Scourge of the Vampire Velociraptors, the second installment of a series of paranormal dinosaur adventures, was just as delightful and fun as the first book, Attack of the Zombiesaurus Rex.

This time around, David and his friends get help from a police officer and a quirky scientist to corral a pack (a herd? a flock?) of vampire velociraptors before they start feeding on the town.

I thought the use of handheld devices this time was very clever since I was really concerned about someone surviving the return trip through the “slipgate” (the name of the trans-dimensional gateway) whilst being pursued by a pack of vampire raptors.

Also, I once again applaud writer Matt Schorr for providing realistic interactions between the kids and adults. It’s good that the adults don’t suddenly wait for the children to save them.

And, maybe I’m being too cynical (a common pitfall of mine), or perhaps it’s because I’m reading a book for a much younger age group, but I kept wondering how the scientist knew the correct dimension to send the raptors. I kept worrying about some unsuspecting village without trans-dimensional devices suddenly being plagued by blood-thirsty dinosaurs. What if this unfortunate populace didn’t have the technology to defeat them? Near the end it becomes clear that the dinosaurs are being sent back to the proper dimension, but before then, I was really worried about the welfare of those villagers (that only exist in my imagination).
Either way, this is a fun series which is due to continue with Curse of the Were-A-Saurus.

Scourge of the Vampire Velociraptors, as well as Attack of the Zombiesaurus Rex, are available in paperback and for the Kindle.