Hey--I'm really sorry for not being on here for so long. Tons of deadlines. To answer a few things, heh, yeah, I did always think of Onyx as being Dutch, which is a huge cheat of course and DH should shoot me for it.
I just thought of him as the most bad-ass Predator ever, and he wasn't named in the movies, so I took that as my guide.
I might do a Aliens novel.
I didn't have any more backstory on the creature ship--just thought it was a cool image.
Thanks re Pol Pot. I had so much fun writing the croc.
Re it being slow to get into--I'm a firm believer in setting the scene. And since the island is the whole setting, it does take a little time to ramp up and get everything in place. My hope is readers will have the patience since then everything that happens after you can really *see* where it's taking place in relation to every other part of the island.
Thanks for the comments. Glad you liked it.
Jeff