by J.J. Dupuis
The Creature X team travels to Papua New Guinea to investigate sightings of a surviving pterosaur.
Laura Reagan, host of Creature X, wants to leave North America behind and step out from the shadow of her father’s cryptozoological research. She leads her team to Umboi Island, off the coast of Papua New Guinea, to shoot a cryptozoological documentary about the mysterious ropen, a bioluminescent pterosaur-like creature that has somehow survived extinction. They’re sharing a camp with a U.K.-based team of scientists, and not all of their hosts are extending a warm welcome.
In a stroke of luck, Laura and some team members see a mysterious purple light above the trees. Could it actually be what they’re searching for? But the hunt for the ropen takes a drastic turn when a body turns up in the Creature X camp, and it belongs to someone from the team’s past. With walkie-talkies and satellite phones down, Laura and her team are stuck on the island with a murderer—and no chance of help.
Publication: March 2022
Publisher:
Dundurn Press
Rights sold:
- North America (English and French): Dundurn Press
“Dupuis’s entertaining third Creature X mystery (after 2021’s Lake Crescent) smoothly combines scientific mystery and action. Fans of Lincoln Child’s Jeremy Logan books will hope this series has a long run.” –Publishers Weekly
“First and foremost a romp and an evolutionary step forward for the Boys Own Adventure genre … While writing a hunt for a mythological creature, Dupuis has managed a few blows in getting rid of other dinosaurs altogether.”
–True Crime Fiction
“Umboi Island is a tremendously fun murder mystery, full of savvy characters, sensory depictions of a lush jungle, and morbid lawlessness.” –Delphic Reviews