I haven't done a book review in a while, though I have read several great books, so here's a three-in-one of what I read over the summer.
Dragons: A Natural History
By Dr. Karl Shuker
Karl Shuker is a world famous cryptozoologist and one of my favorite authors. Dragons: A Natural History is his first book on the subject and was published in 1995. He also has another, called Dragons in Zoology, Cryptozoology, and Culture from 2013.
This book looks at many dragon stories and legends from around the world, including tales of "worms," dragonets, battles with knights, etc, etc. Creatures like sea serpents and mokele-mbembe that could be considered dragon-like are also mentioned, and "known" animals like the komodo dragon as well.
Now if you are someone who wants a very thorough examination of dragon legends, this might not be the book for you, but its a quick read with some good info on many of the dragon legends of old.
Out of the Shadows:
Mystery Animals of Australia
By Tony Healy and Paul Cropper
This is one of my favorite books I have ever read. I found one in fantastic condition at a Half Price Books that is even signed by both authors! Now these authors, both researchers from Australia, have also written a book called The Yowie published in 2006 that is available on Amazon, though this older one is extremely hard to find.
The book has six chapters on six different cryptid creatures of Australia: surviving thylacines, mainland thylacines, anomalous/alien big cats, the Queensland tiger, the yowie, and the Bunyip. Now while there is lots more on the Yowie in their book fully on that, this book has the most info on the Queensland tiger, Bunyip, and Australian big cat sightings that I have ever found.
This is a fantastic book and it is a shame that it is so rare. If you ever find a copy of it for a reasonable price, don't pass it up!
Beast:
Werewolves, Serial Killers, and Man-Eaters:
The Mystery of the Monsters of the Gevaudan
By Gustavo Sanchez Romero and S. R. Schwalb
This is the most recent book on the list here, published in 2016. It is an examination of the Beast of the Gevaudan, which terrorized France in the mid-1700s. From 1765 to 1767 it killed many people in that region of France and was hunted by scores of people, but to no avail. It seemed as though the Beast just could not be killed, and some thought it was a werewolf of a "scourge from God."
Once the Beast was thought to be killed, but attacks still continued. A "second Beast" was killed in 1767 and that is where the story really stops. But what were these "Beasts?" The authors discuss many possibilities, including a hyaena, man-eating wolves, possible prehistoric survivors, or human serial killers dressed as wolves or using animals to do the dirty deed.
This is the most thorough examination of the Beast of Gevaudan that I have ever seen and I definitely recommend it to anyone interested in the subject.
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