Roosevelt's Beast

Rating 4.5 of fiveThe Publisher Says 1914 Brazil s Rio da D vida, the River of Doubt Plagued by hunger and suffering the lingering effects of malaria, Theodore Roosevelt, his son Kermit, and the other members of the now ravaged Roosevelt Rondon scientific expedition are traveling deeper and deeper into the jungle When Kermit and Teddy are kidnapped by a never before seen ian tribe, the great hunters are asked one thing in exchange for their freedom find and kill a beast that leaves no tracks and [...]

Really two and a half stars Readers looking for an adventure novel or a story about a cryptid might be disappointed This book is literary fiction than adventure novel The emphasis is on the relationship between Kermit Roosevelt and his father Teddy, than on The Beast In a way, the story reminded me of The Terror by Dan Simmons, but I didn t think it was as well written An ok read, but nothing special.

Disclosure I received an ARC for review.There are some minor spoilers, so do not read if you have not read the book yet.I like the genre of historical fiction, so I was intrigued by the concept.Overall it worked I enjoyed a recounting of the expedition and it s troubles The author managed to work in the story within the context of real events without making too many implausible changes to real events I knew very little of the trip so I had plenty of suspense about the fate of the expedition.Tedd [...]

See, this is why I haven t written a novel Okay, maybe it s only part of why But you read this first line, and tell me that doesn t make every beginning you ve ever jotted down seem a littleadequate I thoroughly enjoyed this I have similarly enjoyed other fictionalized historical accounts, like Dan Simmon s the Terror, so maybe I have a soft spot for this, but if this is genre fiction, it is of the highest quality, plumbing the depths of family, responsibility, and destiny in a way few novels do [...]

Offering an intriguing twist to the history of the 1914 Roosevelt Rondon expedition to Brazil s Rio da Duvida, Roosevelt s Beast by Louis Bayard presents a disturbing story that is rich in atmospheric suspense It is, in Bayard s own words, a psychological fantasy built out of historic events, and the very setting the River of Doubt lends itself to the mythological feel of the work While featuring the inimitable Theodore Roosevelt, the story s main protagonist is his solemn and somewhat beleaguer [...]

Let me start out by saying that Roosevelt s Beast by Louis Bayard is a very good book It s both smart and wise, and taut and tense, a well researched novel that is both a work of literature and a solid thriller So why didn t I give it stars I am a huge fan of Mr Bayard, and have been reading him since his first book In particular I would suggest The Pale Blue Eye and Mr Timothy, two novels cut from the same cloth as Roosevelt s Beast Also, Theodore Roosevelt is one of my true heroes, a man for [...]

This is the third book I ve read by Louis Bayard The first was The School of Night and it was good, an interesting take on historical conspiracy thrillers The second was The Pale Blue Eye which I liked even better than Night It s hard for me to separate Roosevelt s Beast from those first two, as I ve read them recently It s also hard to separate Beast from Dan Simmons spectacular The Terror or from Micheal Crichton s Congo which I don t think has aged very well Anyway, back to Beast , I liked mo [...]

This is a fairly weird mixture of historical fiction and psychological horror with a touch of adventure thrown in , but it worked for me and I really enjoyed it Bayard does a really impressive job of keeping both Theodore Roosevelt and his son, Kermit, feeling true to their historical selves even while in these purely imagined situations Good for Roosevelt or historical fiction fans looking for something different to try.

I had high hopes for this The premise seemed really interesting but alas the story didn t deliver Kind of corny and slow going.

This book gives me nothing of what I want It drives me to tears and in the end nothing is resolved as I would like it to be.

Title Roosevelt s BeastAuthor Louis BayardSummary It is 1914, along Brazil s River of Doubt, a band of explorers travel deep into the In the party are a father and son of one of America s most powerful families Theodore Roosevelt and his son Kermit But the Roosevelt s become detached from the rest of the group and with Theodore injured, it falls to Kermit to rescue them Kermit who is plagued with self doubts and an overriding sense of failure must now care for and save his larger than life fathe [...]

A reimagining of Teddy and Kermit Roosevelt s ill fated 1914 expedition a psychological twist on the smart historical thriller that first put Louis Bayard on the map1914 Brazil s Rio da D vida, the River of Doubt Plagued by hunger and suffering the lingering effects of malaria, Theodore Roosevelt, his son Kermit, and the other members of the now ravaged Roosevelt Rondon scientific expedition are travelling deeper and deeper into the jungle When Kermit and Teddy are kidnapped by a never before se [...]

I like Bayard s work, so I was excited to try this one out It was enjoyable, but a little strange It makes me want to pick up Candice Millard s The River of Doubt for a look at the factual expedition.The relationship between T.R and his son, Kermit, is one of the best parts of the novel their story, including their family history, is well drawn, and their characters seem natural, though I wanted of the two of them interacting The hunt for, and subsequent revelation of, the Beast is less compell [...]

Bayard s strengths and weaknesses both shine through in this historical fiction horror mystery novel This book s strength is that it hurdles on and on like a boulder down a mountainside It is fast paced without lacking visuals However, I sometimes felt like I was watching a movie, and not an especially high budget one at that There was a transparent formula to the plot and while there was plenty of action, there weren t a lot of surprises Everything in this book has been done before, countless t [...]

I have read several of Bayard s other books, and loved all of them Unfortunately, this one did not work for me.I am not exactly able to put my finger on why I didn t connect to this Maybe the jungles are not a good setting for me, I wasn t all that thrilled by descriptions of insects and malaria and deadly rapids my reaction to all of those was basically yuck Maybe the Roosevelts Teddy and his son Kermit weren t as interesting as I expected they would be The portion of the book I read which, ful [...]

I received this book for free through LibraryThing s Early Reveiwers Giveaway Thank you very much It is a great book I have never read any books by Louis Bayard before and I was certainly impressed by this book and his writing style What I found most intriguing about this novel is that he used real, historical people and events to weave a fictionalized, psychological story adventure The character of Colonel Theodore Roosevelt was by far my favorite character He was just so darn likeable that it [...]

I went into this book with a bit of trepidation as I knew it was a fantasy horror re imagining of Roosevelt s excursion and neither fantasy nor horror are genres I usually read However, I had heard much praise of Bayard s writing and decided to give it a try Boy am I glad I did Roosevelt s Beast is a wonderfully written engaging story that was hard to put down Narrated by Kermit Roosevelt it interweaves the story of the expedition including Bayard s incorporation of a kidnapping and beast as wel [...]

Once Bayard works his magic taking a real event and creating a fictionalized spin to it all his own For those not familiar with Louis Bayard, you have been missing a true talent in historical fiction His plot lines are tight and swift His characters believable than real life, and his over all writing style is superior to most in his craft This tale of Teddy and Kermit Roosevelt s 1914 odyssey on The River of Doubt is a masterful mix of adventure and horror with some family history thrown in fo [...]

Atmosphere, characterization are really well done But I wish the supernatural stuff made sense It lacked coherence even within the imaginings of the novel Is the beast a horrific manifestation of one persons psychological disturbance, or is it real The evidence goes both ways, and sorry but that just disturbs me I like horror to have a certain logic to it Kermit and especially TR really come alive as characters, so bravo to the author for that.

Bayard is a wonderful writer, and this contains many well written passages Even the fantastic plot was creative However, I got the feeling around 2 3 of the way through that he had run out of story and moved into overdrive to get to the end Purple prose abounded Not his best, but better than most.

This was truly amazing A horror twist on the great Roosevelt expedition on the the book really brings you into the world of a rainforest populated by savages, a world in which civilized men brave all odds to explore and encounter evil beyond which they have ever known Well imagined, atmospheric and beautifully done I loved this book

I enjoyed some of the book and the authors writing style I did not enjoy the depth of the supernatural portion of the story I kept waiting for Kermit to wake up and it to have all been a dream I have read The River of Doubt, the nonfiction version of the expedition and loved it.This one Not so much.

2 1 2 stars Easy quick read, but a bit too supernatural for me for this type of story I have nothing against fantasy and paranormal genres, but this didn t seem to fit in the adventure category of the Roosevelts traveling down an uncharted river in the.

I wish the author had written a slightly realistic fiction account of the Roosevelt trip The real story was harrowing enough Kermit was a fascinating counterpoint to his father I could have done without all of the skin peeling and fantasy gore.

Perhaps I m biased since Louis Bayard is from my hometown, but his writing simply amazes me When reading his books, I spend half the time immersed in the story and the other half wishing I could write like that.

A great read to learn about Kermit Roosevelt and his famous father Together they travel thru the wilds of Brazil meeting hardship, unknown tribes, and dangerous turns A mix of the real and the beasts that torture.

Roosevelt s Beast was an enjoyable historical fiction thriller A retelling of

This was an easy read, and I liked it a lot I ll be interested to look further into Kermit Roosevelt Always got a kick out of Teddy It s kind of creepy, about the Beastie, and all that.

Exquisite writing but very complex I suggest that readers do some research on the Roosevelt family before or while reading Bayard s book.

This novel covers some of the same ground water as Candice Millard s River of Doubt, but with a major detour Following his loss in the presidential election of 1912, Theodore Roosevelt and son, Kermit have gone to the deepest jungles of Brazil as the first men to scientifically explore and map the uncharted Rio da D vida Fighting malaria, deadly rapids, mosquitoes, infections and fear of the unknown, well that s not dangerous enough for the larger than life TR At one campsite, he and Kermit, hea [...]