Liopleurodon:
The Master of the Deep
By M. B. Zucker
Publication Date: 20th September 2022. Publisher: Historium Press Books. Cover Design: White Rabbit Arts. Page Length: 251
Genre: Historical Fantasy.
From M. B. Zucker, award-winning author of
"The Eisenhower Chronicles"
"The Eisenhower Chronicles"
Liopleurodon ferox was the deadliest sea predator of all time, the king of the Jurassic ocean. This whale-sized reptile's return to the early twentieth century triggers a geopolitical crisis in this new historical science fiction thriller. Former President Theodore Roosevelt foresees the threat the Liopleurodon would pose if it falls into the wrong hands. The race is on as Roosevelt leads the American effort to destroy it before the Kaiser’s Germany can turn it into a weapon.
Fans of Jurassic Park and Steve Alten’s Meg series will not want to miss this adventure filled with action, political intrigue, and characters that readers will remember long after finishing this novel.
Advance Praise for Liopleurodon: The Master of the Deep
"The storyline itself was superb ---- A Jaws/Jurassic Park thriller and a bit of a spy novel all in one - and compelling."
~ The Historical Fiction Company
~ The Historical Fiction Company
Excerpt
The Liopleurodon preys upon some humpback whales.
A pod of five humpback whales migrated north, searching for plankton. They were led by two bulls, each around 15 meters long. The cows were both between 10 and 12 meters, while the calf, making the journey for the first time, was only four-and-a- half meters. He primarily drank his mother’s milk. The males were tasked with defending the pod against potential threats. Their echolocation sensed something closing in on their position. Something big.
The aggressor was larger than any the whales had ever encountered, his speed greater than they could hope to match. The animal’s black back provided camouflage; he was unaware the whales were tracking him, still unfamiliar with this new world.
The Liopleurodon hoped that preying on mammals would rebuild his body weight—still low from the Jurassic ice age— and that the mammalian blubber could compensate his energy level, which was stifled by the colder climate and reduction in oxygen. He opened his jaws, sliding his teeth together, sharpening them. The Liopleurodon’s smell locked onto the five humpbacks—their sizes, their movements, their locations. He made his pick. He wanted the calf. He formed his plan of attack.
The whales initiated a defensive strategy. The females moved toward the calf while the bulls dove to challenge the Liopleurodon, their powerful flukes propelling them deeper. The pliosaur ascended, bringing all three males on a collision course. The Liopleurodon was as agile as a sea lion, using his flippers to effortlessly dodge the bulls without slowing down. He left them behind. The females placed themselves between the pliosaur and the calf. The Liopleurodon slammed into them, knocking them aside and shattering multiple bones in all three animals upon impact. He bit down upon the calf’s fluke, breaking it. The baby struggled and the Liopleurodon thrashed his neck, trying to tear the calf in two.
The females came back, headbutting the Liopleurodon in his torso, but the reptile’s reinforced rib cage absorbed the blows. The attacks were a distraction, however, and he dove deeper, his teeth gripping the calf’s tail, trying to drown the baby and escape the females. This brought him back within the males’ range, who each slammed into him. He lost his grip on the calf.
The calf’s fluke was too hurt to function. The Liopleurodon was so large that his descent created its own current, dragging the calf from the surface. The bulls chased the pliosaur while the cows balanced the calf on their heads, trying to raise him to the surface to breathe.
The bulls pursued the Liopleurodon deeper, placing more distance between the reptile and the calf. The water darkened. The Liopleurodon tracked his pursuers with his smell; they tracked him with echolocation. He was satisfied that the males were too far away from the calf to interfere again. He turned back, dodging them once more, and closed in on the cows and calf. The cows were distracted by lifting the calf and did not detect the Liopleurodon’s return.
The Liopleurodon grabbed the larger female’s fluke in his jaws and dragged her away from the others. He released her once he felt she was no longer a threat. The mother whale could not balance her child on her own. He sank. The calf’s lungs filled with water and he used his remaining strength to sing a death song to his pod.
The carnivore bit down on the calf’s back, shattering its spine. Blood puffed from his mouth. The four adult humpbacks watched powerlessly as the ocean’s returning apex predator swam away with the youngest member of th
M. B. Zucker
M. B. Zucker has been interested in storytelling for as long as he can remember. He discovered his love of history at fifteen and studied Dwight Eisenhower for over ten years.
Mr. Zucker earned his B.A. at Occidental College and his J.D. at Case Western Reserve University School of Law. He lives in Virginia with his wife.
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