Crustaceans

by William Meikle

From Scottish writer William Meikle comes a novel that is a welcome return to those tomes of pure enjoyment that we read with guilt in our early teens, in the tradition of James Herbert’s THE RATS and Guy N. Smith’s NIGHT OF THE CRABS.It begins with a dead whale on a Boston shoreline--not in itself an unusual occurrence. But the things that claw their way out of the blubber are very unusual indeed. A cast of giant crabs, evolved over centuries, descends on a small coastal town and, having feasted, make their way to the city using the sewer system. Soon they are swarming around Manhattan, hunted and harried by a SWAT team tasked with ridding the city of the menace...before the menace gets big enough to rid itself of the city.

Genres: Horror, Science Fiction, Monsters, Audiobook, Fiction

190 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

I'm a Scottish writer, now living in Canada, with more than thirty novels published in the genre press and over 300 short story credits in thirteen countries.

My work has appeared in a number of professional anthologies and I have recent short story sales to NATURE Futures and Galaxy's Edge. When I'm not writing I play guitar, drink beer and dream of fortune and glory.

For an intro to me, my writing and my accent see my Youtube channel

Reviews

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

When an alcoholic fisherman pulls a strange crab out of the Atlantic, he has no idea what is about to befall the east coast; giant armored crabs with a taste for human flesh!

This is the seventeenth book in my Kindle Unlimited Experiment. For the 30 day trial, I'm only reading books that are part of the program and keeping track what the total cost of the books would have been.

In some ways, Crustaceans, like Clickers, is an homage to Guy Smith's Crab books, which I confess I have yet to read. Giant crabs hit the coast and go on a killing sprees, slicing people in half and devouring them. Oh, and these crabs are bulletproof.

As per usual, I'll be doing the compliment sandwich in this review, since I did like it more than I disliked it.

Crustaceans was a fun read, full of the carnage one comes to expect from something involving giant monsters. I came in expecting killer crabs on the rampage and that's what I got.

However, there were some issues with the editing. Stark is called Stack the first three or four times he's mentioned. Also, the book doesn't have anything signaling the transition from one viewpoint character to another, making it kind of jarring. Even an extra line break would have helped. The characters are pretty much stock characters: army guy, lady scientist (complete with insta-love) and alcoholic fisherman.

Again, though, I didn't come into this expecting a Michael Chabon book. I loved the underground action, especially when the heroes ran into progressively bigger crabs. The nod to Aliens about nuking the site from orbit was a nice touch. Meikle managed to create an homage to B-movie giant monster horror but still managed to deliver a fairly compelling book that begs to be made into a SyFy original movie.

3 out of 5 stars. I've never wanted to eat crab legs so much in my life.

Current Kindle Unlimited Savings Total: $100.42.

[Latasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a lot of fun. Nothing too serious, easy to listen to and just enjoy the ride. Giant crabs attacking Manhattan. I listened to the audio book which is narrated by James Conlan. He did good but his woman's voice could use some work. The others were fine.

[Peter Topside · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was fun. Followed the very traditional, standard lore of creature features. Mysterious occurrences, a specialist gets yanked in with the military, a few nefarious folks involved for their own reasons, a nest, giant creatures, etc. I read the first few pages and already knew how it was going to play out. There's nothing wrong with that and I loved the unique antagonist here, being the crabs. And who doesn't love crabs? Has anyone else seen that video of the crab eating a potato chip? Hilarious! The only bad crabs are the ones that use your pubic hair as bungee cords. Part of me was hoping that the military resorted to using gigantic flamethrowers to cook the crabs, shipping the meat to starving nations. However, no such luck. Plenty of action and silly, but enjoyable, circumstances, but I was left glad that I took the time to read this. Just don't look for anything terribly different than what's come before.

[Bill · Rating 3 out of 5]

Crabs are creepy. Like spiders with a hard shell. It would suck to get tore up and eaten by a crab. Conversely, they themselves, are quite delicious. Probably not these crabs though, since their bellies are full of human flesh.

Clickety clack motherf@ckers!

[Karl]

This copy is signed by author William Meikle.

[Lora Milton · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one had more gore than I personally like in a story, sometimes with surprisingly little pain. You would think it would hurt if a giant crab cut off your limbs.

It's definitely not a subtle story, but the writing was good and it flowed all too well. I didn't find any characters to like apart from the Marine Biologist, but despite the drinking and swearing and general low class of some of them, there was enough intelligence to lead to a suitably dramatic ending that would fit right in with 1950s B-movie Horror.

This was my first Meikle and I'm wondering if he might be a little too graphic violence for my taste, but I will venture another on the basis of good quality sentence use. I would give 4 stars for this but the unsubtle plot holds me back one.

[Sandra · Rating 1 out of 5]

Well, I just can't stand stupid chars, and when they're female even less.
I dunno why Shona thought jumping onto a Ferry full of killercrabs was a great idea, while the soliders explicitly told her to stay on the chopper. Bcs what? You gonna talk the killercrabs off the boat, when the soldiers don't even have a chance? I hate that.
Also ofc, as soon as a woman's a MC, she needs a romance. In my fucking trash horror, come on, ugh.
At least the romance in the S-Squad-Series was short and on the side, but here? nope.
So nah, thanks, can't be bothered.

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty typical gory monster fest. The story is about oversized crabs that invade NYC and the people sent to stop them. Overall I liked the book but there was some forced romance which felt very out of place in the book.

[Bogdan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Forget Godzilla, forget King Kong, because now we have a new bad ass invader in town.

We`re talking about the scary and mighty Crab!

Easy cheesy read. Nothing out of the ordinary here. Some gore, some people dying.

Weekend horror flick.

[Alaina · Rating 3 out of 5]

You better watch out. You better not cry. You should definitely hide... because the killer crabs are coming out.

Honestly, I didn't even know Crustaceans existed until recently. I think that's why I loved joining challenges because they open my eyes to new books/authors. As for this book, it was interesting and weird. Giant crabs are alive and thriving. They are leaving the ocean and going on a killing spree people.

Just to make things even more obnoxious.. the crabs are bulletproof. I couldn't stop snorting throughout this just because it kept getting weirder and weirder. In some ways, it kind of reminded me of that one movie with giant spiders killing people. So I wasn't really surprised with what down throughout the entire book.

In the end, this should become a sci-fi movie. Just saying.

[Eric]

Full review: https://supermonsternovels.com/2019/0...

[wayne peters · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review of this book.

This was a seriously scary story. So realistic, and graphic!! This book is not for the squeamish! Lots of blood and gore. That is what made this an outstanding book. No holds barred! No sugar coating when things went south. There were tender moments thrown in at just the right time. Allowed the heart to slow down to almost normal. The people in the book were believable and were not ashamed to be scared. The author did an outstanding job of writing this book.

[Sad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Killer crabz from outa whale

. It's just fun, a goofy gore creature feature .

Do you want something fun? Short? But still exciting, here it is!
I mean, the first line of the whole book is "The whale farted." How can you not get immediately sucked in!

. Them some big fucking crab man, big fucking crab dude .

[BERNARD ANDREWS · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent monster yarn

Enough distinct characters to keep it interesting even though it really is a pulpy giant beasts menacing a big city story (set your expectations). It's fun but nothing too deep.

[Christian · Rating 5 out of 5]

The lack of chapters due to presumably poor layout and formatting on the Kindle really peeved me off, but the story itself, man (and woman) vs giant killer crabs was pretty damn awesome. Loved it!

[Kenneth Skaldebø · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are looking for a story featuring massive killer crabs, well, look no further!
It’s an enjoyable creature feature romp!

[Lewis Stein · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good story

This story moved along very well. The story was very interesting and held my interest all the way through.. to the end.

[Kim Dvorak · Rating 4 out of 5]

Crabs attack

A fine crab horror story. Meikle is a great successor to Guy N Smith who started the crab series in the 70's. Just watch out should you hear clickety-clack.

[Allison Bass · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 Rounded up. I picked up this book at the beach over the holidays for a short fun read and it delivered. Horse size and bigger crabs in the under grounds of New York. It was Sharknado meets Wreck it Ralph Cy-bugs. A fun read but got a little repetitive.

[Judy & Marianne from Long and Short Reviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

When flesh eating crabs chew their way out of a dead, beached whale, it’s enough to draw some very serious attention. A number of unusual events revolving around a new found species of crabs soon has the Armed forces sitting up and taking notice, especially when some of their own are taken. It soon becomes clear the crabs are growing – and converging on Manhattan. A small team race to answer why – and how large will these things grow to?

I have been a huge fan of William Meikle’s for a number of years now and this story did not disappoint. A republishing of a previous novel of his I found this was everything about his writing that I love. Giant, monstrous beasties eating everyone in sight. A small and dedicated team hunting them down. Plenty of action, monsters and a rollicking good pace.

Readers who enjoy B grade horror movies and books along the same lines – ones that are here for a good time with plenty of fun – should find this a thoroughly enjoyable tale. I love this author’s S-Squad series and while this isn’t one of that series he admits it was where some of his earlier ideas for that did germinate. Sit back with a large cold drink, switch off your brain and be prepared for a fun, fast paced and excellently written tall tale. With just enough reality to make you think this is a wonderful monster story and one I will happily reread again soon.

With some memorable and enjoyable characters, giant monster crabs that are determined to take over everything and some exceptional fire power, this is a fun and rambunctious story and a brilliant addition to my Meikle library. Recommended.

[Todd Russell · Rating 3 out of 5]

An action-packed pulpy tale about giant killer crabs. The author is clearly paying homage or at least a fan of Guy N. Smith, author of Killer Crabs among others in Smith's curious crab series. The next time you munch down on crab legs at the seafood buffet, you'll remember fun stories like this one (perhaps even with a smile).

Not much getting to know characters in stories like these and if you read them with that kind of open mind, just like loading up on candy and sweets, they certainly fit a well-needed niche. The writing at times was a bit clunky, which is not what I experienced with Clockwork Dolls, but overall I enjoyed it for what it was, it's not intended to be some deep story, just action and monsters. It succeeds there. 3 stars. 2,517 Kindle locations.

[Kaisersoze · Rating 3 out of 5]

A schlocky, B-grade creature feature that pays homage to Guy N Smith's Crab series, Crustaceans starts shakily and only improves as the action shifts to the tunnel system beneath Manhattan. Before this, the narrative progresses at a dizzying pace, without ever really creating anyone to connect with or root for. Thankfully, Meikle corrects this oversight as one of his two main POV characters progresses from contemptible stain on the gusset of humanity to likeable anti-hero who even manages to retain elements of his survival instinct.

With the sliced off appendages, halved humans and intestinal breaches only outnumbered by the phrase "piles of scat", Crustaceans is not for the faint of heart. But if you're willing to wade through the initial disconcertingly fast scene-setting, there's an enjoyable amount of monster mayhem to be savoured in the short novel's back half.

3 Snip Preceding Clickety-Clacks for Crustaceans.

[Mya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Killer crabs are right up my alley...okay so any animal gone freakish, out of control or genetically tampered with is a story that I am gonna read. So checking out Mr. Meikle's tale of crabs running roughshod through New York, caught my attention. There is a salty, larger than life (and braver than brave) fisherman with a personal vendetta against the beasties. And there is the plucky scientist who just has to tag along in hyper dangerous situations. Lastly there are the brilliant, plucky and lethal crabs of varying sizes. Pepper in the military and we're off to the races. Let me say in all honesty that that story was good, exciting, had a lot of gore and was overall entertaining....The formatting though sucked. There were no chapter breaks (in Kindle edition), I had to go back and figure out where scenes stopped and started. Now if this is something that doesn't bother you and you're a creature feature fan, then definitely check it out!

[Michael Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

In some ways, this is a very straightforward book, ticking all of the boxes for a giant creature feature. As such, the plot develops along fairly generic lines. This doesn't mean that there are no surprises or shocks along the way, but they all fall into the kind of pattern you'd expect.

However, it's a real page turner. The writing style is fluid and interesting, it keeps you hooked. The author's words flow effortlessly, making the book easy and pleasurable to read.

There is a real sense of menace and danger too. I don't find crabs even remotely scary, but this book makes them so, and that's a testament to the author's skill.

I'll definitely be reading more William Meikle. It's an interesting and well told story that won't disappoint anyone who loves this genre, but the real triumph is simply his writing style, which makes the read such a pleasure.

[Elke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Crustaceans had everything I expected from a good creature feature: some nasty creatures - in this case giant crabs; some military unit to stop the invasion, a scientist to support them, and a civilian who gets involved and joins the fight against the plague.

But while Crustaceans is a skillfully written and experienced specimen, it did not surprise or affect me as I wanted it to. Maybe I've read or seen one too many works in this genre, but Crustaceans is only just another variation in a long row, without any features to mark it outstanding. I guess Big Ass Spider! was my last encounter with some creature invasion still fresh in mind, so I couldn't help but notice the similarities.

Nevertheless, Crustaceans sure is an entertaining read and a worthwhile addition to any creature collection.

[Monster]

In the late 1980s Guy N. Smith introduced the world to his killer crabs. Virtually unstoppable malevolent killing machines that had a taste for human flesh, Smith’s crabs delighted a generation. In Crustaceans, William Meikle picks up the torch, with a satisfying entry. Once again, killer crabs menace humanity, but this time they cross the ocean to New York, and it is up to a Special Forces unit and a marine biologist to stop them. Meikle offers up much of the same blood-splattering killer crab action as Smith did, but in this tale, humanity is a bit more resistant. Crustaceans doesn’t try to be anything more than it is. Fans of the old creature feature movies and killer animal books will find it to be a wonderful guilty pleasure. Recommended
Contains: Gore and violence

[Warren Stalley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just looking at the amazing cover art will tell you all you need to know about this book. The basic story is that a washed-up fisherman joins forces with a female scientist and a SWAT team to track down giant killer crabs. The story races through gruesome attack waves of killer crabs creating perfect B-movie madness. If you've read any William Meikle books before you will know what to expect. If not fasten your seatbelt and brace yourself for a joyride of horror! Sea spray and clicking pincers will surround you as you descend into a whirlpool of creepy creature craziness. Having not read any giant killer crab books before I was possibly at a disadvantage but this didn't stop me devouring the story and enjoying every last morsel. This isn't highbrow but it's fast and fun. Enjoy.

[Joshua Hair · Rating 2 out of 5]

Never is it appropriate to use the phrase "clickety-clack" in an attempt to evoke terror. Between that and the dreadful "snickety-snick", it was difficult at best for me to finish this relatively short experience. Further adding to my annoyance was the fact that the eBook version has no breaks in scenes; one moment we're discussing the crabs between two scientists and in the very next line we're in another part of the world altogether, listening to a redneck complain about payment for the crab he secured. It was so jarring that the first few times it happened I had to stop reading completely and go back to it later. I drudged through and did not feel rewarded for my efforts in the slightest. Guy Smith did it better.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't know what it says about me that this is the 5th book about giant crabs on rampage that I have read in the last year and a half. Maybe I don't want to know.

This book is clearly an homage to Guy Smith's Night of the Crabs but it is much more polished and better executed. The plot lines move at a good pace and converge nicely. The characters are interesting, have some depth, and you root for them. The crabs are carnivorous, savage, relentless and HUGE. All this adds up to great fun and exactly what I was looking for in this book. I noticed that the author has several other monster novels out there so I am looking forward to reading them as well.

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

William Meikle has managed to a story that reads like a 50's black & white sci-fi movie. The story doesn't go deep into any of the characters and that is on purpose. It was meant to have the 50's sci-fi feel and it more than accomplishes that in print.

There are those that have read it that give it not a so great review, citing the lack of character development within the story. But once again, that's on purpose. William Meikle wrote a great little story about nature gone wild. It gives you a story presentence. You know just enough of the characters, to know the players without a scorecard.

For those that like a fast read and a retro sci fi story, this is that kind of read.