In the beautiful British Virgin Islands, something is attacking and killing swimmers in the crystal clear 82-degree waters. Jack Brendan, an American scientist and a specialist in invertebrates, is called by the British Government to investigate. He discovers a malevolent presence, a monster that is amphibious, that will attack and devour its victims in the sea or on land, and suck out the organs of its victims. But is it a Pentopod, an arachnid, or a mutant combination of both? Infested Waters is a story of high adventure and underwater exploration in a tropical Caribbean paradise threatened by beasts created by the damaging impacts of ocean pollution.
John Sammon is a freelance writer and newspaper reporter, novelist and historical fiction writer, non-fiction book writer, political pundit and column writer, comedy and humor writer, screenplay writer, film narrator and a member of the Screen Actors Guild. Mr. Sammon has had experiences including sitting in a hut with two other guys at the Bridge of No Return (Loneliest Outpost in the World) on the border of North Korea surrounded by hostile North Korean soldiers, appearing in a biker sci fi movie (Deathsport) with David Carradine, and having beers (Pacifico Beer) with Clint Eastwood. He lives with his wife near Pebble Beach.
This was a fun book. As I recently stated with Hunter Shea's Fury of the Orcas, I love when authors try out new concepts for horror on the high seas. The creatures here were a nice combination of reality mixed with fiction, with a splash of science in there, too. Although, I'm still a little unclear as to how they developed, I think the idea here was from pollutants and such modifying the organisms, leading to this hybrid monster. Brenda and Brendan (That got a little confusing in the beginning) had a very interesting dynamic, with most of their relationship revolving around the woman being subservient to the man. They had several nasty verbal altercations, all ending with heated lovemaking sessions that felt out of place. And she just seemed to be there to keep Brendan supported, but I didn't find her to be much more than that. But the progression of the story was good and enjoyable. However, I didn't care for the ending, which was very breezed over somehow. The creatures were aplenty throughout the entirety of the book, but then we got a mention of a queen underwater somewhere, but never got to see it. You'd assume that there would be some big, epic conclusion here, but there wasn't anything. And then it briefly mentions the aftereffects of the story on the surrounding area, leading to a final chapter with an open ending. So nothing felt like it got proper closure. I did like the style of writing here, as well as the concept itself, but it needed to be fleshed out a lot more, plot, characters, and all, in order to be a more palatable experience.
My guilty pleasure in book genres is creature features, especially those set in the ocean, so I'm always willing to give books like Infested Waters a try. The one positive thing I can say is that it's a cool idea for a story - giant sea spiders that can come on land and suck out their victim's internal organs? You've got my attention.
Unfortunately that's about all this book has going for it. It's written in a very awkward way with some awful dialogue ("run, I'm being killed!" screams a victim as a spider drags him into the ocean) and some very out of place sex scenes with the main character and his girlfriend that read terribly. There's plot holes left and right throughout the story and the book just ends with no explanation of anything. At only 162 pages I wasn't expecting much but this was still disappointing.
A really great book! It was interesting and. informative. I learned a lot and enjoyed the book. A win, win in my estimation. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who.likes this genre.