I was just unable to finish this. Got to page 62 and gave up. At least, for now.

I didn't really buy the action scenes that occurred (python attack, big cat attack/play) and when the main character (father went missing 4 years ago) went child-tantrum, throwing his chair back and screaming "they're dead! They're all dead!" because he just found out a highly skilled group will be doing a new search to find out what happened to dad... well... soap operas ain't my thing... and that was a soap opera response.

EDITED TO ADD:
I've been thinking about this and decided to do a more full review, even though I only read 62 pages. Thinks kept bubbling up and I'm hoping that by typing them out, I'll get them out of my head. This read was annoying. I so looked forward to it. The basic idea sounded fun and reminded me of Relic (on which book's page Goodreads recommended this book), a book I truly enjoyed. Obviously, not fun.

A few things that bothered the hell out of me, for a book that wasn't written for NaNoWriMo:
Manny and his Jaguar:
1-The fake hunt, where he's supposedly training the young cat to hunt, so it can be released into the wild and survive on its own. Uh-huh. Because it will help for it to be trained to hunt humans. And to hunt by not hurting the prey. And, when play-hunted by his "pet", he instinctively goes for his knife and whip... of course, he does. All to make it seem like he's in danger. (and I can only assume that he'll bring the cat along with a special forces team that would, in real life, end up tagging the thing with a few dozen bullets).
2-They're going to be seeking the Jaguar People who, in local myths, mate with jaguars and yadda yadda. No doubt Manny will be taken as either a "brother" or a mythical being, because of his close connection to a jaguar. That's not obvious.

Our Hero wonders why a Special Forces team would possibly be needed for an expedition into the Amazon when
A) his father's team disappeared and they're looking for them
B) there are possibilities of armed drug smugglers
C)he was just attacked for ridiculous reasons by a tribe he had been living with because (yes, reallY) he saved the chief's daughter.
Our Hero, in other words, is a clueless knob.

Stereotypical "white doctor in tribal lands doesn't understand magical power of tribal medicine". Even worse, said doctor is working at the local hospital, even though she's only there for a day, preparing for trek into jungle. Why is she working at the hospital? I didn't catch an explanation, but it gave a chance to introduce another character's knowledge of tribal medicine, her lack thereof, and the hero's facility with both cultures. But... she shouldn't have been there.

Yeah... that's a lot of annoying, in 62 pages.

I'm always amused at those who want popcorn fiction to be Dostoevsky and base their reviews on this. James Rollins is fun reading. His books are like a summer blockbuster. They're supposed to be. There's nothing wrong with that. If you don't like those types of books, that's fine, but don't read them and gripe about that it's not Dostoevsky or whatever.

But yes, while Rollins is known for the Sigma Force series, this book is an early stand-alone. It is like his other books: there are secret forces of nature, mysterious plant and animals species, heroic men and animals, and intelligent women who aren't bra burning feminists, and the romance that results in an unplanned pregnancy and willing marriage. If you hate these tropes, move on. If they don't bother you, and you enjoy a good action-adventure story, then read Amazonia and every other Rollins' book you can get. ( )

Verdict: DNFed at 59%.

1.5 stars.

Let's begin with the good stuff about this book: I liked the idea of it, the exotic setting, the entire mystery aspect and its medical/science grounds. Also, I really appreciated the fact that the science throughout the book was explained extremely thoroughly - the downside of that being, of course, that the book pretty much read like a textbook.

Characters flat; writing flat; plot flat and repetitive.

I particularly did not enjoy the cheap thrills that kept being flung my way: Oh my God, deadly alligator strikes again! Please.

People died left and right - I didn't even like them that much when they were alive, so was them being savagely murdered by crazy amazon fauna supposed to make me root for anyone? I did not care one whit about any single one of them.

Overall I would say, the premise proved to be greatly intriguing; the execution - not so much. The only thing that kept me reading for as long as I did, despite my numerous misgivings, was wanting to find out what the mystery all came down to at the end - but even that urge dwindled away at some point. While I do still vaguely wonder about the outcome, I know I'm not going to revisit this novel. The plain truth is, it's simply not worth the haul.
( )

This book makes you think a lot deeper than your average book. It hooks you from the preface and keeps you hooked throughout the entire book till the end. Nathan Rand is tasked with going into the Amazon jungle to find clues as to where his father's research team had disappeared to, and to find out what the team had found in their research. They are plagued with horrible, unthinkable events along the way as teammates fall to peril in the jungle. This is actually one of my favorite books. Sucked me in and never let go. I love books that I can't put down and you will definitely not want to put this one down. ( )

James has created a tantalizing tale of Amazonian jungle mystery, packed with plenty of fast paced action, love and a little gore. Maybe a tad more than a little-but never over the top. ( )