Primeval by David L. Golemon

By Dan Levy

With a family military history that reaches all the way back to the Civil War, and has Golemons on the battlefields of every American war through Vietnam, it’s easy to understand David Golemon’s love of history and its importance in his previous four novels. The same hold true for latest release–Primeval–An Event Group Thriller.

What may not be as easy to grasp is the way this thriller writer feels about war. “To me, it’s the most disgusting thing mankind has ever come up with,” said Golemon. That means while other thriller writers are using war or violence to kick off their novels or fire up the tension, Golemon is holding off as long as he can. “I was an Edgar Rice Burroughs fan growing up. I finally caught on that every time his story was lagging, he always had somebody get captured–and it’s always survival, escape, and innovation–with no meaning. I try to limit the violence, but ramp up the action scenes to make it believable.”

Golemon adds to his believability by showing the real face of the military, “There’s probably more humanity in the military than any other corner of society. If you talk to soldiers today, their opinion hasn’t changed in over 200 years. They’d rather be out defending women and children and feeding people.” Golemon’s novels have been recognized for their true reflection of soldiers’ attitudes and the real price of war. In that regard, he’s been compared to Tom Clancy.

It should come as no surprise that Golemon’s Event Group is a cast of very real characters. Despite bucking the lone-wolf-protagonist trend of most thrillers, every team still needs a leader. Golemon said that in Major Jack Collins, readers will find someone who is brutally honest, fallible, and striving to do right. True to form, Golemon noted, “He’s the epitome of several people I know.”

In Primeval, the Event Team, lead by Collins, has to solve a riddle started twenty thousand years ago. When man crossed the land bridge to North America, creatures called They Who Follow made the great trek as well. But once in the new continent, the giant beasts disappeared, whether into hiding or extinction, no one knew. Centuries later, evidence from the night of the Romanovs’ execution turns up in a rare bookstore. As the U.S. and Russians vie for the truth, and the lost Romanov treasure, they collide with a prehistoric predator thought long-extinct.

Golemon’s bio noted that his love of writing is second only to love of research. “I love doing my prologues. To put down an actual event on paper, and tweaking it just a little bit with the possibility of ‘Hey, this could have happened,’ and to do it in a way that’s believable, are some of my favorite scenes.”

Despite being a history buff, Golemon’s future has him excited, too. In addition to the release of Primeval in July, Macmillan is releasing his New York Times bestseller, Leviathan, in August in paperback. In addition, his latest, Legacy will be released in April 2011. While the details are best left for a future issue of The Big Thrill, Golemon said the novel will end up about 620 pages, comprised three years worth of research with NASA and DARPA, and that “It’s not your normal Event Group novel.”

Born and raised in Chino, California, Golemon has raised three children, Shaune, Brandon and Katie Anne, and just celebrated the birth of his first grandchild, Kiera. After spending many years in Loveland, Colorado, he now makes his home on Long Island, New York. His novels include: Event, Legend, Ancients, Leviathan, Primeval and Legacy(scheduled for release in 2011).