"A cross between Planet of the Apes, The Hunger Games and Indiana Jones..." J. Hungerford
                                                             
Pack your bags for the wild side and hang on tight! Stamp your passport for adventure and enter an exotic world where animals have evolved side by side with humans. Prepare to be transported into an Indiana Jones style adventure and taken on a globe-trotting trek from the vast open plains of Africa, to the breathtaking beaches of Key West and Fiji, to the mysterious jungles of South America, before finally landing inside the gates of SinCity itself - Las Vegas, Nevada. Suspend belief and lose yourself in this roller coaster of a sci-fi thriller that has been called a cross between Planet of the Apes, The Hunger Games and Indiana Jones.

In Las Vegas, Shaw, billionaire casino magnate and self proclaimed world's greatest showman, nears completion on the massive Serengeti Resort & Casino. Its amphitheater is being transformed into an authentic slice of African savanna for the show Predators and Prey which will savagely pit animal against animal in the bloodiest gladiatorial spectacle ever created for human entertainment. The only thing missing is the main attraction - which Shaw soon finds in Shark, the world's only Great White pool-playing shark to be exact.

Shaw envisions the show's tagline as “Come One – Come All To See – The Only Great White Shark In Captivity” but soon learns that capturing the world’s top predator and delivering him to Vegas is easier said than done. This daunting task will require the cruel tactics of the evil animal slave trading hyena, Old Jack. The heartbreaking plans they devise and innocent pawns they use to try to coerce Shark’s allegiance will force all to rely on primitive instincts to survive.

Media Mentions

• Bookpleasures.com Review

Praise and Reviews

Shark & The Wolf: Predators and Prey Reviewed By Richard Bunning of Bookpleasures.com


Daniel Shields has created a masterful thriller, which is not just a great vehicle for reminding us all that we are the worst predatory species on planet Earth, but also the species that threatens the existence of all others. But don't think for a second that there is any preaching here, there isn't. This is just a great adventure in which the human cast comes off second best to most of this book's sentient animals.

The words flow easily, in a style that paints a vivid framework into which one's imagination can build. I felt his words effortlessly brush me over the threshold of a Disneyesque cartoon world that became more believable with every page I turned. The figures may start out from comic invention, but there is nothing shallow about the directions in which we are drawn. The emotions are those of us all, and carry as much weighty sub-text as one finds in plenty of more familiar adult books.

If in the second chapter you can't quite believe evolution can throw up the Great White Shark that walks tall, plays pool, falls in love with a vixen, and grows into one of the world's most heroic figures, then within a few more pages of engaging reading you will. If you can't quite see we modern humans as the same low life that enjoyed the butchery of the Roman Colosseum, you may soon.

This is an exciting story for all to enjoy, from reading teenagers to time worn adults. A slightly mad vision, certainly it is, but one that most can slip into. One may even grow to get a least a glimpse of why the author and his star characters are so engrossed by the game of pool-billiards. I know such a game seems an unlikely backdrop to a book that points up the evils of creature exploitation and slavery, but then I was already snookered by Shields' story long before the eight-ball slammed into any pocket.

All the locations are well painted, especially for me an exotic beach-bar on the Island of Viti Levu, Fiji. By the time I was caught up in the interplay of characters around the cool-blue, velvet, of that bar's pool-table, there was not the least chance of me putting down the book before its exciting end.

Obviously this book is going to be best enjoyed by those who can easily go with the flow of the absurd. If you really are not able to see the comedy in a shark riding a chopper motorcycle, or feel an empathy with an elephant watching its parent being carried away by trophy hunters, or even suspend rational belief for long enough to see yourself as some other sentient creature, then don't bother with this book. If you are anyone else, then grab a copy and enjoy.

Author Interviews

• Walter Rhein Interview
• Lisa Haselton Interview

Related Links

• Shark & The Wolf Facebook Page