Over at Maine Crime Writers today I have a post about one of the most macabre books I have read in years. Gordon Grice's The Book of Deadly Animals is a bestiary of every large (meaning: bigger than a microbe) creature ever known to predate on human beings. It's full of amazing factoids like this one:
- The most formidable large predator in the world is the orca, or killer whale, which has been known to rip the tongues out of blue whales for the sheer hell of it, leaving the peaceful giants to bleed to death; leap onto the land to snatch a sunbathing seal; and holdgreat white sharks out of the water to “drown” the gill breathers in the air (before eating their livers).
As a mystery author who writes about game wardens—and therefore animals—this kind of trivia is like catnip. Click on over for my full review of this gruesome and gripping book.