Shear Terror

by Chantal Boudreau

Carla is invited on a late spring outing to the Islands to help shear sheep with her friends Mandy and Sheryl. She expects a day of excitement and exertion, chasing down the animals to bring them in for their clipping. She is not expecting, however, to be shocked by gruesome shark tales along the way, or by the terrifying circumstances that they encounter once they make land.

ebook

First published December 21, 2010

About the author

Chantal Boudreau is an accountant by day and an author/illustrator during evenings and weekends, who lives by the ocean in beautiful Nova Scotia, Canada with her husband and two children. In addition to being a CMA-MBA, she has a BA with a major in English from Dalhousie University. A member of the Horror Writers Association, she writes and illustrates predominantly horror, dark fantasy and fantasy and has had several of her short stories published in anthologies. Fervor, her debut novel, a dystopian science fantasy tale, was released in March of 2011, followed by its sequels, Elevation, Transcendence and Providence Other books published include her Masters & Renegades fantasy series (Magic University, Casualties of War,Prisoners of Fate)and The Snowy Barrens Trilogy, her YA tribal dark fantasy trilogy.

Reviews

[Werner]

Whether this short e-story is supernatural fiction or science fiction is unclear, because Boudreau doesn't explain the cause of the horrific phenomena she describes --its unexplained nature, of course, simply heightens the effect. If you regard "horror" as a genre, though, that label certainly applies! This is definitely a very dark tale with a fairly high gore factor, not for the squeamish; the difference in tone here, compared to some of Boudreau's other work, highlights this author's considerable versatility. Describing any more of the premise and plot than the Goodreads description does would probably veer into "spoiler" territory; but suffice it to say that it imparts an original twist to contemporary zombie fiction. The latter isn't my typical cup of fictional tea, and I'd say the same here, but the writing is nevertheless accomplished and very effective. It begins with a somewhat slow buildup, but that's intentional and necessary as a way of helping us get to know the characters and feel emotionally invested in the protagonist before the mayhem begins. My only criticism on this count is that I'd like to have the geographical setting nailed down more precisely (I'm guessing it's Boudreau's native eastern coast of Canada), but that's just me.

The writer is a Goodreads friend and fellow Trestle Press author (though this particular tale wasn't published by TP). She kindly provided my copy as a free gift.

[Chantal Boudreau]

Wanted this on my shelf, but I won't be rating it since I wrote it...