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Dead Crow
Under dirty black skies, the town of Dead Crow is deluged by days of rain, flooding the streets and cutting it off from the outside world.
Chief Andy Curran already has his hands full, getting residents to safety and battling a greedy mayor. But now people are going missing in the endless rain.
Curran soon discovers that there are things living in the overspilling river that threatens to drown Dead Crow. Their eerie clicking sounds drift across the frightened town as they emerge from its toxic waters.
The rain isn’t stopping. The clicking is getting louder. And the screams are only just beginning.
Chief Andy Curran already has his hands full, getting residents to safety and battling a greedy mayor. But now people are going missing in the endless rain.
Curran soon discovers that there are things living in the overspilling river that threatens to drown Dead Crow. Their eerie clicking sounds drift across the frightened town as they emerge from its toxic waters.
The rain isn’t stopping. The clicking is getting louder. And the screams are only just beginning.
Audible Audio
First published November 8, 2018
46 people are currently reading
267 people want to read
About the author
David Haynes
27 books213 followersWhen 12 year-old David Haynes picked up a battered copy of Stephen King’s Salem’s Lot, he never looked back.
Writing in the grand tradition of the horror paperback originals of his misspent youth, Haynes populates his spine-chilling novels with ancient evils and small-town terrors, mutant monstrosities and knife-wielding psychopaths, and is dedicated to disproving the depressing observation that “...they don’t write ‘em like they used to.”
David Haynes is the author of sixteen horror novels and three collections of macabre short fiction, and lives in England with his wife and dog - that he wasn’t allowed to call Cujo.
Writing in the grand tradition of the horror paperback originals of his misspent youth, Haynes populates his spine-chilling novels with ancient evils and small-town terrors, mutant monstrosities and knife-wielding psychopaths, and is dedicated to disproving the depressing observation that “...they don’t write ‘em like they used to.”
David Haynes is the author of sixteen horror novels and three collections of macabre short fiction, and lives in England with his wife and dog - that he wasn’t allowed to call Cujo.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 49 reviews
October 19, 2024
Decent, but not great. Unfortunately, Dead Crow was not nearly as horrifying or suspense filled as I had anticipated. That being said, it was still fun and held my interest.
Narrator Jeff Harding carried the storyline well as the solo performer. My only complaint is his female vocalizations were a tad below par.
Narrator Jeff Harding carried the storyline well as the solo performer. My only complaint is his female vocalizations were a tad below par.
September 3, 2024
This book was a gory good time with mutant creatures that take over the town and that seems to really like the rain!
Small backstory:
Rain galore has come to the town of Dead Crow and as the days pass there seems to be no let up. That is not the only thing that has come to Dead Crow as there seems to be something in the water.
Chief Andy Curran tries to make the best of it with the town being flooded with rain, but when people start disappearing he is beside himself to find out what happened to them. The Chief along with some town residents find out that strange creatures have appeared and they are very hungry.
Thoughts:
The book takes off in the first chapter as right away something happens and it continues like that through the rest of the book. A very fun creature feature and it kept me up late into the night a few times as I had a hard time putting the book down. Five"Blood Fest" stars!
Small backstory:
Rain galore has come to the town of Dead Crow and as the days pass there seems to be no let up. That is not the only thing that has come to Dead Crow as there seems to be something in the water.
Chief Andy Curran tries to make the best of it with the town being flooded with rain, but when people start disappearing he is beside himself to find out what happened to them. The Chief along with some town residents find out that strange creatures have appeared and they are very hungry.
Thoughts:
The book takes off in the first chapter as right away something happens and it continues like that through the rest of the book. A very fun creature feature and it kept me up late into the night a few times as I had a hard time putting the book down. Five"Blood Fest" stars!
September 3, 2019
Still not safe to go in to the water...
3.5 🌟
This was a fun creature feature book. The story was fast paced and entertaining. The creatures are original. They are mean, fast and hungry. I had a good time reading this with my friends. I would read more by David Haynes.
3.5 🌟
This was a fun creature feature book. The story was fast paced and entertaining. The creatures are original. They are mean, fast and hungry. I had a good time reading this with my friends. I would read more by David Haynes.
April 22, 2019
This needs to be a film!
This would be a creature feature to rival Tremors. That’s the highest praise for me. It’s probably apparent but creature features are one of my favourite things, in film, book or TV. I really need to read more David Haynes, as I’ve enjoyed both books that I’ve read of his so far.
Can’t praise this book highly enough. It got me out of a real reading slump. So much fun!
This would be a creature feature to rival Tremors. That’s the highest praise for me. It’s probably apparent but creature features are one of my favourite things, in film, book or TV. I really need to read more David Haynes, as I’ve enjoyed both books that I’ve read of his so far.
Can’t praise this book highly enough. It got me out of a real reading slump. So much fun!
November 12, 2018
What a fantastic name for a down-at-heel little town. This story is fast-moving and so well described I can visualise it – I’d love to see it made into a film. There are dodgy goings-on by the mayor of the town and the underfunded police department are trying to look after the townsfolk against what turn out to be tremendous odds. There are creatures invading the town with the rising floodwater. Clear your diary - I read this in 24 hours. This is horror with a sharp sci-fi edge to it and I enjoyed it immensely.
November 17, 2018
A damn fine read, especially in British autumn time with the Atlantic storms battering the windows.
The story is set in a sleepy back of beyond town in mid-America. The rains start and show no sign of stopping. The river is rising, the levee looks set to break and there's nowhere for the water to go. The manufacturing plant further upstream is churning out who knows what and is polluting the river.
With the town cut off due to flooding there's something lurking in the water and they are hungry.
I love this author's writing. The story starts off benign, then the tension gets ramped up. It was the perfect time of year to read this book.
The story is set in a sleepy back of beyond town in mid-America. The rains start and show no sign of stopping. The river is rising, the levee looks set to break and there's nowhere for the water to go. The manufacturing plant further upstream is churning out who knows what and is polluting the river.
With the town cut off due to flooding there's something lurking in the water and they are hungry.
I love this author's writing. The story starts off benign, then the tension gets ramped up. It was the perfect time of year to read this book.
March 26, 2020
Another exciting read
David Haynes delivers another exciting story; he is wonderful at creating strong visuals in the readers mind . I have never been to a small town in the US, but it is described so well, I could picture it in detail. The characters too! Especially the slimy Mayor, Ross. How he never got punched out by police chief Curran was a testiment to his good character. One thing though , author to author...please use your find and replace the word 'hissing'. It was jarring how many times you used it. My old mentor reminded me it was a sibilant sound. Snakes hiss, cats hiss. Humans can hiss ' sizzling sisters' but not ' run away'.
David Haynes delivers another exciting story; he is wonderful at creating strong visuals in the readers mind . I have never been to a small town in the US, but it is described so well, I could picture it in detail. The characters too! Especially the slimy Mayor, Ross. How he never got punched out by police chief Curran was a testiment to his good character. One thing though , author to author...please use your find and replace the word 'hissing'. It was jarring how many times you used it. My old mentor reminded me it was a sibilant sound. Snakes hiss, cats hiss. Humans can hiss ' sizzling sisters' but not ' run away'.
June 29, 2024
Not my cup of tea really. No memorable characters or scenes. Rather bland fast food.
One time only read.
One time only read.
February 2, 2019
A real page turner!
What a good eco horror this was. Man made toxic waste coming alive, quite literally. Corrupt politicians becoming rich at the expense of a depressed and demoralised electorate. However, an unlikely hero is on hand to save the day - for now! I look forward for the inevitable sequel.
What a good eco horror this was. Man made toxic waste coming alive, quite literally. Corrupt politicians becoming rich at the expense of a depressed and demoralised electorate. However, an unlikely hero is on hand to save the day - for now! I look forward for the inevitable sequel.
July 29, 2020
Another solid performance from David Haynes.
He has a troupe that works well for him...and me. Be it a small town or a frigid wilderness, Haynes is a master at creating a "we're all alone out here" type atmosphere that is just perfect for this genre. Another element he enjoys is adding nasty creatures to the mix to antagonize and terrorize the actors. These creatures were just ok, more scary in their relentlessness rather than concept, actions or appearance.
Though Haynes gets straight into the action here, and the story runs mostly at a good pace, I did feel that this one was a bit repetitive overall. The same thing happens over and over again.
Though this is not my favorite work of this author (Survive and Black Pine Creek taking that spot) it's enjoyable and extremely readable.
Keep up the great work.
He has a troupe that works well for him...and me. Be it a small town or a frigid wilderness, Haynes is a master at creating a "we're all alone out here" type atmosphere that is just perfect for this genre. Another element he enjoys is adding nasty creatures to the mix to antagonize and terrorize the actors. These creatures were just ok, more scary in their relentlessness rather than concept, actions or appearance.
Though Haynes gets straight into the action here, and the story runs mostly at a good pace, I did feel that this one was a bit repetitive overall. The same thing happens over and over again.
Though this is not my favorite work of this author (Survive and Black Pine Creek taking that spot) it's enjoyable and extremely readable.
Keep up the great work.
August 11, 2020
Classic tale of an intrepid small town sheriff battling toxic waste monsters. A little gory, but still loved it.
August 12, 2021
3.5 Funny gory story about creatures hidden in water waiting for the right moment to shine.
I was a bit distracted by all the similar names; Curran, Karen, Cal, Chloe ...
I was a bit distracted by all the similar names; Curran, Karen, Cal, Chloe ...
July 17, 2024
Mr Haynes can always write a good, classic creature feature.
October 13, 2020
I really liked this book. It felt like the novelization of a SciFi Channel movie.
The monster in this book resembled the infamous Montauk Monster and its origin story was good old-fashioned 1950’s paranoia.
The characters were all well written - the good and the bad.
By no means a literary masterpiece, but a great read.
The monster in this book resembled the infamous Montauk Monster and its origin story was good old-fashioned 1950’s paranoia.
The characters were all well written - the good and the bad.
By no means a literary masterpiece, but a great read.
February 7, 2022
A hard one to rate in my opinion. 3/5 feels a bit too low but 4/5 a bit too high. It was a pretty good creature feature with a somewhat unique setting as it takes place in a town that's quickly flooding. Kind of a weird mix of Tremors and Jaws. It was quite a bit of fun albeit very predictable and very run-of-the-mill for what you'd expect from a creature horror.
The most blatant issue I had was with the fact that the creatures were vaguely described enough, but with what felt like consistent discrepancies. Sometimes the clacking sound they make is like the gunfire out of an automatic weapon, sometimes it's as subtle as fingers tapping a desk. Their heads are like concrete and sheet metal, but can be blown apart by a single shot from a shotgun. Sometimes what you think is the standard sized ones are described as dog-sized, then the babies are described as big as pit bulls. This didn't at all ruin the experience for me, but it kinda just felt like the writer bended their description around to whatever fit the scene at the time.
The most blatant issue I had was with the fact that the creatures were vaguely described enough, but with what felt like consistent discrepancies. Sometimes the clacking sound they make is like the gunfire out of an automatic weapon, sometimes it's as subtle as fingers tapping a desk. Their heads are like concrete and sheet metal, but can be blown apart by a single shot from a shotgun. Sometimes what you think is the standard sized ones are described as dog-sized, then the babies are described as big as pit bulls. This didn't at all ruin the experience for me, but it kinda just felt like the writer bended their description around to whatever fit the scene at the time.
December 29, 2019
Good book
I didn't think I'd enjoy this book but I did. A good easy read. Nothing heavy. Well worth a try.
I didn't think I'd enjoy this book but I did. A good easy read. Nothing heavy. Well worth a try.
June 15, 2020
Great monster/mutation horror with a good background of characters and the small town feeling.
June 15, 2020
Right from the first page, brilliant creatures and very well described, and start to finish. A nonstop roller-coaster of dread and horror and your in for a treat. Would highly recommend.
June 16, 2020
A nice creature feature style story. Fun and not serious.
July 15, 2020
Quick, fun read. Would be three stars from me normally, but I did enjoy reading a horror story without the verbosity of King for a change.
August 23, 2024
GOOD, FAST PACED STORY.
Under dirty black skies, the town of Dead Crow is deluged by days of rain, flooding the streets and cutting it off from the outside world.
Chief Andy Curran already has his hands full, getting residents to safety and battling a greedy mayor. But now people are going missing in the endless rain.
Curran soon discovers that there are things living in the overspilling river that threatens to drown Dead Crow. Their eerie clicking sounds drift across the frightened town as they emerge from its toxic waters.
I don't usually listen to this genre, but the book was part of the plus catalogue and I decided to give it a try. It is a very fast paced story, talk about showing rather than telling. From the very first moment we are placed in a vividly drawn small American village and the biblical rain that threatens to flood the place out of existence. But there is something more deadly lurking in the toxic waters and Haynes draws you along with small reveal after reveal, He is very good at creating scenes and they stick in the mind, I am surprised this has not been picked up as a possible movie. Jeff Harding's performance is superb and not one word is wasted. I really enjoyed this.
Under dirty black skies, the town of Dead Crow is deluged by days of rain, flooding the streets and cutting it off from the outside world.
Chief Andy Curran already has his hands full, getting residents to safety and battling a greedy mayor. But now people are going missing in the endless rain.
Curran soon discovers that there are things living in the overspilling river that threatens to drown Dead Crow. Their eerie clicking sounds drift across the frightened town as they emerge from its toxic waters.
I don't usually listen to this genre, but the book was part of the plus catalogue and I decided to give it a try. It is a very fast paced story, talk about showing rather than telling. From the very first moment we are placed in a vividly drawn small American village and the biblical rain that threatens to flood the place out of existence. But there is something more deadly lurking in the toxic waters and Haynes draws you along with small reveal after reveal, He is very good at creating scenes and they stick in the mind, I am surprised this has not been picked up as a possible movie. Jeff Harding's performance is superb and not one word is wasted. I really enjoyed this.
April 25, 2024
This isn't the greatest book of all time, but it was so much fun! The few hours it takes to read from start to finish is well worth what's inside. The little town of Dead Crow reminds me of my hometown. Too few people, almost no available jobs, the ones who never leave and the ones who run as soon as they can... except as far as I know my town isn't dumping chemicals into the river and growing monstrosities... but would I know?!?!!? Another similarity is that in 2022 my town suffered through a massive flash flood. One day it started raining and it just didn't stop. I woke up to my yard going from green and lush to a raging river. Thank goodness my experience was lacking the clicking clacking critters big enough to eat me. I just found crayfish, salamander, dead fish, and trash. I think it went much better for me.
So, I think if you ever enjoyed a fabulous creature feature in the B horror genre, this book is for you! Rain comes, monsters come who only love water, the levy breaks meaning the entire town is water, so the monsters are now everywhere! Read and enjoy!
So, I think if you ever enjoyed a fabulous creature feature in the B horror genre, this book is for you! Rain comes, monsters come who only love water, the levy breaks meaning the entire town is water, so the monsters are now everywhere! Read and enjoy!
December 7, 2024
See my review for Claw & Claw II: Resurgence. I'm not kidding, it is exactly the same book as Claw. The characters are different, the town is different, the monsters are different - but they're the same. This is not actually a review of THIS book, but rather Claw as it came out AFTER Dead Crow, by a year or 2. Now, the question is: Did Katie Berry wholesale rip off Dead Crow, or are all small town creature features the same? It's a genuine question because I feel like there's a particular format to these books and they ALL kind of have the exact same plot, it's just that Claw checks a little too many boxes. Which could be a coincidence, like I said, idk
All of that to say: i loved it, obviously. I love trite, predictable creature features. I felt that the stakes were a bit higher and I thought the antagonist character had a very interesting personality (in a bad way - guy was fucked up. love that in a bad guy).
9/10
All of that to say: i loved it, obviously. I love trite, predictable creature features. I felt that the stakes were a bit higher and I thought the antagonist character had a very interesting personality (in a bad way - guy was fucked up. love that in a bad guy).
9/10
May 3, 2024
People getting eaten by monsters is a cure for a rainy day.
Dead Crow is a dead-end town where nothing interesting happens and everyone knows everyone else's business. But, this weekend it won't stop raining, which only worsens as the local river floods and something new crawls out.
I really enjoyed this book and David Haynes is becoming a great author to rely on for a nice monster story. Though not as strong as his The Skittering with the Killings the character work here was much better and I felt more invested in the people of Dead Crow. Also, had some strong Clickers vibes to this so if you like this I would advise to head to that series next.
Recommended for any Monster Story fans.
Dead Crow is a dead-end town where nothing interesting happens and everyone knows everyone else's business. But, this weekend it won't stop raining, which only worsens as the local river floods and something new crawls out.
I really enjoyed this book and David Haynes is becoming a great author to rely on for a nice monster story. Though not as strong as his The Skittering with the Killings the character work here was much better and I felt more invested in the people of Dead Crow. Also, had some strong Clickers vibes to this so if you like this I would advise to head to that series next.
Recommended for any Monster Story fans.
December 2, 2024
The town of Dead Crow has had days of endless rain, and floods are beginning to surge. Little do the townspeople know, there’s something in the water…
This book got going from the first few pages and just wouldn’t let up. It hooked me immediately.
There were pretty gory scenes throughout the book and I loved the detailed descriptions of the creature. The characters were very well-written too. I hated some for the things they did and grew emotionally attached to others.
I found this on Kindle Unlimited randomly and thought I’d give it a try. I’m happy I did, cause I think this is a gem of a creature feature.
This book got going from the first few pages and just wouldn’t let up. It hooked me immediately.
There were pretty gory scenes throughout the book and I loved the detailed descriptions of the creature. The characters were very well-written too. I hated some for the things they did and grew emotionally attached to others.
I found this on Kindle Unlimited randomly and thought I’d give it a try. I’m happy I did, cause I think this is a gem of a creature feature.
October 28, 2022
I really enjoyed Dead Crow; I loved the characters, the setting and the rain.
I find it hard to picture creatures in a book, and this was no different. I had a hard time picturing them and fearing them but everything else was tip top.
The ending was great too. All very atmospheric, the politics with the Mayor and his evil ways was great. A fun read, with depth, engaging and a pleasure to read.
I find it hard to picture creatures in a book, and this was no different. I had a hard time picturing them and fearing them but everything else was tip top.
The ending was great too. All very atmospheric, the politics with the Mayor and his evil ways was great. A fun read, with depth, engaging and a pleasure to read.
September 12, 2024
A small town is under siege by a horde of mutated creatures during a flood. It’s up to the Chief of Police and his deputy to face the threat and save as many of the town’s folk as they can.
This was an action/horror movie in book form. The suspense was high and the gore plentiful. Anyone looking for a deep, emotional read will not find it here. But if you’re looking for a good time with lots of edge-of-your-seat moments, this one comes through.
This was an action/horror movie in book form. The suspense was high and the gore plentiful. Anyone looking for a deep, emotional read will not find it here. But if you’re looking for a good time with lots of edge-of-your-seat moments, this one comes through.
September 14, 2024
The creatures from the black lagoon invade small town America. What a flesh munching ride! David Haynes delivers another exciting story; he is wonderful at creating strong visuals in the readers mind . I have been to many small towns in the US very similar to this one and I could picture it in detail. The characters too! Especially the slimy Mayor, Ross. How he never got punched out by police chief Curran was a testiment to his good character. Movie material!
September 28, 2021
Monster Horror!
Good old fashioned creature feature horror, I loved the book and all the characters. The description of the town and it's people were all brought to life in the well written details. The monsters were very creepy and scary. I'm looking forward to reading another of the author's books..
Good old fashioned creature feature horror, I loved the book and all the characters. The description of the town and it's people were all brought to life in the well written details. The monsters were very creepy and scary. I'm looking forward to reading another of the author's books..
November 29, 2022
David Haynes just doesn't write bad or even average books. This is an action-packed novel without a single dull or slow moment. As a result, the characters are not particularly well developed with detailed back stories, but they are still likeable enough to make the reader feel completely invested in their safety and survival. And attempting to survive is what this book is all about.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 49 reviews