River Monsters - Hardcover

Wade, Jeremy

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0857820001 ISBN 13: 9780857820006

Publisher: Swordfish, 2011

Synopsis

Over ten feet long, it weighs in at nearly a quarter of a ton. Covering its back are armoured plates made of bone. Five hundred stiletto-sharp teeth line its long crocodilian jaws. It's a prehistoric beast of staggering proportions; a fearsome creature from the time of the dinosaurs.

But the Alligator Gar, an air-breathing survivor from the Cretaceous period is still with us today, patrolling inland rivers, hunting in murky waters shared by human communities.

And for Jeremy Wade, described as the 'greatest angling explorer of his generation', the Gar and other outlandish freshwater predators have been an obsession for all his adult life. With names like Arapaima, Snakehead, Goonch, Goliath Tigerfish and Electric Eel, many of them have acquired an almost mythical status.

In a quest that has taken him from the Amazon to the Congo, and from North America to the mountains of India, Wade has pursued the truth about these little known, often misunderstood animals. Along the way he's survived a plane crash, malaria and a fish-inflicted blow to the chest that, according to a later scan, caused permanent scarring to his heart.

In RIVER MONSTERS, Wade delivers a sometimes jaw-dropping blend of adventure, natural history, legend and detective work. It reads like a hunt for the Loch Ness Monster. But it's all true.

These are fisherman's tales like you've never heard before. The stories of the ones that didn't get away ...

About this title

Review:

A Wall Street Journal bestseller, 4/19/11

Outside
“Fishing may be a hobby to you, but for Jeremy Wade, host of Animal Planet’s RiverMonsters, it’s a way of life. Wade scours the rivers of the world for the stuff of legend, and we’re lucky enough to bear witness. Viewers have seen him catch a lot of big fish . . . but most of the thrill comes from watching the hunt.”

ShareThisAdventure.com, 4/6/11
"I would recommend this great book to any adventurer, fisher, or reader for that matter. [It] will not disappoint and is sure to awaken that urge inside us all for the unknown, for what is around that next bend, for what we cannot see."
 Newsday, 4/17/11
“A terrific read—intense, captivating and insightfully written.”
Toronto Globe & Mail, 4/23/11“This one may hook you.” Savannah Morning News, Bookworm Sez column, 4/28/11
“Readers will enjoy his vivid (and humorous) descriptions of lands he has visited and risks he has undertaken in his travels...Fisherman or not, I think you’ll enjoy the thrills you’ll find in this book. River Monsters is easy to get hooked on.” 

Book Description:

A tale of obsession, adventure, and very big fish...

About this edition

• Publisher: Swordfish
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 0857820001
• ISBN 13: 9780857820006
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 320