The Walking Dead meets Willard in this gory apocalyptic novel
In the countryside of England, rats roam the land. While not an unnatural occurrence, these rats have dominated the area for the last five years. As a modern-day plague has gripped the land only a fraction of the prior population remains. Those that survive are relegated to only venturing out cautiously during the day and hiding in their homes at night for fear of being the next victim. Among the pockets of survivors, several brave men and women have risen to combat the ever-growing vermin, but they are evolving in ways that are terrifying and at a rate that seems insurmountable. When a mysterious man shows up at the Black Lion seemingly with information about the rats’ origin and a theory on how to combat them the survivors are skeptical. Recruiting two of the “Rat Liquidators”, they are moved to a high-tech government facility where they learn more about the plague origins and the vermin mutations than they could have guessed. Working with other similarly trained rat teams, the ragtag band undertakes their first mission. Testing a theory that with modern technology, the larger rats can be controlled and used to assist the humans in taking back the land. The “Sigma rats” as they have been dubbed could be their greatest asset or their worst liability.
Ratstrike by Jools G King is on the surface a straightforward horror where one animal species overruns and conquers another almost to extinction, but with this author nothing is ever straightforward. Using his brand of extreme gore and shocking situations, King has created a nightmarish distant future England overrun by rats of all kinds. With an almost “Walking Dead” sort of vibe, the rats are evolving and mutating with each new turn of the book. And with the government involved at least partially with the creation of the Sigma Rats to combat the larger populace, one cannot help but wonder if this entire thing isn’t just a lab experiment gone terribly wrong.
I was recently introduced to King with his novella Raven Hill which can be summed up as a fast past, blood-soaked witch war. While Ratstrike is a longer story than Raven Hill, King does an excellent job laying the framework and building the story to its cliffhanger end for a future return to this apocalyptic rat ridden wasteland. The world created by King is bleak, violet and graphic. If you are easily disgusted Ratstrike is probably not the book for you; but if you like your horror, gory and graphic to the point where you can smell the words coming from the pages, this will not disappoint.
Full disclosure - I was provided an advanced reader’s copy of this book by the author or their representative but have voluntarily provided a review. All opinions are my own