Spider-Man: Valley of the Lizard
By
John Vornholt

All the marvel Spider-novels can't be winners. And this one is easily the weakest link in the chain. This novel took me 2 months to finish reading. It was one of those novels that you keep on your nightstand, meaning to finish but never get around to it. The story never engrosses you, but you have such a vested interest in it that you feel cheated if you don't finish the story.
The story involved Kurt Conners, aka the Lizard, loosing control of his evil persona and taking a trip to Mexico to find the "valley of the lizard." He hopes there he can find a cure. Meanwhile some flying reptiles by the name of the "chupacabras" are terrifying New York residents by stealing precious artwork. These flying reptiles are all led by a mysterious woman named Miranda.
The book then has Spidey flying down to Mexico to rescue Curt Conners and saving the world from being overrun with more reptile villians that are really hard to spell! Ok problems I had with the novel.
Boring is the word which best sums up this novel. Half the book is taken up with Peter Parker reading Curt Conners' diary. I always have problems when an author spends that much time in the past tense. Seondly, Spider-Man was out of his element. Fighting lizards in the Mexico amazon is not Spidey's motiff. Send in Ka-Zar if you like that type of thing. Spidey is a urban hero located in New York City. Nuff Said. Thirdly the writer cheated. At one pointSpidey is badly injured and near death and the main villian gives Spidey some "magic formula" that makes him all better so he can fight the Lizard. Very cheap out for the author in my opinon. But then again we are talking about a guy that can walk walls , so one must allow some leeway.
I'm giving this book one and a half out of four. Unless your really starving for a novel to read, avoid this one.