"They know their land - a dark and hidden land. But they also know the secrets it contains" - Pieter Jorghanson

An ambitious Scientist has penetrated the last unexplored area of the planet, the Gran Chao Boreal in the rainforests of Brazil, and discovered something amazing. The local lost tribe, the Ndege Watu, have been guarding a secret for thousands of years with good reason, but do not expect betrayal from one of their own. The Scientist, Pieter Jorghanson, returns to the United States with a living specimen of something that shouldn't still exist, the link between dinosaurs and birds, the archaeopteryx. Unfortunately for Jorghanson he has also brought back a hitch hiker, a parasite that lay dormant within his specimen, but which now outside its natural environment has sprung back to full contagion like state. The plague has begun, but no one is aware of just how serious things are about to become as an ancient life form threatens the modern world.

The CDC are called in as the bodies mount and they become aware of a new danger to the citizens of the United States. Unfortunately they don't have anything to combat the primordial parasite, but are determine to send an expedition to the parasite's source to discover what natural element keeps the parasite in check. CDC Field Officer Carla Nero is aware of the dangers and heads a team heading for the Boreal, she brings along Matt Kearns, a noted linguist who she hopes will decipher the Ndege Watu glyph writing and language which seems to be a mix of other primitive languages. Accompany Matt is his outdoor loving girlfriend Megan. Carla has a few problems, the team is financed and headed by film producer Maxwell Steinberg who has his own agenda, then there's the problem of the plague running rampant, and to top it off unexplored jungle hiding all manner of beasties and cannibals. It's a tall order, but with limited options available its full steam ahead into the unknown Gran Chao Boreal.

The First Bird is the sort of a book that might eventuate if Jurassic Park meet Contagion by way of the Indiana Jones dating agency. In short a hybrid of a number of styles that come together in a lost world scenario. As you might have expected, with Episode 1 in the title, The Discovery is the first in a three book cycle that promises plenty more spills and chills till some sort of resolution is reached. For those who really needed to know what happens in the end I would suggest you purchase all three books as the first one leaves the reader high and dry with a lost world just being reached. I wanted to know what flora and fauna there might be there from primordial times, but guess I am now going to have to wait till book two pops up in the review queue. Fingers crossed there's Raptors, or hopefully something previously left languishing in the lost world catalogue.

Okay to the book at hand, I was breaking my Grieg Beck cherry with this one as I amazingly haven't run across the Author previously. That would be my fault; they don't let us out of the bunker all that often. First Bird is best described as having an energetic prose style, you will have to remember to breathe as Beck writes at a breakneck pace pushing you through the narrative. I pretty much finished this book in one sitting and was quite shocked when I came to the last page, I hadn't realised I had been reading for that length of time and with dawn breaking through the blinds I was tempted to get the second book to see what happens next. So the prose style is fast, easy to access, and works well with the narrative we are following. I would recommend Grieg Beck's style to both adults and young adults alike, assuming you dig darker literature.

I did have a slight issue with the structure of the book however, but you may not, it's all horses for courses after all. The First Bird begins with a prologue piece that has Esubio, a sometime member of the Brazilian army trying to escape from the midst of the Boreal with gold in his arms. He is thwarted in his attempt at larceny by the parasite he has been exposed to and the missiles of the chasing tribesmen. While the prologue gets the narrative underway, some sort of wicked virus and the lure of Inca gold, it sort of doesn't do anything else. Almost like a short story it sits at the beginning of The First Bird, preens it's feathers while being read, and then disappears from memory as the rest of the book charges along at a brisk rate. To be honest I thought this piece of the book could have been safely edited out without any impact on the overall plot.

The rest of the book is broken into easily digestible chapters that have a logical feeling about them and at no stage do they break the narrative flow. You can easily read The First Bird on public transport etc without having to worry about leaving things mid scene, there are plenty of opportunities to find break points. Of course public transport may be an issue as you are quite likely to rip into the next chapter, get engrossed, and miss your stop. That's a public warning folks, Grieg Beck has some flowing prose that you can lose yourself in.

Yes I know you are wondering where in between the Jurassic Park wood is the actual horror trees. Beck has your back with the parasitic plague. Once a victim becomes infected, the parasite burrows into the sub dermal region and thrives on the tissue there. Eventually the victim's skin will sort of just slip off as the parasite has cleaned out any sort of bonding agent. I've just got this Hellraiser imagine in my mind from that, and folks it ain't a pretty mental image by any stretch of the imagination. The Author however has a couple of other tricks up his sleeve that had me nodding my head in approval and deciding to stay in and read the book rather than go out and slaughter those camp Counsellors down the lake side. Victims of the parasite are unaware they are infected, besides itching and skin colour changes, as the parasite comes with a built in pain killer, sort of like a mossie I guess. Of course this means the plague is really ramping up as the infection spreads out from patient zero with only a few people recognising the growing issue. To combat the parasite we have to go back to its natural habitat to discover what keeps it in check there, hence the narrative flows in a natural way rather than through various stupid decisions by the characters. I've already got a couple of theories on what element controls the parasite, but useless speculation, spoilers, etc. Read the book and report back with your own theories.

Wow this review pretty much wrote itself and I still had a bunch more things to say about The First Bird like engaging characters, naturally occurring tension between expedition members, and the ever popular flicking back State side to see how the plague is progressing. Grieg Beck has gone on my list of favourite Downunder authors on the basis of this one book, I look forward to seeing what else he has available. Clearly full recommendation on The Last Bird, really wish I had of got the other two books in the series now. I'm just going to say it folks, if you dig Michael Crichton then you are going to have even a better time with Grieg Beck. Dude can write a book, do yourself a favour and check him out.

The First Bird is available from Momentum Books for the stunning price of $1. The book is available in both mobi and epub formats, but I didn't notice a pdf or print option. While there you can also pick up episodes 2 and 3, I just picked up episode 2, or if new to the whole fandango then get the Omnibus edition that contains all 3 episodes for a low $4.99.