Jonathan Janz ‘Savage Species Part Four: The Arena’ Review

Written by: Joe Hempel (of Top of the Heap Reviews)

The action packed end of Dark Zone left you wondering what was going to happen with Frank Red Elk and Jesse as they took a ride with the Night Flyers.

Suspense is the name of the game to start this one.  The two are trapped with only a stick of dynamite and who knows what on the other side of the walls.

It was only a matter of time before Frank Red Elk, Jesse, and their crew meet up with Charly, Eric, Sam, and Melanie.  You find that Sam and Frank have a past with each other as well.

Despite the fact that I don’t like the comparisons to soft porn stars for every female he meets (it takes me out of the story), Frank Red Elk is fast becoming one of my favorite characters for some reason.  There is an endearing quality about his heroism that I like.  I was happy to see that this story did much to feature him.

As the title suggests the new group comes across an arena of sorts.  You have both The Children and Night Flyers vying for the others in the group, with one member of The Children holding on to Jake, the child of Charly and Eric.

Moving from a slower suspenseful build to all out action in this race to the finish, saving the ones they love, Jonathan Janz pushes the pace with violent descriptions and quick scene changes between Sam and Charly, and Frank and Jesse.  You are left breathless as this part ends with the discovery of something much worse than they’ve already seen.

Action packed and suspenseful, I can only imagine what’s coming in the next part, and who, if anyone survives!

For now though, go ahead and pre-order The Arena on Amazon.com!  It comes out on July 16th!

Rating: 4/5