Jurassic Florida by Hunter Shea

Polo Springs in Florida is hot, has frequent hurricanes, and elected an 18 year old as mayor. When a swarm of iguanas of unusual size descend upon the town, the tough need to get going, or get eaten.

There is a lot I liked about this novella. I liked the set up of the town as it prepared for a hurricane. The extreme weather leads to the roads out of Polo Springs flooding, stranding the residents, which is scary enough without giant lizards.

I enjoyed reading about the characters in the first part of the book. Shea doesn’t spend a lot of time developing any of them, but with light brush strokes the town appears and it’s easy to understand the dynamics of Polo Springs.

The latter part of the novel was less effective for me. I was disappointed that the monsters were giant iguanas as the title had me hoping for some dinosaur action, but there was a B movie cheesiness to them that just about made their massive size and appetite work.

I loved some of the set pieces, most notably the fate of a couple as they attempt to drive away, but continuity errors such as the mayor breaking her ankle and then running around on it without difficulty, and the rather silly denouement, lowered my enjoyment of the novella.

Not my favorite Shea story I’ve read so far, but great fun nonetheless.

I award Jurassic Florida…