Dirus

By: L.J. Vitanza

Narrated by: Joseph Oswald

Dirus

Thought extinct during the last ice age, a predator has continued to thrive in the shadow of man and has remained undiscovered in the isolated forests of central Canada. In a quest for a new and distant territory, a young pack of carnivores settles in Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. With a busy summer tourist season underway, Sam, a resident bear biologist, is thrown into a tangle of puzzling deaths and disappearances. These intelligent creatures stay one step ahead of Sam and her team as they hunt the native wildlife and unsuspecting visitors that stumble upon the territorial and ravenous pack.

L.J. Vitanza originally published Dirus in a serialized format on Amazon’s Kindle Vella.

Readers chose Dirus as a Top Faved story on the Kindle Vella platform from 01/22 until 04/22.

©2022 Lisa Vitanza (P)2024 Lisa Vitanza

Good Story, Horrible Narration

The story was solid, but the narrator delivered a performance with all the flair, pacing, & penache of a melancholic auctioneer reading the terms & conditions of a cellphone contract.

An Alpha Read

What an amazing novel! Enjoyed every second of the book. I Really recommend the book!

Monster Story- Don't Choose for Yellowstone or Wolf Science

I wanted to love this book- I have spent up to a month every year in Yellowstone for two decades, observing wolves and other predators and have recently enjoyed several stories involving endangered and rediscovered extinct creatures. Perhaps I am too familiar with this genre.....I was disappointed and tempted to DNF but continued reading as I was gifted the book in exchange for an honest review
The plot is intriguing but the setting was not described well enough to feel familiar and the description of typical behaviors of both animals and humans within this space was laughingly stereotypical and annoying. The bouncing poobs of women, the sneering of teens, the fear of wildlife managers.. made me cringe and detracted from the storyline
I am glad I stuck with it until the end, though, as the action quickened and actual places in the park were referred to to give some context. It was an exciting "monster story" but the science of wolves and the nature of managing wildlife within this national park was misrepresented Read it for the intrigue but don't count on credibility.

Engaging story with relatable characters

Dirus is a unique thriller that is perfect for outdoor lovers, fans of creature encounters or anyone who just enjoys a good thriller. Parts of it remind me of Cujo or Congo, but the main character (human character that is) is one of the stronger female leads in a thriller I’ve read. Pick this one up today, you won’t regret it.

I like the style of writing

I really like the style of writing but I wasn't hot on the narrator.

Great Premise

I love the concept for this story/series. Yellowstone Nat'l Park was the perfect location for it. The author did a great job of representing this as a plausible concept, even when the reader's brain wants to say "That could never happen... could it???"

I felt there were points in the story that characters chose the "B-movie" option. You know, like hiding in the basement from the serial killer, etc. The narration was also a bit off, which I expect was really an editing issue, not the narrator's fault. There was rushed sense, with not even a small pause between chapters. But overall, it was an enjoyable story. I'll be moving on to the next book in the series.