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Collateral Damage: A Kaiju Thriller
Destructive Battles Rage Between Hellish Kaiju and Giant Mech Protectors A desperate father must rescue his son when a deadly kaiju rampages across his city. When opportunists lurk and buildings crumble around him, the battle might be the least of his worries. Each minute means more destruction, and the clock is ticking. The first in a new kaiju series where the ordinary collides with the oversized, Collateral Damage is based on a short story of the same title originally published in Broadswords & Blasters Magazine. Experience the first taste of this series with a punch to the gut. Mind the shadows -- you could be crushed.
184 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 8, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
June 30, 2022
Furman takes an interesting approach. With kaiju battling it out in the streets of the (unspecified) metropolis, one man must battle flying chunks of concrete and more than one dictatorial group to reunite with his infant son. The contrast between the high and low is strong, even jarring, in the first part of the novel. The battling giant robots are little more than background noise (literally). It's in the last third that the book's parts really tighten into a powerful fist: the robots start threatening the protagonist dad directly even as he finally finds his lost son and has an immediate, ongoing need to keep him safe. The book brings in the high even while never letting go of its focus on the low and it's that very personal story of a father establishing his place as his son's protector that leads to a very satisfying ending.
August 2, 2026
This story belongs in the ‘good not great’ category. Greatness is tough, but I have to hold out for it before I give 5 stars to something.
Several things work well in this story, so if you enjoy the ‘monster invading a city’, you’ll probably like this one. Although, be warned that most of the scenes with the monster battling the mechs happen in the background. That is not the story. So if you’re wanting big epic battles on that front, this doesn’t have them.
For me, that was fine because I don’t care about that stuff. I just want a good story with characters and themes or emotions that resonate. This story is about a young father going to look for his son in the wreckage of the city – while the battle is still raging.
That’s a nice concept, because it offers a more personalized experience of one of these big battles. In other words, it’s more like Cloverfield, and less like Godzilla. And Cloverfield was way better than Godzilla.
Pacing is great. He faces one challenge after another as he tries to find his son across the city. It moves quick.
But this is where some of the problems arise. It almost moves so quick that you don’t ever get to stop and feel anything. He never learns anything. He makes strange decisions at times. And the biggest issue here is that the stakes never change.
At the beginning, he needs to find his son. After 200 pages… he needs to find his son. That’s it. That’s the story. That’s why it starts to feel episodic – and predictable – the farther it goes. I also got kind of annoyed with how he keeps saying he has to find his son and nothing else matters and he has to live so he can save his son.
Because all the while, his son might already be dead. It’s like in movies when people say “everything’s going to be alright, I promise!” when they can’t promise that at all. His repeated insistence that he’s going to save his son feels kind of like this.
And it kind of all happens exactly like you’d think it might, so the predictability was a bit disappointing.
But I really enjoyed the present tense approach. We need more of this. Present tense was the perfect choice for this story, and the sense of immediacy it brings. I considered writing one of my books in present tense too.
And the story structure is well-executed. It has a clear overarching goal, and then a series of smaller goals that all need their own resolution, but always keeping the bigger goal in mind. That’s a terrific way to structure a story, and Collateral Damage does that part very well.
And though the overarching story ends up too predictable for me, the smaller challenges he runs into are not predictable at all, and he really has to figure out a lot of ways to get out of a variety of tough situations. So that keeps the story interesting, and worth a read if this is your genre.
Several things work well in this story, so if you enjoy the ‘monster invading a city’, you’ll probably like this one. Although, be warned that most of the scenes with the monster battling the mechs happen in the background. That is not the story. So if you’re wanting big epic battles on that front, this doesn’t have them.
For me, that was fine because I don’t care about that stuff. I just want a good story with characters and themes or emotions that resonate. This story is about a young father going to look for his son in the wreckage of the city – while the battle is still raging.
That’s a nice concept, because it offers a more personalized experience of one of these big battles. In other words, it’s more like Cloverfield, and less like Godzilla. And Cloverfield was way better than Godzilla.
Pacing is great. He faces one challenge after another as he tries to find his son across the city. It moves quick.
But this is where some of the problems arise. It almost moves so quick that you don’t ever get to stop and feel anything. He never learns anything. He makes strange decisions at times. And the biggest issue here is that the stakes never change.
At the beginning, he needs to find his son. After 200 pages… he needs to find his son. That’s it. That’s the story. That’s why it starts to feel episodic – and predictable – the farther it goes. I also got kind of annoyed with how he keeps saying he has to find his son and nothing else matters and he has to live so he can save his son.
Because all the while, his son might already be dead. It’s like in movies when people say “everything’s going to be alright, I promise!” when they can’t promise that at all. His repeated insistence that he’s going to save his son feels kind of like this.
And it kind of all happens exactly like you’d think it might, so the predictability was a bit disappointing.
But I really enjoyed the present tense approach. We need more of this. Present tense was the perfect choice for this story, and the sense of immediacy it brings. I considered writing one of my books in present tense too.
And the story structure is well-executed. It has a clear overarching goal, and then a series of smaller goals that all need their own resolution, but always keeping the bigger goal in mind. That’s a terrific way to structure a story, and Collateral Damage does that part very well.
And though the overarching story ends up too predictable for me, the smaller challenges he runs into are not predictable at all, and he really has to figure out a lot of ways to get out of a variety of tough situations. So that keeps the story interesting, and worth a read if this is your genre.
February 15, 2021
Kaijus, giant robots, and special shelters to defend civilians that don’t seem to have quite enough room, that’s just a taste of what you’ll get from this book. The hell you will travel through with DeShawn will keep you turning pages as the first half of the story is dialogue-driven. Watch what people say and less what they do. Sometimes that gives more information. Then get ready to slow it down and stress it out with DeShawn as he fights across the city and shows the danger doesn’t exist in monsters alone. I thought this was a great novel because it created a father figure who cared for their kid and tried his best to gain partial custody. While the story is filled with badass action, it carries another message with it. Though sometimes heavy-handed, the theme of what it means to be a good parent carries the story along. If you’re looking for a good Sci-Fi Kaiju thriller with a touch of the sentimental, then this is the book for you. I rate this story as a 4/5. I enjoyed this book, and I hope you do too!
July 13, 2021
Not Even Close
This is NOT a Kaiju thriller. This book is about social unrest and policies. There is a fight between mechs and a monster that pretty much destroys everything around it. The fight takes place as a dad tries to find his son amidst a city in total chaos. A kaiju thriller is normally about a kaiju. And the current was over the top and thus distracting. Had a lot if potential. Just fell flat.
This is NOT a Kaiju thriller. This book is about social unrest and policies. There is a fight between mechs and a monster that pretty much destroys everything around it. The fight takes place as a dad tries to find his son amidst a city in total chaos. A kaiju thriller is normally about a kaiju. And the current was over the top and thus distracting. Had a lot if potential. Just fell flat.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews