Payback's a Bitch

I love killer cryptid books, especially when they're well done, but sadly, a lot of what's out there doesn't fall into that category, so when you find an author who can do it well, you stick with them. Heath Stallcup is one of those authors who do killer cryptids well, especially Bigfoot.

My first encounter with Stallcup's not-so-gentle giants occurred earlier this year, when I read Genoskwa: A Story of Vengeance. It was one of those books that I couldn't put down and one I didn't want to end, but it's a fact of life: all good things must come to an end. And end it did, but I learned I needn't despair yet, as there were three more books to the series. Now all I had to do was pace myself and not read them all at once.

Genoskwa: The Revenge is book 2 of the series, and it picks up shortly after the events of Book 1, so before you ask, yes, you need to read these in order. Based on the synopses of Books 3 and 4, these sound like they were originally written as one HUGE novel that was broken up into four installments. Now I've always said horror fiction wouldn't exist without stupid people making stupid decisions, especially when they've been warned what the consequences of their actions will be. And such is the case here. After losing a 12-person Special Ops team, as well as a full SWAT unit, to a bunch of wild apes deep within the Catskill mountains, the FBI wants revenge, and they plan on sending in another team of operatives to wipe out the threat--even though they've been told by a survivor of the first mission that they don't stand a chance. And like all bosses who think they know what's best, they ignore the warning and send in 5 dozen highly skilled and highly trained operatives. And you can guess what happens. Shortly after their arrival, they're calling for back-up.

The author didn't waste any time getting into the action in the first book, and the same could be said about the second. Likewise, not all of his characters are fleshed out because most don't live long enough for us to learn their backstory, but there are the standout characters, just like the first book, the ones you learn just enough about who they are to care about what happens to them, and even though you're reading for the cryptid mayhem, you want to see these characters survive. The other thing I like about Stallcup's writing (at least for these books--don't know if his other books are similar) is the pacing. He doesn't let up, and you're almost exhausted by the time you finish one of these books. It's like you're experiencing the thrills and scares at the same time the characters are, and you find yourself sitting at the edge of your seat, heart racing. And as much as you say you want to pace yourself, you find yourself jumping right into the next one because the author ends these on cliffhangers, and you need to know what happens next.

For fans of killer cryptids, this one is definitely a must.