LOCH NESS REVENGE, by Hunter Shea, is an adrenaline-fueled "creature feature" that infuses the legend of the Loch Ness Monster with Shea's own brilliant imagination, to come up with an all-together "new" horror novel. Added to the mix is a generous amount of dark humor, gore aplenty, and characters that you just can't get enough of!
"Is it technically a nightmare when the thing that wakes you up in the dead of night is a memory?"
When they were young kids, twins Natalie and Austin McQueen were vacationing at the famed Loch Ness when they witnessed a creature brutally capture and kill their parents. After growing up with an Aunt in the states--and the aid of an overly large insurance pay-out from the deaths of their parents--Nat and Austin were financially free to plot out their revenge against what they felt had to be "several" of theses elusive creatures. Years of preparation and obsession drove Nat to set up a reclusive life on the Loch, watching and waiting for signs of the lake monsters' return. When she is sure the time has come, she summons her brother, Austin, to begin the final step in their quest for vengeance.
"Call it women's intuition . . . And the fact that all living things on land and sea are being swallowed into the ether."
Austin brings in a friend, Henrik, to help them--in exchange for their help in eradicating another species of creature that similarly destroyed his own family.
I can not stress enough how much enjoyment I got from the characters Shea creates here! Each one of them is a fully fleshed out, "real" person, with their own emotions, quirks, and humor. The obsessive Nat has a penchant for personifying the major equipment in her relatively soldiery lifestyle: Vindicta, her Loch boat, Eileen, the RV she calls home, and even Clarabelle--her first major "test object" in ascertaining whether or not the creatures had returned to the Loch for food. Nat's matter-of-fact humor was quite enjoyable all throughout the novel.
". . . I catch my eyelids drooping. In fact, there's a whole period of missing time. I assume I wasn't abducted by aliens and just nodded off."
The trio, irregardless of the humor they project, are extremely intelligent when it comes down to logical deductions involving their mission:
". . . To survive this long in relative secrecy requires either an incredible amount of dumb luck or some kind of ability to learn and plan and coordinate."
The atmosphere here was painted with perfection--from the rainy days, fog-shrouded Loch, and the crowds of "Nessie tourists" occasionally getting in the way:
"I figure his close encounter has literally shattered his brain. Any ability to think clearly is now encased in a fog of numb stupidity."
The Loch--and creatures therein--are described in such detail that the image I got was firmly planted within my mind. This is just another testament to Shea's skills as a writer. He is able to take on a legend that most have pre-conceived notions of, and firmly shape it into his own creation. In Nat's words:
". . . We were wrong. Oh, so very wrong."
As fast as this book moved, I was actually saddened when I came to the end--not wanting to be finished with the three characters that I had become attached to. However, Henrik's comments near the conclusion gave me something to hope for.
"Indonesia. Orang Pendeks . . ."
Is it too much to beg for another adventure with these characters?
"Duck! . . . We all do, which is why we still have something big and round at the end of our necks . . . "
Highly recommended!
*I chose to read an ARC of this novel. All opinions are uniquely my own.*