Raptor
	Author(s):	Zindel, Paul
	Publisher:	Hyperion Paperbacks
	Date:	1998
	ISBN:	0-7868-1224-9
	Cause:	Lost World (Cryptozoology)
	Creatures:	Extinct Reptiles
	Submitted by:	Mike Riley (12/03/04)
Exerpt: “Zack tried to stand, but he was dazed. He looked up into the gaping jaws of the mother raptor. His body began to shake with terror as he reached out into the shadows, his fingers searching for a shoetree or a loose hanger. A weapon. Anything. Zack's lungs filled with the wet, stinking graveyard breath of the raptor. Hot yellow froth drooled down onto him from the spray of ginzu fangs that jutted out from the raptor's gums. The buzzardlike fingers of her forearms seized him, began to lift him up. Her tongue slithered from between her fangs. It crawled over his face, its slimy and scalding strip writhing down his brow toward his chin. The forearm squeezed him, pressed the breath half out of him. Gnarled fingers welted his skin, and he could barely think. What are you doing? He wanted to ask. What's happening? What? The raptor's thick rough tongue halted on Zack's lips and began to force down his chin and creep into his mouth. "NOOOOOO!" …”
Reviews: "Zindel is a master at creating and sustaining a mood and Raptor is no exception." (School Library Journal) "Readers .. Won't be able to put it down." (Booklist) "The author's new wave of fans will probably gobble up this novel almost as quickly as the raptors tear into the victims .." (Publishers Weekly)

2 Scars

My Opinion: This is another of what I call "teen cuisine" novels (i.e., "gifted" teenagers ("toss in one part Sherlock Holmes, one part Indiana Jones, one part Thomas Edison and stir") saving adults from horrid creatures) by Paul Zindel. In this story, we find a pack of raptors which have survived the K-T extinction by adapting to life in underground caves. Not only have they survived millions of years in the caves but they have evolved unique characteristics like cauterizing spit and spider-like methods of storing live food. This is an easy, fast, fun, and occasionally gory read with plenty of "Nature on the Rampage" but a pair of teenagers running off alone after a giant raptor that just destroyed their house and nearly killed them is plain stupid. But then again, who didn't do stupid things as a teenager. If you can place your brain on hold and remember this is a kid's book, you'll probably enjoy the story.

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