BOOK REVIEW Primeval: Shadow of the Jaguar

By Steven Savile. Team Cutter get overshadowed

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Author: Steven Savile

Publisher: Titan • 256 pages • £6.99

ISBN: 978-1-84149-696-2

Rating:

Few shows stand to benefit more from the infinite FX budget of print, but this first spin-off doesn’t do as much with the monsters as you might expect. There’s still an anomaly, and with it a new predator. The real change is to the scenery, moving the monster hunters into the Peruvian jungle, complete with smugglers, soldiers, and other sinister agents.

This increased focus on human antagonists never really gels with Team Cutter’s animal specialities. More than once, hero duties get passed to new characters, like an erstatz James Bond type, leaving the main characters either superfluous or acting very oddly to help feed the plot gods.

It’s an odd gamble, and not one that particularly pays off. By the end, the monster hunting does snatch back the spotlight, and the overall plot sits comfortably in season two’s ARC storyline, but the feel is off, and it’s hard not to think of the main characters as merely guest stars.

Richard Cobbett

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