Review of Before Dawn

[Amy Luman]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Before Dawn" by Robert E Reeves.]

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1 out of 4 stars

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What causes a lion to become a “man-eater”? Genetics? Opportunity? Lack of other prey? Maybe reading Before Dawn by Robert E. Reeves will shed some light on the subject.

Dr. Meredith Henley and Dr. Charles Henley used to be married. Now he runs a safari business in Kenya and she is the director of the San Diego Zoo. They are called upon by Noah Mwangi, Kenya’s Minister of Forestry and Wildlife, to capture and study three lions accused of attacking and killing humans. This will be good for Charlie’s business, as well as the zoo, especially if they can find the cause of the attacks.

Charles and his friends and fellow trackers, Myles, Makali, and Benga, are charged with the capture and transport of the vicious lions to the zoo from Kenya. Their plan is to trap these lions, a male and two females, in a baited cage, tranquilize them, and get them to San Diego quickly. The trackers know that planning is always easier then reality. Fortunately, they have good descriptions of the predators they are looking for from eyewitnesses. Do you think they will deliver these lions unharmed? If they do, will Meredith find out what caused them to become “man-eaters”? The way to find out is to read this novel.

The conversations, in the beginning, seemed stilted and did not flow naturally. As a result of this, it was difficult for me to become involved in them. This novel was written in the third person present tense except for Charles’ narration which was in first person. This style of writing made it very difficult for me to feel included in the story. It seemed to me that Mr. Reeves made it a point to establish Charles Henley’s wealth in the mind of the reader. Several vehicles were mentioned, as well as the grand size of both his ranch in Kenya and his hunting lodge. I found this quite unnecessary in relation to the story.

Meredith always seemed cheerful while looking at the zoo animals and discussing their progress with the other veterinarians and staff. I really liked that she was so positive. It elevated the mood of everyone around her. The use of Swahili was nice in the conversations with the Kenyans in Charles’ party, and I did appreciate the translations within the conversations. It kept me from having to flip back and forth to a glossary elsewhere in the book.

This novel dealt with very interesting subject matter. It is recommended to readers with an interest in lions, big cat capture, African safaris, zoos, or big cat research. It will appeal to a wide range of readers. Younger ones, though, should probably steer clear because of the brutality of the attacks.

I found many more than ten errors in the book that were easily identified, mostly spelling errors, but some punctuation and incorrect words, too. There were also many other errors: a Land Rover in some places and a Land Cruiser in others, people’s names used interchangeably, wrong pronouns used, etc. For this reason, I do not think it has been well edited. I give this novel a rating of one out of four stars. If the dialogue was fixed, the errors were attended to, an so much emphasis was not placed on Charles’ wealth this would be deserving of a higher rating.

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Before Dawn
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[Judy_Akha]

I don't think this book is my cup of tea, but the plot is interesting though. Thank you for your detailed and well-written review.

[Judy46]

I enjoyed reading your review of this book. I have always been fond of wildlife and I love reading stories about them. Great review.

[Oluwapelumi Rachael]

I'm deeply fascinated by your review and the storyline seems exciting. Thanks for the review

[Amy Luman]

I don't think this book is my cup of tea, but the plot is interesting though. Thank you for your detailed and well-written review.

I thought it would be, too.

[Amy Luman]

I enjoyed reading your review of this book. I have always been fond of wildlife and I love reading stories about them. Great review.

That part was great!

[Amy Luman]

I'm deeply fascinated by your review and the storyline seems exciting. Thanks for the review

A little hard to read, though

[Nwaka Chukwuemeka]

Before I thought why wild animals eat human because of fall of Adam, but this book is giving me another insight. Great review.

[julietmumbua23]

Who thought that there was so much to wild animals. Great review.

[Chimereucheya Okoroafo]

Commendable review, but I think this book is many for people interesting in wildlife research and the challenging lives of rangers.

[Amy Luman]

Before I thought why wild animals eat human because of fall of Adam, but this book is giving me another insight. Great review.

Who knows why they do what they do?

[Amy Luman]

Who thought that there was so much to wild animals. Great review.

I really like learning about them!

[Amy Luman]

Commendable review, but I think this book is many for people interesting in wildlife research and the challenging lives of rangers.

Thanks for commenting!

[Francis Aderogbin]

This is indeed an honest review. I hope the author fix all these errors in subsequent edition. The book seems to have a good plot but the negatives are much.

[Amy Luman]

This is indeed an honest review. I hope the author fix all these errors in subsequent edition. The book seems to have a good plot but the negatives are much.

I have told anyone that asked that it really was a good idea.