Those purveyors of fine literature at Severed Press have just published my latest novel, Primeval Waters. It’s an Amazon River hell cruise teeming with prehistoric nightmares, modern pirates, ancient aliens, and ageless mysticism.
Planetary geologist Dr. Micah Clarke, his nine-year-old daughter Faye and his assistant Catalina Abril are abducted at gunpoint; forced to join a megalomaniac’s paramilitary expedition down an Amazon tributary ruled by murderous pirates and cannibal tribes. The goal—recover a meteorite capable of providing clean energy for the world. But prehistoric terrors lurk around every bend in the river. Swarms of six-inch titan ants and a seventy-foot Titanoboa tear a bloody swath through the flotilla. Micah is convinced that some unknown intelligence is manifesting these primeval horrors to protect the meteorite’s secrets. To defend his daughter, Micah must battle monsters, pirates and cannibals, all leading to his ultimate confrontation with an ancient force possessing the power of creation, or total destruction… and the doomsday clock is chiming midnight.
Like my other books, Primeval Waters is full of unusual concepts and hardware. So, here’s a crash course in my crazy world of space diamonds, monster ants, Amazon River pirates and Riverine Patrol Boats.
Primeval Waters revolves around a massive meteorite, known as the Anomaly, which also happens to be a giant diamond. But is the Anomaly really a meteorite, or could it be an intelligently constructed probe, using diamonds as a protective shell? That concept isn’t as far-fetched as it sounds.
Here on Earth, we consider diamonds to be the rarest and most precious of gems. But in space they’re surprisingly common, especially on Uranus and Neptune where it literally rains diamonds. Why does that happen? The atmospheric pressure of those planets is so extreme that it compresses carbon and hydrogen atoms into diamonds, which rain down onto the slushy surface. Still not impressed? Well, just travel another 40 light years and you’ll discover the carbon rich exo-planet 55 Cancri e, which scientists theorize is made of diamonds. That sounds impossible, until you realize that, under the right conditions, diamonds aren’t that hard to create. Even us primitive humans can whip some up!
A Russian firm currently uses sophisticated machinery to super compress carbon into gemstones. Back in the good old USA, their competitors use the more straightforward method of detonating TNT packed around carbon samples, compressing them into diamonds. For a few bucks extra they’ll even toss your cremated remains into the mix, turning your ashes into a diamond that you can pass on to your horrified relatives.
I theorized that an advanced alien civilization might travel to a neighboring diamond planet and harvest its glittering surface for space faring construction materials. Not only would diamonds provide a hard protective shell, but their crystal structure and square lattice could be used in the same manner as quartz crystals back here on earth. Taking that concept further, imagine an inhabited planet that’s actually a large moon orbiting an ice giant such as Uranus or Neptune. It’s not that crazy, considering Jupiter’s Ganymede is nearly half the size of Earth, and we’ve already discovered exoplanets larger than Jupiter. The heat and gravity produced by such a planet could function as a personal sun. The inhabitants would likely take advantage of the available diamonds floating through their pseudo sun’s atmosphere to use as building materials.
So, if you ever meet an alien, don’t try to impress him with diamonds. He’ll just think you’re cheap.
Yup, giant ants were real, but they weren’t the school bus sized monsters you’re picturing. About fifty-six million years ago, Titanomyrma, or Titan ants, inhabited parts of the USA. The Titan ants featured in Primeval Waters are seven-inches long, while in truth the only known Titan ant fossil measures about two inches. But, when you’re talking about ants, even two inches is plenty terrifying! Titans were the ancestors of modern driver ants. Driver ants are nomadic, marching across East Africa in ravenous columns numbering up to 22 million. They’re carnivorous, with a biting force and tenacity that makes them the pit bulls of the insect kingdom. Prehistoric Titan ants were just as vicious, but had pincers that were four times larger. They also injected formic acid with their bites for an extra dash of agony. A column of these monsters could kill and devour anything in their path, regardless of its size.
So why did I cheat and make them bigger? Well, due to their lack of bones, insects make very poor fossils; as a result, we know very little about prehistoric bugs. Since evolution tended to start off big, and gradually get smaller, it’s likely that the Titan ant’s precursor was just as big as the monsters in Primeval Waters. Plus, the idea of a horde of seven-inch ants just scares the crap out of me, and I thought it would do the same for you.
The Amazon River and its vast network of tributaries are a haven for modern pirates. The pirates in Primeval Waters have a fleet of boats, commanded by the swashbuckling, but psychopathic, Queen Caveira. But in real-life Amazon pirates aren’t nearly so organized, working in small two or three boat groups, preying on merchants, unlucky tourists and cocaine smugglers. Stealing from drug smugglers offers the biggest payout, but also the highest risk. Cocaine lords routinely kill captured pirates, often taking videos of those executions to deter others.
Amazon River pirates, like their Somali cousins, utilize unique water craft known as “go-fast” boats. These are small boats either wood or fiberglass, with sharp V-shaped bows. They’re usually fitted with oversized engines, or dual engines, providing tremendous speed but zero safety. Many of these “go-fast” boats are fitted with rear cabins to disguise them as fishing boats.
The merciless nature of the Amazon River pirates has forced South American coast guard and naval forces to form specialized units to hunt them down. But, despite their best efforts the river offers countless hiding places for these modern buccaneers.
What do your hot tub and the river patrol boat from Apocalypse Now have in common? Answer—they were both designed by the Jacuzzi Company.
The armed river boats in Primeval Waters are based on the US Navy’s Patrol Boat—Riverine, which saw extensive service in the Vietnam War. And, yes, the boat’s revolutionary Pump Jet Drive was designed by the Jacuzzi Brothers. These water jet engines provided impressive speed, while eliminating the need for props that could be fouled by the vegetation dense river waters. They also provided incredible maneuverability, allowing the boats to turn 180 degrees on a dime.
Fun Fact: When the US Navy needed a revolutionary river patrol boat, they went to the Hatteras Yacht Company, who completed the prototype in an astonishing seven days!
The PBR’s basic design hasn’t changed much since the Vietnam War, retaining its pump jet engines, fiberglass hull and machine gun turrets, bolstered by an array of grenade launchers and mortars. A dozen countries have fielded their own variations that are ideal for chasing smugglers, performing rescues and, of course, hunting down those dreaded Amazon River pirates.
Hope you enjoyed these factoids and please check out Primeval Waters, available on Amazon and all other purveyors of fine literature.
Publication Date: August 4, 2021
Planetary geologist Dr. Micah Clarke, his nine-year-old daughter Faye and his assistant Catalina Abril are abducted at gunpoint; forced to join a megalomaniac’s paramilitary expedition down an Amazon tributary ruled by murderous pirates and cannibal tribes. The goal—recover a meteorite capable of providing clean energy for the world. But prehistoric terrors lurk around every bend in the river. Swarms of six-inch titan ants and a seventy-foot Titanoboa tear a bloody swath through the flotilla. Micah is convinced that some unknown intelligence is manifesting these primeval horrors to protect the meteorite’s secrets. To defend his daughter, Micah must battle monsters, pirates and cannibals, all leading to his ultimate confrontation with an ancient force possessing the power of creation, or total destruction… and the doomsday clock is chiming midnight.
Primeval Waters is William Burke’s third novel, following a long career in film and television. He was the creator and director of the Destination America paranormal series Hauntings and Horrors and the OLN series Creepy Canada, as well as producing the HBO productions Forbidden Science, Lingerie and Sin City Diaries. His work has garnered high praise from network executives and insomniacs watching Cinemax at 3 a.m.
During the 1990’s Burke was a staff producer for the Playboy Entertainment Group, producing eighteen feature films and multiple television series. He’s acted as Line Producer and Assistant Director on dozens of feature films—some great, some bad and some truly terrible.
Aside from novels Burke has written for Fangoria Magazine, Videoscope Magazine and is a regular contributor to Horrornews.net.
October 11 – RABT Book Tours – Kick Off
October 12 – Nanas book reviews – Spotlight
October 13 – The Faerie Review – Spotlight
October 14 – Momma says to read or not to read – Spotlight
October 15 – Momma and Her Stories – Excerpt
October 16 – #BRVL Book Review Virginia Lee Blog – Spotlight*
October 18 – Sylv Net – Spotlight
October 19 – Novel News Network – Review
October 20 – Crossroad reviews – Spotlight
October 21 – A Life Through Books – Interview
October 22 – Book corner news and reviews – Spotlight
October 23 – Book junkiez – Spotlight
October 25 – Teatime and books – Spotlight
October 26 – Texas Book Nook – Review
October 27 – The Avid Reader – Interview
October 28 – Sapphyira’s Book Blog – Spotlight
October 29 – On a Reading Bender – Review
October 29 – Dina Rae write stuff – Spotlight
October 31 – I smell sheep – Guest Post
November 1 – Liliyana Shadowlyn – Spotlight
November 2 – The Indie Express – Review*
November 2 – Jazzy’s Book Reviews – Spotlight
November 3 – Novels alive – Guest Post
November 4 – Our town book reviews – Spotlight
November 5 – RABT Reviews – Wrap Up
