between the two main characters horrible throughout most of the book. The need to constantly have them revert to instances of juvenile sexual innuendo and flirtatious behavior was wildly inappropriate in most of the instances where it was tossed into the story. I also felt that the explanation as to how the creature managed to survive the cataclysmic events that decimated the prehistoric world was severely lacking and was not at all convincing. I gave this review 2 stars, because I did enjoy the first half of the story as a fun Summer read that doesn't pretend to take itself too seriously.
September 1, 2018
Ooooh, boy. Did this ever take a long time to read. Despite its impressive length, it didn't really know what to do with all of it and as they say, size isn't everything.
I was fairly hyped going into this book, it's been on my "to read"-list for a little less than a year and it looked quite great from all the praise and hype it got around the web. "Move over, Jaws" is essentially what I had been told. They must've meant the book cause it sure wasn't better than the movie!
On the surface it's a pretty enjoyable read. It's well written, well researched and the frames of a good plot are definitely there. The two main characters are... decent enough to follow and the monster in question is given a lot of examination and exploration. But all of that said, there was just something... off about the book. I didn't enjoy it nearly as much as I have other books of its kind. For one, it was just excruciatingly too long and took forever to get anywhere with its plot. It didn't help that the author, Max Hawthorne, dangled the setup so glaringly in your face I couldn't even be surprised when it came into play at the last minute.
The finale was also deeply, deeply underwhelming. But talking more about that would be spoilers.
Another thing that greatly annoyed me was just how "amazing" the creatures was. Hawthorne can't stop going on about how smart the creature was, how much bigger it was, how better adapted at being an asshole it was or how much better than my favorite sea creatures it was. The size alone made me doubt the book something fierce, casting the creature as the size of a blue whale just made me go "Nu-uh, that's... not very likely." It's very clearly based on, now, outdated size estimates of newfound fossils which... okay, probably wishful thinking from the author. There weren't many creatures that the kronosaurus went up against that it could soundly beat and much like Steve Alten, the authors seems to have a grudge against anything cetacean. As if they despise them for having been better at adapting while their favorite monsters perished for different reasons.
I'm also not a big fan of having too much time spent describing how the creatures or monster experience thing. A big thing for me is that they should be unknown, a force of nature against which we match our intellect, the thing that allowed us to rise above nature so far! Being taken down a peg or two by nature just doing what it's supposed to do is fascinating and fun. But when they're given purpose and motivation, it just kind of... ruins it a bit for me.
But to each their own, I know some people liked it. I'm just saying that having narration over the movie Jaws, explaining what the shark was feeling at any given time, doesn't really endear it to me. It also ruins a lot of setup otherwise. If they ever make a movie out of this (which I'm fairly certain Hawthorne is angling for), I hope they cut out the parts of the book where it describes just how angry the marine reptile is.
Another issue with the book is that the characters just... aren't very engaging either. Jake Braddock is written like Adonis made flesh, his every physical inch perfection of attractiveness. And there's also a bit of pent up teenage wishful thinking mixed in, I think, with the sheriff not only a former Olympic Games winner but he's also a martial artist expert who has a thing for weapons. I mean, why couldn't he just be an old, boring sheriff who drinks too much after his wife passed away who gets a new lease on life when his town comes under attack from a prehistoric reptile. Sure, Braddock has issues and good God does the book go on about how much he misses his damn wife. And his barely disguised lust for the female main character did nothing to endear him. Don't get me wrong, have all the romance in the world in your book if you want but you don't have to have them back and forthing sexual innuendo snark at every single opportunity.
And the female character, doctor Akagi, just isn't very interesting. Her entire schtick is that she cares a lot about whales and the ocean, so much so that when a prehistoric lizard starts straight up eating people, she still has the gall to suggest it needs to be protected. For a while I thought was going to set her up as a villain but eventually it comes back around and has her "see sense" (after everyone is dead, of course). Oh, and she's Japanese which every single male character seems to pick up on whereupon they immediately want to sleep with her.
So essentially, the book is about a samurai westerner who wants to have sex with a strong, independent female all while fighting a giant lizard. Oh, and there's a character in the book who's all about his "duty to the people" and "duty above conscience" and that's why he mutilates sharks without feeling guilty cause, lol, Japanese.
There's more tragedy in this book than you can flick peanut shells at to see if it's allergic. So much so that sometimes it feels like the kronosaurus is a bystander in its own book. Perhaps that's why the author had to compensate by making it so awesome I partially expected it to stand out of the water and just laugh evilly cause it's such a villain. And the parts that describe how they managed to survive make... no sense what so ever. Just ignore those parts and come up with whatever excuse you want, sometimes it's better left unsaid.
But perhaps the thing that bugged me the most, and I know that's hard to believe after what I just wrote, is that it all reads like a movie. In book form, it's incredibly droll to read. There's a lot of description that doesn't make much sense and doesn't feel necessary in text form but it's the sort of thing a movie would focus on. At first, when I just read it and tried to conjur up images in my mind, I struggled to get into the book but when I pictured it all like a movie, with cuts and camera effects, it all made a lot more sense.
The entire second half of the book is basically this: one long, drawn out movie finale. One that tacked on a lot of needless characters just to up the body count. Like a slasher film that throws in a whole other set of campers in the last half hour just for the villain to have something to slash through. At first I thought "Where did all the mercenaries and gun shooting and crazy senators spouting biblical text come from? Oh, right, that's totally what a movie would do." And I'm sure it would make for a good movie, it's just not very compelling to read about. Not for 500+ pages anyhow.
Which is a shame because the initial half of the book is pretty brilliant. How it describes the sleepy little island, how it introduces the characters and pictures them in your mind not to mention that the monster still hasn't taken on its full "I'm too cool for school"-descriptor yet so it's still kind of interesting.
That is the only reason why I'm giving this 3/5 stars, those initial 200 pages before the book goes entirely off the rails in cliches and regurgitated nonsense. I appreciate Hawthorne's obvious love for the ocean and hatred for what we're doing to it, and I'm definitely picking up the sequels eventually, but I really was hoping for more here.
I was fairly hyped going into this book, it's been on my "to read"-list for a little less than a year and it looked quite great from all the praise and hype it got around the web. "Move over, Jaws" is essentially what I had been told. They must've meant the book cause it sure wasn't better than the movie!
On the surface it's a pretty enjoyable read. It's well written, well researched and the frames of a good plot are definitely there. The two main characters are... decent enough to follow and the monster in question is given a lot of examination and exploration. But all of that said, there was just something... off about the book. I didn't enjoy it nearly as much as I have other books of its kind. For one, it was just excruciatingly too long and took forever to get anywhere with its plot. It didn't help that the author, Max Hawthorne, dangled the setup so glaringly in your face I couldn't even be surprised when it came into play at the last minute.
The finale was also deeply, deeply underwhelming. But talking more about that would be spoilers.
Another thing that greatly annoyed me was just how "amazing" the creatures was. Hawthorne can't stop going on about how smart the creature was, how much bigger it was, how better adapted at being an asshole it was or how much better than my favorite sea creatures it was. The size alone made me doubt the book something fierce, casting the creature as the size of a blue whale just made me go "Nu-uh, that's... not very likely." It's very clearly based on, now, outdated size estimates of newfound fossils which... okay, probably wishful thinking from the author. There weren't many creatures that the kronosaurus went up against that it could soundly beat and much like Steve Alten, the authors seems to have a grudge against anything cetacean. As if they despise them for having been better at adapting while their favorite monsters perished for different reasons.
I'm also not a big fan of having too much time spent describing how the creatures or monster experience thing. A big thing for me is that they should be unknown, a force of nature against which we match our intellect, the thing that allowed us to rise above nature so far! Being taken down a peg or two by nature just doing what it's supposed to do is fascinating and fun. But when they're given purpose and motivation, it just kind of... ruins it a bit for me.
But to each their own, I know some people liked it. I'm just saying that having narration over the movie Jaws, explaining what the shark was feeling at any given time, doesn't really endear it to me. It also ruins a lot of setup otherwise. If they ever make a movie out of this (which I'm fairly certain Hawthorne is angling for), I hope they cut out the parts of the book where it describes just how angry the marine reptile is.
Another issue with the book is that the characters just... aren't very engaging either. Jake Braddock is written like Adonis made flesh, his every physical inch perfection of attractiveness. And there's also a bit of pent up teenage wishful thinking mixed in, I think, with the sheriff not only a former Olympic Games winner but he's also a martial artist expert who has a thing for weapons. I mean, why couldn't he just be an old, boring sheriff who drinks too much after his wife passed away who gets a new lease on life when his town comes under attack from a prehistoric reptile. Sure, Braddock has issues and good God does the book go on about how much he misses his damn wife. And his barely disguised lust for the female main character did nothing to endear him. Don't get me wrong, have all the romance in the world in your book if you want but you don't have to have them back and forthing sexual innuendo snark at every single opportunity.
And the female character, doctor Akagi, just isn't very interesting. Her entire schtick is that she cares a lot about whales and the ocean, so much so that when a prehistoric lizard starts straight up eating people, she still has the gall to suggest it needs to be protected. For a while I thought was going to set her up as a villain but eventually it comes back around and has her "see sense" (after everyone is dead, of course). Oh, and she's Japanese which every single male character seems to pick up on whereupon they immediately want to sleep with her.
So essentially, the book is about a samurai westerner who wants to have sex with a strong, independent female all while fighting a giant lizard. Oh, and there's a character in the book who's all about his "duty to the people" and "duty above conscience" and that's why he mutilates sharks without feeling guilty cause, lol, Japanese.
There's more tragedy in this book than you can flick peanut shells at to see if it's allergic. So much so that sometimes it feels like the kronosaurus is a bystander in its own book. Perhaps that's why the author had to compensate by making it so awesome I partially expected it to stand out of the water and just laugh evilly cause it's such a villain. And the parts that describe how they managed to survive make... no sense what so ever. Just ignore those parts and come up with whatever excuse you want, sometimes it's better left unsaid.
But perhaps the thing that bugged me the most, and I know that's hard to believe after what I just wrote, is that it all reads like a movie. In book form, it's incredibly droll to read. There's a lot of description that doesn't make much sense and doesn't feel necessary in text form but it's the sort of thing a movie would focus on. At first, when I just read it and tried to conjur up images in my mind, I struggled to get into the book but when I pictured it all like a movie, with cuts and camera effects, it all made a lot more sense.
The entire second half of the book is basically this: one long, drawn out movie finale. One that tacked on a lot of needless characters just to up the body count. Like a slasher film that throws in a whole other set of campers in the last half hour just for the villain to have something to slash through. At first I thought "Where did all the mercenaries and gun shooting and crazy senators spouting biblical text come from? Oh, right, that's totally what a movie would do." And I'm sure it would make for a good movie, it's just not very compelling to read about. Not for 500+ pages anyhow.
Which is a shame because the initial half of the book is pretty brilliant. How it describes the sleepy little island, how it introduces the characters and pictures them in your mind not to mention that the monster still hasn't taken on its full "I'm too cool for school"-descriptor yet so it's still kind of interesting.
That is the only reason why I'm giving this 3/5 stars, those initial 200 pages before the book goes entirely off the rails in cliches and regurgitated nonsense. I appreciate Hawthorne's obvious love for the ocean and hatred for what we're doing to it, and I'm definitely picking up the sequels eventually, but I really was hoping for more here.
June 23, 2025
Why are there only a couple good prehistoric books?
TL; DR: Jaws with pliosaurs, but it’s the B-movie version.
This isn’t good, nono, not good at all. I didn’t like it, there was a bad taste in my mouth. I’m not picking up what it’s putting down. Heck no.
Characters: They’re very shallow and it just wasn’t solid. Lots of mood swings, lots of inappropriate, very wrong time conversations. I just felt badly for Jake the whole time because the girl sucked and his situation also did and the one argument was just blech. Such bad taste. Everyone else was a moron too, so I couldn’t even like them.
Setting: So boring, you can do so much more with a seaside town, but I didn’t even care because the rest of it was so unsatisfactory.
Story: Jaws but less polished. It wasn’t anything new, which is totally ok sometimes, but here it wasn’t bolstered by anything more than its unique monster. Also, this book made me hate flashbacks again. That takes a lot.
Writing: Blech, so many bad choices.
I dislike this book more after having written the interview. It should say something that I was listening to it at 3x speed at one point just to get through it. This wasn’t fun :/
1.6 🌟
TL; DR: Jaws with pliosaurs, but it’s the B-movie version.
This isn’t good, nono, not good at all. I didn’t like it, there was a bad taste in my mouth. I’m not picking up what it’s putting down. Heck no.
Characters: They’re very shallow and it just wasn’t solid. Lots of mood swings, lots of inappropriate, very wrong time conversations. I just felt badly for Jake the whole time because the girl sucked and his situation also did and the one argument was just blech. Such bad taste. Everyone else was a moron too, so I couldn’t even like them.
Setting: So boring, you can do so much more with a seaside town, but I didn’t even care because the rest of it was so unsatisfactory.
Story: Jaws but less polished. It wasn’t anything new, which is totally ok sometimes, but here it wasn’t bolstered by anything more than its unique monster. Also, this book made me hate flashbacks again. That takes a lot.
Writing: Blech, so many bad choices.
I dislike this book more after having written the interview. It should say something that I was listening to it at 3x speed at one point just to get through it. This wasn’t fun :/
1.6 🌟
August 15, 2017
Surprisingly good.
July 25, 2020
I was in the mood for a creature feature in book form and this one delivered. This book does two things well, creature carnage and action scenes.
The characters are pretty basic, not terrible, but not all that interesting, but you care just enough to not want the two leads to end up as fish bait.
Kronos Rising is all about the creature chomping down on humanity until humanity tries to fight back. There are some really well written action set pieces pieces, one involving a dragged out knife fight that exhausts the reader as much as the fighters, in a good way. The other involves a submarine and the creature, stuff gets crazy for both the sub and the monster.
While the story and characters were not anything to write home about I really enjoyed my time with this oceanic nightmare of a creature feature.
The characters are pretty basic, not terrible, but not all that interesting, but you care just enough to not want the two leads to end up as fish bait.
Kronos Rising is all about the creature chomping down on humanity until humanity tries to fight back. There are some really well written action set pieces pieces, one involving a dragged out knife fight that exhausts the reader as much as the fighters, in a good way. The other involves a submarine and the creature, stuff gets crazy for both the sub and the monster.
While the story and characters were not anything to write home about I really enjoyed my time with this oceanic nightmare of a creature feature.
May 19, 2014
This book earned a permanent place on my shelf of favorites! I highly recommend "Kronos Rising" to any science fiction, horror, adventure, and/or paleo-fiction fan. It's the best "monster on the loose" science fiction/adventure novel I've ever read, and at age 63 I've ready pretty much all of them. It gripped my interest immediately, and held it all the way through! It took me back to that feeling of wonder that I experienced the first time I saw "The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms" when I was six years old. Max Hawthorne's characters are believable, with real motivations, and he writes action sequences as well as Robert E. Howard and Karl Edward Wagner did. I eagerly await the sequel, and if "Kronos" becomes a series, I can guarantee that I'll buy every one of them!
December 18, 2014
This book is amazing. It has edge of your seat suspense, and always keeps you coming back for more. It is very cool how the creature is not a mindless killing machine, but you begin to understand him and he really grows on you. I would take this over Steve Alten's books any day. . I would highly recommend this book to everyone it is a must read. A movie of this would certainly be great. Max i cant wait for the next installment in the series, and thanks for renewing my childhood fantasies of dinosaurs and the amazing creatures who once ruled the seas.
January 1, 2023
I am absolutely crazy about this book right from the opening sentence it has had me hooked and on the edge of my seat. I thrive on books like these and Kronos Rising is by far have read. I am finding it a hard book to put down cause I am always wondering what.is going to happen next. I am highly recommending this book to anyone that loves action adventure or horror there's a little something fo every reader in this book and I am looking for more to come.
November 17, 2014
I Truly Enjoyed this Book from start to the Last Page ! It felt more like I was at the Movies watching a story that Blew Jaws out of the Water ! The Story was very strong & Riveting and the cast of the book was superb. a MOST EXCELLENT READ ! I hope this becomes a series of books {a Movie} and I am waiting for the next adventure from Mr.Hawthorne !!! If you should happen to get this book, you WILL NOT be Disapointed !!!
June 26, 2014
Kronos Rising... A great summertime read. Not just because it had dynamic characters that you loved to like and that you loved to hate. It had a very interesting plot, that had a few blemishes, but was still better than a lot of other novels, and had a fairly original premise. It definitely exceeds JAWS (the book) and has a very likeable climax, but in my opinion, it had a slightly depressing ending, but that was it. As a letter grade, I'd give Kronos Rising by Max Hawthorne an A.
March 15, 2016
This book was awesome. Suspensefully thrilling, it kept me up far too late on a few nights to read 'just one more chapter'. A must-read for thriller and dinosaur lovers. Four stars instead of five because there were moments of the writing breaking the story's flow and some character moments that bordered on the edge of believability.
May 15, 2015
A truly remarkable book. Kronos Rising belongs on the shelf of any Michael Crichton or Peter Benchley fan. I highly recommend you read this with the lights on, and hope the Kronosaurus doesn't visit your nightmares.
June 10, 2016
Love it ! Great Characters - Good Storyline - Keeps ya turning the pages and wanting more . One of the best sea creature novels in my collection. Cant wait to see what more the author has in store for us !
June 16, 2022
I found this one really hard to finish, despite the way the pages flew by. It had exactly the same pleasantly-cheesy feel as Jaws but it was far longer and spent too much time on the early traumas of the major characters who seem more engaged in experiencing flashbacks than in getting to the bottom of this mystery. The title character was great though.
May 24, 2021
I found the doc to be really annoying and the stunt with the orcas kinda ruined it for me
August 20, 2022
As a longtime fan of Steve Alten and the Meg series, I very much enjoyed this book. I bought the sequel book before I even finished Kronos Rising.
January 31, 2023
Don't let the cover fool you, this book is about a giant sea monster!
This is the author's first novel and it does suffer from some simplistic character development and tropes of the male adventure genera. Readers may be particularly perturbed by the boat names which are distinctly too much. The book is also really fun. The story follows the path of a classic creature feature with the gradual then spectacular appearance of the monster, which does not disappoint. It breaks a number of the plot conventions of the genera as it moves forward however, and is ultimately pretty interesting in its development.
If you, like me, are a fan of the Meg series by Steve Alten, but have read them all, this can be a good way to go, and you lose nothing by picturing Jason Statham as the main character.
This is the author's first novel and it does suffer from some simplistic character development and tropes of the male adventure genera. Readers may be particularly perturbed by the boat names which are distinctly too much. The book is also really fun. The story follows the path of a classic creature feature with the gradual then spectacular appearance of the monster, which does not disappoint. It breaks a number of the plot conventions of the genera as it moves forward however, and is ultimately pretty interesting in its development.
If you, like me, are a fan of the Meg series by Steve Alten, but have read them all, this can be a good way to go, and you lose nothing by picturing Jason Statham as the main character.
July 19, 2014
Summary: An idyllic Florida fishing town is threatened when a giant super predator thought long extinct appears and begins wreaking havoc off its coast.
Jurassic Park meets Jaws meets Moby Dick. That is what I think of this intriguing story by Max Hawthorne. It is a near-perfect blend of action, horror, suspense, and drama that made the similar works of Peter Benchley (Jaws) and Steve Alten (Meg, Loch) so appealing.
Kronos Rising intersects the lives of several key characters, introducing them individually and setting them up for an inevitable collision, both with each other and with the story's eponymous monstrosity.
We have everyman Sheriff Jake Braddock, who basically functions as this story's Ishmael/Brody. Having survived an abusive childhood and still healing from a personal tragedy, he's a former fencing champ who has retired to his hometown in the hopes of living out the rest of his days in tranquility. Little does he know that events are occurring that will not only require him to perform his duty to serve and protect, but will also cause him to face his past demons in order to safeguard those he cares about.
Functioning essentially as a Queequeg/Dr. Hooper character, as well as a direct foil to Jake is the alluring yet driven ceteceanist (whale biologist) Dr. Amara Takagi, whose past is also marred by tragedy and violence and fraught with experiences that have left her extremely wary of anyone not already in her inner circle. Like Jake, Amara also feels bound by a duty to protect. However, her loyalties are torn and ultimately tested when she must choose between the preservation of an extinct species and that of human life.
Rounding out the main cast is Senator Dean Harcourt, an obsessive and power-mad "Ahab" of sorts who will not tolerate any challenge to his authority, human or animal; William "Willie" Daniels, Amara's first mate and closest friend, who functions as a voice of reason a la Starbuck; and finally, the psychopathic Karl von Freiling, a "Quint"-essential Great White Hunter with a surprising connection to the tragedy afflicting Amara's past.
The creature itself is accurately portrayed as force of nature whose purpose as an apex predator is to feed and destroy all perceived threats to its reign. As such, Hawthorne manages what few other authors in this genre are able to pull off. He depicts his super predator as a thinking, calculating entity possessing a lethal will to survive and a sinister sentience without overly personifying or anthropomorphizing it.
The storyline is easy to follow from cover to cover, beginning with an illegal Japanese shark finning operation's first encounter and gradually building up the tension while allowing for strong character introduction, interaction, and development. At various points in the novel, he takes us back in time to the day the meteor responsible for the mass Cretaceous extinction crashed into Earth and irrevocably changed life for every living thing, including the ancestors of the sea beast now terrorizing the waters of the Gulf Stream.
Overall, this is one of the best novels I have ever read in either the "prehistoric creature loose in the modern day" or the "giant sea creature runs amok" genres. I would highly recommend it to anyone who is a fan of Jurassic Park and/or Jaws type stories.
At the time of this review, I am still reading this story, very intently.
Jurassic Park meets Jaws meets Moby Dick. That is what I think of this intriguing story by Max Hawthorne. It is a near-perfect blend of action, horror, suspense, and drama that made the similar works of Peter Benchley (Jaws) and Steve Alten (Meg, Loch) so appealing.
Kronos Rising intersects the lives of several key characters, introducing them individually and setting them up for an inevitable collision, both with each other and with the story's eponymous monstrosity.
We have everyman Sheriff Jake Braddock, who basically functions as this story's Ishmael/Brody. Having survived an abusive childhood and still healing from a personal tragedy, he's a former fencing champ who has retired to his hometown in the hopes of living out the rest of his days in tranquility. Little does he know that events are occurring that will not only require him to perform his duty to serve and protect, but will also cause him to face his past demons in order to safeguard those he cares about.
Functioning essentially as a Queequeg/Dr. Hooper character, as well as a direct foil to Jake is the alluring yet driven ceteceanist (whale biologist) Dr. Amara Takagi, whose past is also marred by tragedy and violence and fraught with experiences that have left her extremely wary of anyone not already in her inner circle. Like Jake, Amara also feels bound by a duty to protect. However, her loyalties are torn and ultimately tested when she must choose between the preservation of an extinct species and that of human life.
Rounding out the main cast is Senator Dean Harcourt, an obsessive and power-mad "Ahab" of sorts who will not tolerate any challenge to his authority, human or animal; William "Willie" Daniels, Amara's first mate and closest friend, who functions as a voice of reason a la Starbuck; and finally, the psychopathic Karl von Freiling, a "Quint"-essential Great White Hunter with a surprising connection to the tragedy afflicting Amara's past.
The creature itself is accurately portrayed as force of nature whose purpose as an apex predator is to feed and destroy all perceived threats to its reign. As such, Hawthorne manages what few other authors in this genre are able to pull off. He depicts his super predator as a thinking, calculating entity possessing a lethal will to survive and a sinister sentience without overly personifying or anthropomorphizing it.
The storyline is easy to follow from cover to cover, beginning with an illegal Japanese shark finning operation's first encounter and gradually building up the tension while allowing for strong character introduction, interaction, and development. At various points in the novel, he takes us back in time to the day the meteor responsible for the mass Cretaceous extinction crashed into Earth and irrevocably changed life for every living thing, including the ancestors of the sea beast now terrorizing the waters of the Gulf Stream.
Overall, this is one of the best novels I have ever read in either the "prehistoric creature loose in the modern day" or the "giant sea creature runs amok" genres. I would highly recommend it to anyone who is a fan of Jurassic Park and/or Jaws type stories.
At the time of this review, I am still reading this story, very intently.
January 23, 2015
Two of my favorite things in the world are horror and the sea. Both hold endless fascination for me, and they also occupy much of my thoughts these days; it seems the older I get, the more I want to focus on both for some reason. So I’m sure it’s no surprise to discover I love horror movies and books that deal with the ocean. DEEPSTAR SIX, LEVIATHAN, and JAWS are some of my favorite horror flicks, while MEG by Steve Alten and DAGON by H. P. Lovecraft are two of my favorite written works. I’m very proud to add KRONOS RISING to that elite list of favorites. Author Max Hawthorne serves up bucketfuls of horror in this terrifying tale, and I can guarantee it will keep people out of the water for a long time to come!
Sea monsters have been a part of our culture for as long as history has been recorded. They are therefore, in part, responsible for the deeply rooted fear many people share of the water. As such, these beasts haunt our psyches, whether we are willing to admit it or not. This innate primal fear is drawn out in full with Hawthorne’s book, which makes it a powerful read on several levels.
KRONOS RISING is written very well, in the manner of a veteran writer who knows how to weave a mesmerizing story. The wording appears carefully chosen, and each sentence blends with the next like an intricate design on an ornate tapestry. This allows the story to flow quickly and smoothly, which in turn makes the 500+ pages fly by. I was finished with the book before I even realized it.
The characters are well thought out and believable, damaged individuals with personalities many of us can relate to on various levels. Jake and Amara both carry old wounds, both mental and physical, which makes the reader care about them. On the other side, the villains (aside from the creature) are devious and self-centered, obsessed individuals who focus more on personal gain rather than what’s right versus wrong. So in addition to the man-versus-nature dynamic, the reader also gets a nice dose of good-versus-evil. I like this combination, as it gives several focal points to the story.
KRONOS RISING has plenty of action and some downright terrifying scenes. I can’t even count how many times people wind up staring at the creature’s massive jaws as they are about to crunch down on them. And every time, I inwardly cringed. As much as I love to be on or under the water, I have to confess this possibility (being eaten alive by a sea predator) is always in the back of my mind. As unlikely as it is, the thought of it makes me shudder. Thus, each scene of these scenes in the book elicits a powerful emotion for me.
With heart-stopping intensity and insane action that will leave you begging for air, KRONOS RISING is a major win for me. I recommend this to anyone and everyone looking for a good read. Hawthorne is a major talent, and I cannot wait to see what he does next. In the meantime, pick up a copy of KRONOS RISING today; you won’t be disappointed. It is available now in a variety of formats.
Sea monsters have been a part of our culture for as long as history has been recorded. They are therefore, in part, responsible for the deeply rooted fear many people share of the water. As such, these beasts haunt our psyches, whether we are willing to admit it or not. This innate primal fear is drawn out in full with Hawthorne’s book, which makes it a powerful read on several levels.
KRONOS RISING is written very well, in the manner of a veteran writer who knows how to weave a mesmerizing story. The wording appears carefully chosen, and each sentence blends with the next like an intricate design on an ornate tapestry. This allows the story to flow quickly and smoothly, which in turn makes the 500+ pages fly by. I was finished with the book before I even realized it.
The characters are well thought out and believable, damaged individuals with personalities many of us can relate to on various levels. Jake and Amara both carry old wounds, both mental and physical, which makes the reader care about them. On the other side, the villains (aside from the creature) are devious and self-centered, obsessed individuals who focus more on personal gain rather than what’s right versus wrong. So in addition to the man-versus-nature dynamic, the reader also gets a nice dose of good-versus-evil. I like this combination, as it gives several focal points to the story.
KRONOS RISING has plenty of action and some downright terrifying scenes. I can’t even count how many times people wind up staring at the creature’s massive jaws as they are about to crunch down on them. And every time, I inwardly cringed. As much as I love to be on or under the water, I have to confess this possibility (being eaten alive by a sea predator) is always in the back of my mind. As unlikely as it is, the thought of it makes me shudder. Thus, each scene of these scenes in the book elicits a powerful emotion for me.
With heart-stopping intensity and insane action that will leave you begging for air, KRONOS RISING is a major win for me. I recommend this to anyone and everyone looking for a good read. Hawthorne is a major talent, and I cannot wait to see what he does next. In the meantime, pick up a copy of KRONOS RISING today; you won’t be disappointed. It is available now in a variety of formats.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 161 reviews