Stinger

by Robert McCammon

"In hot, dusty Inferno—a remote Texas town—an alien of death-dealing power, a creature of evil beyond anything the world has ever encountered, descends. He will trap the town and ravage the land with grisly executions and horrible mutations…until the people of Inferno rise up in a final, desperate battle. With hair-raising twists and turns, this svagely chilling novel takes readers on a never-ending roller coaster of terror.

'I'd give a hundred of the latest "big sensations" for one Robert R. McCammon.' — Dean R. Koontz…'King, Staub [sic], and now Robert McCammon.'—The Los Angeles Times
"--Dust jacket flap.

Genres: Horror, Fiction, Science Fiction, Thriller, Fantasy, Aliens, Audiobook

442 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 1988

About the author

Pseudonyms: Robert R. McCammon; Robert Rick McCammon

Robert McCammon was a full-time horror writer for many years. Among his many popular novels were the classics Boy's Life and Swan Song. After taking a hiatus for his family, he returned to writing with an interest in historical fiction.

His newest book, Leviathan, is the tenth and final book in the Matthew Corbett series. It was published in trade hardcover (Lividian Publications), ebook (Open Road), and audiobook (Audible) formats on December 3, 2024.

McCammon resides in Birmingham, Alabama.

Reviews

[Mort · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easy 5 Stars!

“Cody Lockett is a human being. You are human beings. What is the difference?”

And there lies the secret to life, right? The only race that truly matters is the human race. So why is it so difficult for us to let go of all the petty bullshit?

***
Inferno, Texas, is a dying town. Hell, it's already dead, since the school will be closing permanently after tomorrow's graduation, so what will be left? Will the Rattlers and the Renegades, the two gangs, finally declare a full scale war to see who will keep what little remains?
But an alien craft crashes. The government comes, but not fast enough to do anything about the second craft that lands and creates a shield around town.
One alien, trapped inside the grid, who calls itself Daufin, must try to hide from the second, Stinger, who will do anything and hurt anyone to find the first...
This story takes place in a 24 hour period and who knows how many will survive?
***

Okay, a part of me feels so much anger that I didn't know about Robert R. McCammon in the 80's. The quality of his work is so high that it seems like a grave injustice that he was not mentioned with King and Koontz during those years. This is the 5th novel I've read of him during that time period, and the 5th five star rating I've given him.

This guy is a legend - I can't fault him for anything so far. When you start this story, you might feel some inspiration from ROMEO AND JULIET - only the good part, though - and then you might think more along the lines of E.T., THE EXTRATERRESTRIAL. And then you will come to a part that will make you wonder if this book was, at least, partly the inspiration for UNDER THE DOME. Hell, you might even see a little of MEN IN BLACK in there...

Do yourself a huge favor and read this author!

[Melissa ♥ Dog/Wolf Lover ♥ Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

That was pretty damn good!!





Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾

[Char · Rating 4 out of 5]

STINGER by Robert Mccammon is simply 80's horror F-U-N! With the entire book taking place over the course of one night, it's a great example of the horror being written during that time.

This is the story of a duel alien invasion-one alien crashed on earth due to a ship malfunction, (Daufin) and the other a bounty-hunter come to track the first one down, (Stinger). All of this takes place in the town of Inferno, in west Texas.

With a variety of small town characters putting aside their differences to unite against Stinger, the universal theme of good vs. evil comes into play. The shape-shifting abilities, (for lack of a better word), of Stinger allow it to take over host bodies and bend them to its will, making this a more interesting tale than it otherwise would have been. I think it also must have been quite challenging for the narrator of this audiobook.

The narration here took me a while to get used to, most especially during scenes where there was a lot of action. At first, I wasn't sure if I would make it through the entire way, (Stinger is 500+ pages long), but I did become accustomed to it and began to enjoy it thoroughly.

This is my third time reading STINGER and I think it's possible I might read it again in the future. Sure it's infused with a lot of 80's pop culture and lingo, (all the good looking girls are smash-foxes), but that was a special time for me, and for the horror genre, so I have no problem with that.
Also, I think it's possible that STINGER has influenced a lot of authors, (it's difficult not to see a connection to King's UNDER THE DOME), whether they were conscious of it or not.

STINGER was a lot of fun to listen to and Nick Sullivan did a fairly good job of bringing it all home in a fun way. If you're looking for many hours of listening enjoyment and alien invasion action, STINGER is the book for you!

*Thank you to the narrator for the free Audible edition in exchange for my honest feedback. This is it.*

[Dave Edmunds · Rating 3 out of 5]

"How to explain to this man standing before them that in the space of twenty-four hours-an iota of a second on the scale of the universe-the fate of two civilizations had been fought for in the Texas dust?"

3.5 ⭐'s

Initial Thoughts

I love me some Robert R McCammon and he's up there for my favourite author of all time. He's written my favourite novel in Swan Song and my favourite series in the Matthew Corbett saga. I literally can't get enough of the guy. So I decided to do a chronological read through of all of his remaining books that I haven't read. Next up was his sci-fi horror blockbuster...Stinger!

What I've found so far with McCammon is that he's improved dramatically over his career in terms of writing quality...and I mean a lot. Despite that, I have not disliked a single McCammon book I've read. The guy knows how to spin a tail and even in those early stages the talent was there. Despite being a fairly early effort in his bibliography, published 1988, I still had high expectations going in.

The Story

The story unfolds over a twenty four hour period and kicks off in the isolated, rundown Texas town of Inferno, where the cost of living crisis has hit hard. A well paid job is hard to come by. In fact any job is hard to come by and the local youths turn to a life of crime with gang warfare being the order of the day. Everyone is doing it!

Things really get moving when two alien spacecrafts crash land close to town. One is an escaped prisoner that soon takes over the body of Stevie Hammond (a small, seven year old girl) while trying to escape the confines of planet earth. The other is a bad ass bounty hunter that makes the predator look like my little pony. And this guy will literally stop at nothing to get his hands on the prize and doesn't bat one of his many eyelids when killing whoever gets in his path.



The Writing

First off, Stinger is a beast of a book and clocks in at close to six hundred pages. Surprising when you consider the story takes place over twenty four hours. For me this was a flaw with the novel as a high tempo narrative would have really suited it. But McCammon jams in a lot of sub plots at the beginning centering around the gang land conflict that felt a bit forced and didn't hold my interest. As a result, it does drag a little.

But once things start to pick up at the midpoint the whole theme starts to take on a B-movie type of charm that I did like. I've always said that McCammon writes action set pieces as good as any author and Stinger is no different. There's some great kills and a heavy dose of violence with maximum carnage that will definitely satisfy the horror junkies amongst you.

"The metal nails were about to crush the girl’s head, about to rip the flesh off her skull. It would happen in a heartbeat, and the boy knew that on this long night of horror there was only one chance to save her life…"

The setting is also well rendered with a sweaty and claustrophobic atmosphere that you can taste as tensions rise and the high stakes game of cat and mouse plays out. When a force field surrounds the entire trapping everyone within, it really is a battle for survival and the inhabitants have a hard decision ahead. Hide it out, and wait for this killing machine to finish them off, or make a final stand with the fate of humanity in the balance.

But for me, there was something lacking and I felt that McCammon just wasn't writing with his usual passion. I'm normally blown away with McCammon's description and how he reflects on the intricacies of life, highlighting passages as I go along. But with this one I got to the finish with only three or four sentences singled out. And I was really scraping around the bottom of the barrell for those. It's worth noting that McCammon did breakaway from the horror genre shortly after this one and I'm guessing that his drive to write these style of stories was starting to diminish.

The Characters

What's strange with Stinger is that the story didn't really have a main character, with multiple POV's. McCammon utilised a large cast of exaggerated personalities to carry the narrative and as a result character development definitely suffered. They're also a bit stereotypical and a tad one dimensional, while the dialogue was pretty poor by McCammon's exceptionally high standards.

The villain in this one however, was absolutely brilliant and legitimately scary. It was very original but will have aspects that remind you of The Thing and Predator. The scenes involving this bad boy are pretty spectacular and in my humble opinion the story should have been cut down to focus on him...or it. Can't remember which pronoun "it" preferred.



Final Thoughts

I have pretty mixed feelings on Stinger and I don't want to be too negative when summing things up as there were parts that I really enjoyed. Some of the set pieces are fantastic and I can really see this translating well to the big screen. Funny thing as it is currently being adapted by James Waan for a Peacock television series. I for one can't wait to see that.

But after reading McCammon's latest book The King of Shadows/ and stellar entries like Swan Song and Boy's Life this is a million miles from the dizzy heights he hits in those wonders of literary brilliance. So if you're thinking of starting with McCammon I wouldn't start with this one. However, for sci-fi fans who like a splash of horror thrown in, and anyone who enjoys Robert R McCammon I'd definitely give it a whirl.

Thanks for reading. Cheers!

"In this life, you were alone and you’d better learn to like it."

[Louie the Mustache Matos · Rating 2 out of 5]

I consider myself a really big McCammon fan. I love Swan Song, They Thirst, and Wolf’s Hour. All three of those books are 5 to me. This one is not. The story revolves around a desert town that is dying. When a fugitive alien crash lands in the area, a distinct alien hunter, called Stinger, follows. The fugitive inhabits the body of a little girl in an attempt to find refuge on Earth, but Stinger is not worried about making his presence known on this planet that he believes can be conquered easily by his people, and everywhere he walks, he wreaks havoc. He will not be deterred. He will not be swayed. There are a ton of characters here, with back stories and lives that are distracting and unnecessary, probably too many. This book is no doubt too long. The novel echoes many Terminator-type, alien on the run from another alien stories. If I’m being honest, a little boring because of the overt (too much) exposition which seems like he was writing words to inflate an arbitrary wordcount. Still, not terrible, just OK.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The town of Inferno has been slowly dying since the copper mine went bust. The school is closing for good in two days. Most people are leaving town and the two gangs, The Rattlesnakes and the Renegades, are like vultures on Inferno's corpse. Everything gets turned upside down the day an alien ship crashes and the alien takes over the body of a little girl. It's a picnic, however, compared to the second alien that shows up...

Stinger is the story of a dying town turned upside down by two aliens. Just as he did in Swan Song, McCammon creates an ensemble cast that grips the imagination. Cody Lockett and Rick Jurado, leaders of the Renegades and the Rattlesnakes, were both three dimensional characters and neither were scene-chewing villains. The rest of the cast was also well done, the Hammond family in particular. Even Vance, the douche bag sheriff, and Curt Lockett, Cody's alcoholic father, ended up not being all bad.

The aliens were pretty interesting. Daufin was an artificial intelligence contained in a black sphere and Stinger, well, Stinger was complicated, parts man, scorpion, and other components.

The story was fast-paced, especially after Stinger showed up, and reminded me of the movies The Predator and Tremors at times. No one knows when Stinger will strike but he always comes from below ground. One thing I found funny was that Stinger's ship surrounded the town with an impenetrable dome seven miles in diameter, cutting off the power and supplies. McCammon gets a lot of flack for being a Stephen King wannabee but he beat old Steve to the punch by over twenty years with the dome concept.

The ending was believable and done well. Not everyone survived and you got the idea that Inferno would never be the same.

Stinger was a page-turner and shouldn't be missed by horror fans. It's gory and really intense at times.

[Chris Berko · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 actually. I have not read an unentertaining book by Robert McCammon. I've read the great: Swan Song and Boy's Life, and the good: Mine and The Five, but not yet the bad. Stinger is close to being great and I can't quite put in words what it's lacking. The 80s vibe was killer and it successfully straddled the line between horror and sci-fi, with a little bit of the whole teen/angst The Outsiders thread thrown in. Maximum fun-ness.

[Dirk Grobbelaar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Deep down, in the centre of the blackness, something might have shifted—a cautious, slow stirring; an ancient thing, contemplating the shine of light that touched it through the murk. Then it was still again, pondering and gathering strength.

McCammon takes some time to set up his story and his characters. This is one of the aspects I enjoy about Horror novels like these; it’s quite the immersive experience. On the other hand, I didn’t care much for the whole Renegades vs Rattlesnakes gang war thing; it felt forced and unnatural in the setting, and just a little bit cheesy. But then…

[Her] face had begun to bleach of colour, taking on a waxy, greyish cast. Her legs had started trembling, and she whispered it again: “Sting-er.”
And in that whisper was the sound of utter terror.

…enter Stinger in spectacular fashion. Things go downhill fast from here, in the best possible kind of way.

The shape came out of the smoke and lurched into the candlelight that streamed from the church’s windows.

Stinger isn’t a very subtle novel. The horror that it dishes up is rather gory and unabashedly in-your-face, with some rather interesting descriptive prose to nudge things along.
In broad strokes, the Stinger of the title is in fact an Alien critter that terrorises a small Texas town, much like the synopsis will lead you to expect. There is, however, a lot more than that lying just beneath the surface (no pun intended), and the plot was a little more layered than I had anticipated.

What had sounded like an army was only one creature, but the sight of such an ungodly thing speared terror through [him]. He felt as if his insides were shrivelling.

Stinger doesn’t break a lot of new ground (again, no pun intended), and you could conceivable draw comparisons with other 80s horror novels where the antagonist manifests itself in different forms, although the scientific spin McCammon introduces here does at least attempt to make some sense of what would otherwise have been a lot of metaphysical weirdness. This is where the novel differentiates itself from the pack.

The story does get pretty scary, but it’s also somewhat relentless with lots of close encounters and chase scenes that, even though it will leave you with palpitations, does slightly blunt the spook factor. I really enjoyed it though, and could have considered a five star rating, but, like I’ve already mentioned, the “gang” dynamic (rattlers vs ‘gades) wasn’t quite to my taste and I can’t help but feel that the novel would have been a better one without it.

Recommended for fans of 80s Horror and SF Horror.

He stood up, in no hurry, and walked toward her with the knife upraised and the merry shine of madness in his eyes.

[Paul O’Neill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Holy Stinger, this was unbelievably good! I'm in shock.

McCammon is cementing himself as one of my favourites.

What can I say about this book?
- It's one of the creepiest books ever Where's the guardian?
- The atmosphere is vividly described and stays with you throughout
- The characters are all great and you learn to care for them as a collective
- I like what it says about humanity
- Two alien races who aren't just dumb monsters laying waste to the land, they have purposes
- The writing is concise. It's the only time where I've seen 'mind hopping' done effectively
- It all takes place within 24 hours and is non stop
- Did I mention it's creepy as all hell??

A must read for all horror fans and those who like a good alien story. I will be reading this one again. Dare I say, this has creeped its way into my top 5 of all time...

[Paul O’Neill · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favourite books ever and a study in how a horror book should be made. Great characters, awesome setting, terror at every corner and excellent writing.

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, what a wild ride. This might be alien horror at its very best. Daufin vs Stinger. Who will win at the end? Where do both aliens come from and what about Info and its gang wars? As usually the author does a tremendous job describing the characters to the full and giving a straightforward story. This monster is truly evil. The way it is imitating those persons it takes over is absolutely stunning. And it is even more to this. The fate of earth is at stake here. The showdown is a bit long but worth every single page. Another masterpiece by McCammon. Highly recommended!

[Char · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm pretty sure I read this as a teenager, but if I did, I sure don't remember it, so this book was entirely new to me. And what a great book it was!
I'm a HUGE fan of Robert McCammon and have slowly been reading and re-reading all of his books. By doing so I've been treated to to the birth and growth of an incredible author, and a damn fine good time.
Stinger has everything a horror fan could want, great characters, a great setting, humor, wit, and downright creepiness. Oh, and nasty monsters, warring gangs, and I could go on, but I think you get the picture. All this in a late 80s story that still rings true today.
I LOVED this story, and if the above sounds good to you, I'll bet that you will love it too! Highly recommended!

[Adam Light · Rating 5 out of 5]

McCammon masterfully spins 80's horror/sc-fi tale for the ages. This one ranks right up there with the author's spectacular epic Swan Song as one of his best, most enduring works. I'm completely satisfied with this book. Read it!

[Karl · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is copy 285 of 1000 signed numbered copies signed by Robert McCammon.

[Thomas Stroemquist · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was an extremely painful read that I have no idea why I put myself through. To be fair, it started out as a fun, time-honoured sci-fi horror with no need for a reader to question anything too much (well, after the first 50 or so oddly slow pages).

Unfortunately, McCammons editor was either drunk or asleep or both and let pass 300 pages of mind-numbingly boring, repetitive and extremely predictable ‘story’ that I wouldn’t wish on any reader.

At the half-way mark I was thinking that either I was in for an amazing twist or a slow descent into increasingly improbable happenings and expanding plot holes as each and every cardboard character had everything that I knew would be happening to them, happen to them. My rating, ever decreasing, reveals my ultimate experience.

Now, this is when I mention Boy’s Life - that one is one of my favourite books ever and I will never love it less and I will certainly re-read it, but apart from it, this is where me an Mr McCammon part ways. I’m perfectly happy with him being a one hit wonder and, like I said, I’ll continue loving that hit. Submitting myself to any more along these lines I will, however, not do again.

[Vaelin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another fantastic book by McCammon.

This one was giving strong King vibes, especially with the first portion of the story dedicated to the various characters, their interactions and the setting of the town Inferno and its neighbour Bordertown.

[Obsidian · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have to say that it appears besides "Boy's Life" I'm not destined to like any of Robert McCammon's books. "Stinger" dragged forever. I almost DNFed it, but I just decided to finish it so I could count it as a bingo read. I ended up not caring about any character we are introduced to, I wasn't scared, and I just went than goodness when I got to the end.

The dying town of Inferno, Texas is on its last legs. In a few months when the local high school closed there won't be anything left of the town. When a spacecraft crashes, the remaining members of the town are left to fight off an alien calling itself Stinger. Stinger is after another alien that calls itself Daufin.

Ultimately I think if the book had been edited a bit more, or we stuck with very few POVs that it could have worked better for me. I also didn't really like Daufin that much. Taking over the little girl named as Stevie and using her as a "guardian" isn't something that I thought a good alien would do.

The writing didn't move me at all. And McCammon has been able to make me cry due to his writing. I just felt bored. The flow was pretty bad too. I think jumping between 10-15 characters is what did it. Some chapters were long, some were only a few pages.

The ending unfortunately fell flat for me.

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

A character driven story set over a 24hr period which echoes the best of Stephen King while blending horror and science fiction.

*full review to come*

[Steven · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stinger kept me thoroughly entertained from start to finish. One of the aspects I really enjoyed was the trapped science fiction concept, which created a claustrophobic, high-stakes atmosphere that reminded me of Stephen King’s Under the Dome—a book I also loved. The tension of an isolated town dealing with an overwhelming external force is a thrilling setup, and McCammon delivers on that front in spades.

The cat-and-mouse game between the protagonist, Stinger, and the antagonists—Daufin and the townsfolk—was genuinely engaging. The dynamic between these characters created a compelling narrative that kept me hooked as the story unfolded. The tension between them felt real and palpable, driving the story forward in a way that was both exciting and suspenseful.

Another standout feature of Stinger is the inventive and crazy cybernetic flesh/machine alien creations. These unique elements added a fun, otherworldly aspect to the book, making the science fiction elements both imaginative and thrilling. I especially enjoyed how McCammon wove these creatures into the narrative, as they became integral to the action and heightened the stakes in a very enjoyable way.

The action and dialogue in Stinger had a nostalgic, 1980s feel to it, which was both fun and comforting for me. The characters' interactions, the pacing, and even some of the larger-than-life action sequences had that classic 80s vibe, which felt like a great time capsule of the era. It added a level of charm to the story that reminded me of some of my favorite action and adventure stories from that time.

Stinger is defnitely a gripping and entertaining read that combines science fiction, suspense, and action with McCammon’s engaging writing style.

[Debra Sneddon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Five ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This book!!! It kept me enthralled throughout!! I read somewhere that some thought there were too many characters to keep up with but as I think about it, I think No, each one was necessary to tell the story. I absolutely love how McCammon writes opposing sides in this book. We have two “clubs(gangs actually)” the Renegades and the Rattlesnakes. They fight each other tooth and nail each time they’re in each other’s presence. Then we have Daufin( the guardian) who opposed by Stinger, an assassin sent to capture Daufin who has escaped from an impossible interstellar penal colony. Daufin inhabits the body of a six year old girl, Stevie. This story stretches over a 24 hour period in Inferno Texas. There is gore, there is death, mutilation, there is bravery and the indomitable human spirit.
Triggers:
Animal cruelty
Racism
Extreme violence

It’s a heavy story but there is humor that McCammon slides in there so well, kind of like giving the reader a stress reducing few moments then returning one to the horrors at hand. I highly recommend this one. It was a fast and fun read for me. Hope you give it a go!

[Bill · Rating 2 out of 5]

For the most part, Stinger was a fun read. I love a good mixture of horror and sci-fi, and this tale of an extraterrestrial on the run was an okay one.
I liked the concept of Daufin, and her pursuer, and I liked the relationship between Rick and Cody. Apart from that, though, I don't much else to say about it.
I think the story could easily have survived with 200 less pages. By the time I was 400 pages in, it seemed action was just a little too drawn on, and I was getting to the point of, okay, can we please just wrap this up already?
One thing did bother me because I am a stickler for accuracy: It seemed every time these gang members were in a battle-lust, it was after they had smoked marijuana. I don't know how much, if any, experience McCammon has with this, but I can't ever remember seeing a stoner engage in violent activity.

Now don't mistake me for defending the use of dope...while I admit it was a part of my youth, I think its true menace is causing lethargy, ambivalence, and loss of drive and ambition.
Hardly violence.
McCammon might have been better to choose alcohol has the gangs' battle fuel for credibility's sake.

[York · Rating 3 out of 5]

Parts of the novel were 5 stars... some parts were 3 stars or less...love several other books by him, but this one didn't pull me into the story....

[Cookie · Rating 5 out of 5]

McCammon delivers for me a second time. Gruesome and riveting but with a lot of heart. My sample size is small yet as this is only my second McCammon, but I might prefer him to King.

A small Texas town is rocked by the crash landing of an object of unknown origin. While something a little strange is going on with a local veterinarians young daughter who interacted with the busted up remnants first, the foreign object is not anything that the nearest air force base and personal can't contain and research...that is until a follow up arrival on a much larger scale brings a less than friendly visitor with a mission - one who traps a whole town for one terrifying night.

At 550 pages, I really expected to be reading this for awhile. Fortunately, it moves at such a great pace that I didn't even notice the pages flying by until I reached the end.

McCammon creates not only a story that sucks you in, but an atmosphere that is palpable. A hot, dying Texas town, isolated, and withering since the local mine shut down and took away all the jobs, not only feels uncomfortable and weathered, but also desperate...and thus the book opens. It's inhabitants are beaten, on edge and divided - when the unspeakable comes and threatens their very lives and the lives of everyone on the planet really, they are given one good reason to fight, for each other.

And in case I am making this sound like puppies and bedtime stories, know that I'm glossing over the fact that this messed-up mucous monster from deep space likes to snatch people, eat them, and use it's advanced alien technology to recreate symbiotic extensions of itself in the skins of its victims to go out and destroy more people with a mouth of needle teeth and metal saw type hands.

There is plenty of death and gory violence and characters of all walks and colors - everyone is a little rough around the edges, but the hope in humanity is what really makes this book shine. I loved it.

[Kimberly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Re-read remains a solid 5 stars!

[Jocelyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stinger is a fantastic book of it’s time! Total product of the 80’s, right down to the dialog!

Some of the beginning plot dragged for me (with the gangs) and there were a ton of characters to juggle, otherwise I loved this 80’s horror!

[Dreadlocksmile · Rating 4 out of 5]

First published back in 1988, Robert McCammon’s sci-fi horror novel ‘Stinger’ followed on from the successful novels ‘They thirst!’ and ‘Swan Song’. Already with quite a well respected name for himself within the horror world, McCammon’s ‘Stinger’ was a widely anticipated release for this author.

Set in the not too distant future within a dusty Texas town named Inferno, the books starts off setting the scene in this scorching hot dying town. Work is hard to come by and life is hard for the residence of Inferno. Rival gangs rule the streets, fighting amongst themselves on almost a daily basis.

The plot soon gets underway when two spacecrafts land close to the town. One of these is inhabited by an escaped alien named Daufin, who takes over the body of a little seven year old girl named Stevie Hammond. Daufin is hiding after being hunted down by the alien bounty hunter known as Stinger. The town’s people are dragged into a war for their survival as the Stinger kills everyone in its path to reach Daufin.

With a vast array of b-movie-esque characters fulfilling every possible cliché going, ‘Stinger’ is a non-stop sci-fi horror thrill. McCammon uses a thick slab of exaggerated personalities for each one of the characters, in order to bring a life to each character. This further enables the reader to identify with certain selected characters as well as building up a love for each one.

With a number of inner sub plots raging through the storyline, McCammon draws them all together to allow them to fight side by side against their common enemy. This delivers the usual b-movie message of overcoming each others rivalries in order to face the common evil.

The pace of the storyline takes a few chapters to get going, but once it’s underway the novel maintains a constant fast pace throughout. With the interwoven subplots surrounding the main storyline, McCammon manages to keep a highly entertaining novel going, with action packaged chapters leaving the reader with regular cliff hangers.

The novel ends with a dramatic and well managed conclusion. The storyline is suitably built towards the eventual climax, wrapping up the story well and leaving the reader somewhat satisfied.

The warfare between the two gangs ‘The Renegades’ led by a youth named Cody and the gang ‘The Rattlesnakes’ led by Cody’s nemesis Rick Jurado, is throughally entertaining in a sort of post-apocalyptic gang warfare way (Class Of Nuke ‘em High, Mad Max, Doomsday, etc).

For a lowbrow entertaining sci-fi horror with an action packed storyline then you can’t go far wrong with McCammon’s ‘Stinger’. This is 576 pages of pure gritty horror with comic book characterisation and nail biting suspense.

[Phil · Rating 5 out of 5]

McCammon serves up a treat in this late 80s horror/scifi fest of a novel. McCammon's prose flows smoothly and his turns of phases are always fun, despite serving us some absurd characters from time to time (like Elvis in Gone South). The declining small town of Inferno, Texas, has quite the day when an alien ship crash lands and is soon followed by another one in hot pursuit. It is hard to give a plot summation without spoilers, but basically, the 'good' alien is running from the 'evil' alien and the town folk help as best they can.

The entire novel takes place in one day with a host of supporting characters to round out the aliens. The people of the town incorporate your typical stereotypes: drunken/abusive father and his son, ex-cheerleader now waitress, cowardly sheriff and his incompetent deputies, etc. Along with this we have two rival teenage gangs comprised of Mexicans and white trash respectively. McCammon has a way of fleshing out his characters and moving them beyond the stereotypes (at least a little). After a slow start, McCammon takes us on a wild ride here!

If you are a McCammon fan, this is a must read. I put it up there with Swan Song or The Wolf's Hour among his better works.

[Ben Kennedy · Rating 3 out of 5]

By far my least favorite McCammon book. Even great authors can have stinkers. Not saying this was a stinker, but it sits at the bottom of my McCammon ranking for now. I still need to read the rest of his books.

What I did like about this book, the monster! The monster was excellent, the story itself involving the monster was like a mix between Tremors, Predator, The Thing and Under the Dome. I really enjoyed all of those scenes with it. The action of course was stellar, McCammon knows how to write action, and I’m a sucker for enemies uniting to fight a bigger threat.

I do have a lot of problems with this book, for one some of the characters are very cartoonish, like a cross between The Warriors and Class of 1984, and there wasn’t a single character that stood out for me. Second, the book takes a long time for any action, sure there’s some suspense here and there, but it took up to 200 pages for the monster action to occur. Third the book seemed longer than it should’ve been, it could’ve been easily trimmed.

While it is very flawed, it’s not a bad book at all. There’s plenty of action and gore. It’s just not as good as some of his other books from the 80s such as Swan Song or Usher’s Passing.

[Alondra Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Stars

What a blast, that was!

It was like a B-Movie on acid. Much better than Invasion of the Killer Tomatoes.

It had all the elements: Fat, loser sheriff; goody-two shoes family, crotchety old rich lady; town drunkard, racial tension, bullied-by-everyone-town-nerd, and gangs. Oh, and did I mention the gloriously, disgusting monster who also happens to be a "bounty hunter!??" It doesn't get any better than this.

I really had no expectations of greatness, but this was a great horror story, and would be great on the small screen with a bunch of friends on a Friday night. I ain't young no more, so Fridays will have to do. ;)

[Gary K Bibliophile · Rating 4 out of 5]

”What haunted him, day after day, was the realization that he could recall maybe fifteen kids who’d escaped the Great Fried Empty. That was what they called the desert between Inferno and the Mexican border, but Tom knew it was a state of mind too.

Inferno – what a great name for a town (and named after a donkey 😀 ). Seems like they should set up a intermural soccer league and play against Blake Crouch's 'Abandon' (read this year) or Stephen King's 'Desperation' (read in '22). I know – they are a bit too far apart for such things, but maybe they could use Todash... but I digress.

If they did want to do that Inferno is running short on time. The town is dying, the school is shutting down, the primary source of employment long dried up, and the kids remaining seem to be in a constant state of gang strife. The two primary gangs being the white kids on the 'Gades (short for Renegades) led by Cody Lockett vs the Mexican gang – the Rattlesnakes – led by Rick Jurado. These two really hate each other and want to take each other down before the town collapses.

Then something shows up in town that overshadows all this silliness. Is it a bird? Is it a plane? I'm not telling. 😀 You'll just have to read and see. There's romance too – Rick's kid sister shows up in the middle of all this and Cody thinks she's a “smash fox”. Huh? Was that some term from the 80's I forgot? I googled it – No. McCammon did reference it 10 times in the story (I did a Kindle search so this isn't an exaggeration) – I kind of felt like he was trying to make 'Smash Fox' happen (like “Fetch” in Mean Girls). I don't think it stuck.

There was lots of silly dialogue in the early parts of the book – like …
“Come on, li'l rooster! Come on, just start some trouble”
or
“A meteor!” - oh wait... that makes me think of Jordy Verrill aka Stephen King – nevermind 😀 that's totally ok – all hail the KING!!!

In any case the first 50% of the book was kind of cheesy I thought. The situations were cliché and the dialogue was quite bad. Not characteristic of the high quality I would expect from McCammon. I think some of that was the setting (a small backwards town – hey! I grew up in one of those – I have first-hand experience 😀 ). A lot of the main characters were also teens – so they aren't necessarily expected to be Rhodes scholars.. but they were actually the smartest and most resourceful characters in the book.

I must admit.. the bit with “The Mumbler” in the first part was quite funny – LOL for me anyway.

I kept thinking “Wait... is this going to be my first 3 ⭐️ McCammon?” I couldn't believe that this was written shortly after Swan Song. Then... about 60% in – everything changed. Things started getting a lot more interesting. The pace picked up and really cool and horrific things started happening. BooYah! That's what I'm talking about!!! Oh sorry, the cheesy dialogue must have rubbed off on me. 😀 It really was a turning point in the quality of the book.

In any case the second half of the book salvaged it for me. I thought it was really well done from that point on. Overall I rated it 4 ⭐️s. This book was a substitution for me. I had already planned out my month of horror stories and had wanted a McCammon classic in there. I had actually chosen “The Wolf's Hour” … until they announced the release of Teacup on Netflix. I thought “very cool – a miniseries based on a McCammon book – I need to read this before I watch it.” Generally when I do this I read a bit and then look up on IMDB who they cast to play the characters. Umm... I know I'm not the smartest person in the room (possibly even when I'm the only person in the room...) but I don't recognize any of these characters... weird. No Rick, no Cody, no Sarge, no Stevie, no Daufin... Then I research a bit and learn Teacup is loosely based on Stinger. Ok- that's fine. I watched the first episode and it was actually pretty good. The only connection I found so far is that the wife was a vet. I liked it though. if there isn't a character with a Doberman head sticking out of his chest later I'm going to be pissed – haha

I have to admit every time McCammon mentioned the “Great Fried Empty” it was hard to vanquish an imaginary Tom Petty cover of “Into the Great Wide Open” with altered lyrics out of my head - even though that came out two years later.

Overall this was a fun book. I liked the way it all tied up. It seems like an opportunity for a sequel... the “House of Fists” seems interesting and could easily be expanded on If you are new to McCammon I wouldn't recommend starting here.. but worth checking out for sure.