Tragic: A Cryptid Horror Thriller

by Edward J. McFadden III

Borderland Pass is a desolate ravine in the Ozark Mountains that only the strongest dare to call home. It’s an ancient place of battle, struggle, and survival where the past and present collide, and the spirits of the fallen roam in search of vengeance.The legend of the Ozark Howler is as old as the mountains themselves, the bloody tales of terror, mutilation, and murder a foundation block in the region’s folklore. Skeptics dismiss the Howler as nothing more than tall tales and the work of overactive imaginations, but those who have seen the monster tell a different tale.Carter Renfrow is hiding from his past and living the life of a wanted man when a multi-car pileup interrupts his plans, and two worlds collide in an epic clash with life and death hanging in the balance.From the author of The Cryptid Club and Crimson Falls comes a new adventure-horror novel. Fast-paced and exciting, TRAGIC is a roller coaster ride through disaster and heartbreak, where the hits just keep on coming, and no one is safe.

Genres: Horror

177 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 12, 2023

About the author

Ed cut his teeth reading John Christopher, Tolkien, Poe, Brooks and Zelazny, and graduated to Joe Haldeman, Allen Steele, Arthur C. Clark and Jack Vance. For the last twenty years he’s done a deep dive on apocalyptic fiction, and he really enjoyed learning at the feet of Elmore Leonard, Philip K. Dick, Lawrence Block, Ray Bradbury, Carl Hiaasen, Stephen King, Joe Lansdale, and F. Paul Wilson. His recent publications include Hell Creek, Too Much Grit, The Cryptid Club, Keepers of the Flame, Quick Sands, Sandbagged, Dogs Get Ten Lives, Barracuda Swarm, Dinosaur Red, Drop Off, and Jurassic Ark. His sea thrillers, The Breach and Shadow of the Abyss were Amazon #1 Best Sellers and the audio version of The Breach was a #1 Hot New Release. His other novels include Throwback, Sea Tremors, Primeval Valley, AWAKE, The Black Death of Babylon, and HOAXERS. He lives on Long Island with his wife Dawn, and their daughter Samantha.

Reviews

[Peter Topside · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars. This was great. Probably one of my favorite yeti, Bigfoot…large, predatory man-gorilla creature type books to date. So many authors take this cryptid subgenre on, and especially with this premise, they’re all painfully similar. The military is in the woods battling the beasts, campers trying to survive an attack, or a visitor in a small mountain town is witness to a Bigfoot apocalypse. I’ve read tons of them, including one about a homosexual Bigfoot that cooks his human mate breakfast in his amazing cave kitchen before they make sweet, ‘50s style nookie in his makeshift bed. So sweet! But aside from outliers like that, a strong majority of these books are all about the same. So Edward McFadden chose a really unique setting, being the site of a massive pile up of cars during a blizzard. A group of people are trying to get help and survive, when Ozark Howlers descend on them. Tons of creature gore and action, with great lore. But the most impressive parts of the book was the depth we got on each character, most notably Carter. He is very complex and harnessed a huge myriad of conflict and emotional turmoil, always keeping himself entertaining and interesting. The entire subplot with Jed also was a welcomed addition, taking some of the focus off the creatures, adding a great layer to further differentiate this from other similar books. But, again, I was very impressed here and suggest that all fans of horror and, more specifically, cryptid-based horror take a look at this one. And that cover is friggin’ gorgeous!

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just by looking at the cover of this book we readers can see it is no shy, awkward creature who hides from us. This is a creature who DOES NOT like humans. The reader should expect the unexpected - right down to the last page! I think the image of this beast on the cover is the scariest one I have ever seen. It deserves that title scariest. If you dare, read this story. Beware though. You won't be disappointed.

[Dale Robertson · Rating 4 out of 5]

An action/survival/horror combo that works well. The cryptid in question is the Ozark Howler and some good lore gets sprinkled throughout the story. Good character development for Carter, the main character, which is shown through snippets of how he came to end up in the situation he had. Side characters are good too but doesn't go too in-depth (which is fine for the style of story).

Good descriptive scenes which allow the reader to picture the tale as it progresses. Relatively short chapters (10 mins approx), which I personally find a bonus.

Overall, if you are looking for a good cryptid tale I would definitely recommend.

[Frank karasienski · Rating 2 out of 5]

very slow

The story is so disappointing to the point of distraction. Repeated paragraphs and descriptions. The characters are so undeveloped as to not let you like anyone.

[Gen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too slow

Interesting premise & location but story moves too slow and wordy. I kept skipping ahead just to stay interested. Disappointing fare from one of my fav authors.

[Leon Scheppink · Rating 4 out of 5]

Possibly a minor spoiler (but seriously, look at the cover) but this book touches the subject of the Ozark Howler and that alone gives it that extra half star. Many books on cryptids cover the same two main subjects: Bigfoot or a lake monster. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against either, but I like the fact that this author used a lesser known cryptid in this story. Perhaps that had something to do with the fact that the info on the subject - apart from general descriptions - is rather limited. All in all, it was an enjoyable read with credible characters and dialogue. The only things that didn't work as well as they could for me (apart from the aformentioned lack of info on the Howler) was the pacing (some parts just dragged on a bit more than necessary) and the ending. You can have happy endings, sad endings.... this one was rather abrupt for me. I can understand an open ending to a certain agree, but this just left too many unanswered questions.
So, all in all, an enjoyable read: 3,5 stars, with an extra 0,5 bonus for cryptid inventiveness.

[Rose Haskins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome

This was an exciting story. So much action and thrilling moments. It kept me on the edge of my seat.

[Eric]

Full Review: https://monsterbookclub.com/2023/08/1...

[Zoraida Rodriguez · Rating 4 out of 5]

action packed!!

Action packed from beginning to end., you won’t be disappointed.
I read and thoroughly enjoyed the book.
I liked the author

[Paul Pope · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well the cover art certainly got my attention.
This book features a regional cryptid known as the Ozark howler. The author describes the beast being 15 ft tall, remarkably fast, intelligent, razor sharp claws; an apex forest-dwelling predator. And yet this human manages to evade the threat numerous times throughout the story: In the woods, at night, during a winter snowstorm. How is it possible to evade such a super predator?
The author creates suspense and flawlessly draws it out over several pages to this readers joy.

Cannot recommend. While it is a suspenseful book with lots of horror, gore, and cliffhangers, the writing/editing is lacking. Meaning that you read the same descriptors over and over and over again. It all becomes annoyingly repetitious.
A multi vehicle collision is how the characters are introduced to one another. But after so many cars in the accident, it just stops. No other encounters with traffic, which rather lacks believability. (I know, I know, one must surrender a certain amount of truism when writing about cryptids.) And victims of the pile up are snatched by (mostly) unseen beasts. I wish we had more clarity there.

The Jed character still mystifies me. We don’t get enough background or perspective to fully explain his presence and actions. And as the bad-guy, his origin story would have been helpful.

So, if you need a disposable paperback to take while travelling or vacationing, it fits the bill. No big loss if it gets forgotten somewhere. But if you’re a cryptid purist and a fan of creative writing, you may become disenfranchised by the repetitive adjectives and similes.

[Holly Raver · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great book with so much action and a human hunt in the Ozark Mountains..Starts with a very large pile up on a highway and lots of cold and snowy weather and a very large Howler and a crazy hunter out for the fun of hunting a man,a woman and a little girl….The ending leads you to want more and to find out how it turned out for all who were being the hunted…I sure hope there is another book to this one..
When I do my reviews I don’t always tell who the characters are and just enough to entice the readers taste buds to read a book that you end up not being able to put the book down and have to find out what happens to all the characters even the Howler.. Yes it’s like a Bigfoot but not!

[Jeff D. · Rating 1 out of 5]

Bad....just bad. Not scary..not really horror. Felt like I was clubbed to death with the constant and repetitive description of the "Ozark howler". Did you know they had yellow eyes? If you forget don't worry it's mentioned what feels like thousands of times. Sometimes twice in same sentence. Just plain old crap story and ending was just blah. And don't get me started on the over use of hk or v9 to describe the gun the main character had.

[Andy Herzfeld · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an interesting Cryptid/Serial killer adventure. As if surviving a huge pileup on the interstate in a winter snowstorm mixed with a violent, hungry cryptid is not enough throw in a creepy human predator. This is action packed and has a creepy vibe with an unpredictable monster on the loose or monsters possibly. The human monster is by far the most sinister of the hazards that Carter encounters. This would be a nighmare scenario for sure.

[wayne peters · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review of this book.

An incredible story. Scared me in places. He story was fast paced and full of drama. I forgot about eating, as I wanted to find out how it ended. I have heard the legends about Ozark howlers and bigfoot. This story brought one of the legends to life. Very well written.

[Norm S · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 Stars

The book was pretty good, their was excitement throughout. But the ending wasn't complete, left you hanging on what happened to the characters. Also I didn't think Aniyah deserved her fate.

[Lou Canning · Rating 5 out of 5]

An Exciting read

The first book of Edward J McFadden III I’ve read, I shall read more.
Lots of exciting action going on in this book as it takes you on a journey introducing you to a world of the Ozark Howlers and some very unfortunate people who meet them!

[Ione DeOllos · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was not as good as some of his other books, but it was still a heart stopper. It starts out slow but it isn't long before the horror and intensity begins building. I felt the ending came prematurely. I wanted the rest of the story.

[Clint · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh

Ok story but just plain unbelievable characters, reactions and situations. Many better like stories out there. Not sure I’d read anymore from this author.

[Ziggy Nixon · Rating 2 out of 5]

It is an apex killing machine not of this time… this world. It’s magnificent.

2 1/3 stars. Although I didn't necessarily find Edward J. McFadden III's "Tragic: A Cryptid Horror Thriller" a (very) poorly written book per se, it was an extremely tedious read, with so much repetition that it became almost comical in nature. The same words kept appearing throughout the book, often even in the same paragraph (get. a. THESAURUS!). Also, I kept finding myself noting all the repeated verbage such as "oh look, another use of 'tinkle' (15)" or 'whistling' (13) or even 'turd' (6, meaning 6 times too many). All this as the tale lurched and stumbled to what was ultimately a very unsatisfying ending. And though I've seen my share of bizarre plots that set up a meeting with a variety of cryptids lately - all part of a reading challenge, even though I fear I read all the "good" ones well in the past! - this one takes the cake. Yes, kids, let's kill dozens of people in a white-out on the highway so we can set up the man vs. man vs. Ozark Howler hunting scenes!

The cat-like beast crouched atop a car, its black coat slick with moisture, its yellow eyes aglow.

But hey, if rolling your shoulders or cracking your neck is something you do pretty much all the time, this might be the book for you! Or you could also be someone who feels things crawling on their spine constantly, we won't judge! Again, yes I'm being cynical but I didn't quite get why the writing varied from prose that wasn't all that bad under the circumstances to the bits that had me arguing about just closing this one and moving on. Still, I was determined to check the Ozark Howler off my BINGO card, even if I can't believe an alpha predator like this would be all that poor at tracking and fighting off a couple of exhausted, cold, and, quite frankly, stupid humans. It gets to the point where even the argument of liking this for its B-movie-esque appeal couldn't be made, which is kind of the entire attraction for reading many of these stories. Not here.

The thing howled, an odd bellow that sounded like a cross between a wolf, an elk call, and the cackle of a hyena.

OK, not gonna spend a lot of time here. List item checked, book finished, let's move on! Maybe I'll have better luck with stories about squonks…