Raptor Red

A pair of fierce but beautiful eyes look out from the undergrowth of conifers. She is an intelligent killer... So begins one of the most extraordinary novels you will ever read. The time is 120 million years ago, the place is the plains of prehistoric Utah, and the eyes belong to an unforgettable heroine. Her name is Raptor Red, and she is a female Raptor dinosaur. Painting a rich and colorful picture of a lush prehistoric world, leading paleontologist Robert T. Bakker tells his story from within Raptor Red's extraordinary mind, dramatizing his revolutionary theories in this exciting tale. From a tragic loss to the fierce struggle for survival to a daring migration to the Pacific Ocean to escape a deadly new predator,Raptor Redcombines fact an fiction to capture for the first time the thoughts, emotions, and behaviors of the most magnificent, enigmatic creatures ever to walk the face of the earth. From the Paperback edition.

Robert T. Bakker is the dinosaur curator of the Tate Museum in Wyoming.

Raptor Red watches and thinks.

When she is feeling well fed and content and well loved, her mental powers are allowed to indulge themselves.  She can experiment.

She walks parallel to the shoreline, watching the waves carefully, focusing her eyes below the surface.  She keeps her distance from the average line where the waves break.

There!  She sees another huge shape cruising parallel to the shore.  She watches-and a giant head breaks surface.

She stands on tiptoes, trying to look as tall as possible.

She waits...   waits...   waits...

Here it comes!  she shouts to herself.  She flexes her knees and ankles. An immense dark torpedo comes right at her, plowing through the breakers.

Just as the head and front flippers begin to slide up the beach, Raptor Red turns and jumps four strides diagonally, upslope and to her right.

Whhhmmmpp!  The big kronosaur stops exactly on the spot where Raptor Red was standing a few seconds earlier.

Fssshhhh!  Foam and steam exit in two jets from the kronosaur's nostrils, just in front of the eyes.  The great sea-reptile pauses, then retreats awkwardly back to the water.

The male raptor is amazed.


From the Paperback edition.

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Excerpted from Raptor Red by Robert T. Bakker
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