Review: Acrocanthosarus: The Bones of Contention

Author: Russell Ferrell

So many kids dream of dinosaurs. Stories of these giant beasts and the magnificence of the time when they dominated the earth fill more fantasies than any age of man. Even this reviewer would pick up rocks, and still does, and examine them for traces of a past of which only dreams can be made. Oh so few people actually do stumble upon remnants of creatures that may have lain the seeds of our greatest legends of prehistory.
Cephis Hall, a self-described country boy, and his partner Sid Love discover an intact femur bone of a rare and massive prehistoric predator on property owned by a major corporation. The author intricately describes the attempts of these two locally known fossil hunters to circumvent the involvement of the corporation that owned the land containing the fossil, but as the importance of the find became known it most assuredly drew the attention of the landowner as well the eyes of those in academia who are naturally skeptical of new finds which question the status quo. This is when the true story begins.
Russell Ferrell has crafted an exquisitely detailed account of the journey of this collection of old bones. It is much to his credit that he doesn’t shy away from the ploys of Cephis to gain some sort of permission at the lowest level possible to carry out his dig. The resulting legal and academic circus caused by Cephis’ shortcuts and short-sightedness is quite accurately and somewhat excitedly portrayed by the author.
Whether or not the reader agrees with the contentions of the author on the ability of fossil and mineral hunters to use public and some private lands for their own purposes, this book does make for an interesting read. It provides ammunition for both sides of the discussion.
This is this author’s first published work and shows a dedication to his craft and a great feeling and passion for his subject. This book is available through booksellers everywhere. Reviewer: John Helman, M.A., Allbooks Reviews. Int. www.allbooksreviewint.com.

Title: Acrocanthosarus: The Bones of Contention
Author: Russell Ferrell
Publisher: Malloy
ISBN: 978-0-615-43814-6
Pages: 448
www.thebonesofcontention.com