Book Review | Creature by Hunter Shea

Creature is a new horror novel from Hunter Shea.

The monsters live inside of Kate Woodson. Chronic pain and a host of autoimmune diseases have robbed her of a normal, happy life. Her husband Andrew’s surprise of their dream Maine lake cottage for the summer is the gift of a lifetime. It’s beautiful, remote, idyllic, a place to heal. But they are not alone. Something is in the woods, screeching in the darkness, banging on the house, leaving animals for dead. Just like her body, Kate’s cottage becomes her prison. She and Andrew must fight to survive the creature that lurks in the dead of night.

Creature was not at all what I was expecting. I assumed there would be non-stop action since people were getting pulled in from the start. I was wrong. What takes place right from the beginning is amazing character development. Creature is actually a very slow burn of a novel, but I absolutely loved it.

Creature is a personal novel for Hunter Shea, and it shows from beginning to end. The main character Kate suffers from numerous autoimmune diseases. Shea does not shy away from showing you what it is like to live with a battered and failing body nor what it is like to be the spouse and caretaker of a loved one going through medical hell.

In Creature, Kate's husband takes a leave of absense from work for the summer so he and Kate can spend the season on a secluded lake in Maine. Unfortunately, Kate and Andrew are not alone. There's a creature that lurks in the woods, and it's been watching Kate and Andrew.

Creature is an amazing read, and it may end up as my favorite book published in 2018.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Review copy provided by publisher

Quick Reviews | Loch Ness Revenge, The Great God Pan, Six Wakes

Here are some quick thoughts on a few books I've read recently.

Loch Ness Revenge by Hunter Shea

Deep in the murky waters of Loch Ness, the creature known as Nessie has returned. Twins Natalie and Austin McQueen watched in horror as their parents were devoured by the world’s most infamous lake monster. Two decades later, it’s their turn to hunt the legend. But what lurks in the Loch is not what they expected. Nessie is devouring everything in and around the Loch, and it’s not alone. Hell has come to the Scottish Highlands. In a fierce battle between man and monster, the world may never be the same.

Nessie. Poor Nessie! What did Hunter Shea do? Hunter Shea turned her into a monster.

Loch Ness Revenge was good fun, though! As children, Natalie and Austin watched their parents get sucked under by Nessie. Now they are setting out to kill her.

You've never seen Nessie like this before!

7/10: Recommended Read

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The Great God Pan by Arthur Machen

A terrifying tale about the god of wild places.

The Great God Pan is a novella written by Arthur Machen. On publication it was widely denounced by the press as degenerate and horrific because of its decadent style and sexual content, although it has since garnered a reputation as a classic of horror. Machen's story was only one of many at the time to focus on Pan as a useful symbol for the power of nature and paganism.

I wish I could say I loved The Great God Pan, but I didn't. I enjoy reading any classic horror for what it is so I wasn't necessarily disappointed. I just didn't enjoy it very much.

There were a couple of stand out moments that gave me the creeps, but I had trouble discerning what the plot was even supposed to be.

4/10: Not My Thing

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Six Wakes by Mur Lafferty

A space adventure set on a lone ship where the murdered crew are resurrected through cloning to discover who their killer was -- and the secret to their mission.

It was not common to awaken in a cloning vat streaked with drying blood.

At least, Marie Shea iv had never experienced it. She had no memory of how she died. That was also new; before, when she had awakened as a new clone, her first memory was of how she died, from illness once and from injury once...

Maria's vat was in the front of six vats, each one holding the clone of a crew member of the starship Pituitary, each clone waiting for its previous incarnation to die so it could awaken. Apparently Maria wasn't the only one to die recently.

I was expecting a science fiction thriller. I was not expecting to feel like I was in the middle of an Agatha Christie novel. Six Wakes was a very pleasant surprise. If an Agatha Christie style mystery set in space with clones and AI isn't fun, I don't know what is.

8/10: Great Read

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Have you read any of these books yet? I'm curious to hear if anyone else was surprised by Six Wakes.

Book Review | The Jersey Devil by Hunter Shea

I think this is the first time in the history of my blog I have given a book 1 out of 10 stars. I will cut right to the chase. Around 90% in, the following description for the jersey devil was used:

"Dammit!" he cursed, aiming for the other, the one that looked like a cross between a child with Down syndrome and a goat.

Hopefully the offensiveness of that description is self-explanatory.

I tried to keep reading. I made it to 94% but I don't remember a single word past "goat".

You do what you want. The book had merits before the error of judgment, but I won't go into them here. This is the first Hunter Shea book that I've read. I will read more (unless I find more shit like I found here). As for this book, it is not one that I would ever recommend.

1/10: Forced to rate it

Review copy provided by publisher