The Chupacabra: A novella

by Dallas Tanner

There are those who believe that a creature as small as a young child, but as deadly for its size as any on earth, has been depicted in the ancient art of the Mayans. There are others who say that it was spawned through genetic engineering, or eluded capture when its space ship crashed to earth.The rumors, the sightings and the physical evidence are spreading throughout the Spanish-speaking world. A cultural phenomena only? It was, until the deputy sheriff of an east Texas town investigated the bizarre killing of a prize bull...

Genres: Horror, Science Fiction

89 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 20, 2009

Reviews

[Olethros · Rating 3 out of 5]

-Nada nuevo bajo el sol.-

Género. Novela corta.

Lo que nos cuenta. En la granja del señor Sykes una extraña criatura ataca a su premiado toro. La llamada del granjero a la policía hace que el Ayudante Roth Jacobs se presente en lugar de los hechos y comience a investigar el asunto, y cuando uno de los trabajadores de la granja, Ramirez, pronuncia la palabra "Chupacabra", a Jacobs no le resulta extraño el concepto.

¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:

http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com....

[Иван Величков · Rating 2 out of 5]

НЕпретенцозен крийчърфийчър с нотка на криптозоология, какво ли може да се обърка, особено когато нямаш очаквания? Явно доста неща.
Едно малко градче в Тексас усъмва с утрепат бик медалист, без никой да е чул нищо. Скоро случчаите на убити и изсмукани животни зачестяват и зам шерифът е принуден да повярва на дрънканиците на подпийнал мексикански емигрант. Освен това, ако иска да разбере какво става, трябва да изпревари журналиста от местния вестник. Скоро нещата загрубяват съвсем, когато се появяват военни и започват да раздават заповеди, а едни хлапета са замярали с камъни някакъв огромен гущер.

Много, ама много дразнещ стил на писане. Много инфодъмпове в диалог, мнго пресоляване на манджата, мнго прескачане от близко трето лице във вездесъщо, мнго излишна смяна на третото лице, мнго нелогични сщжетни обрати. И всичко това в мнго малко страници.

[Rick · Rating 2 out of 5]

The general premise of this book is quite interesting (I can't say what it is without spoiling the story for you) but the execution was sub-par in my opinion. There were numerous errors in spelling, grammar or simple proofreading (like extra words left in a sentence after it was apparently reworked). There was just something about the writing style that kept breaking my immersion as my mind would wander to something like "if I had written that sentence/paragraph I would have structured it like this".

It was distracting to have the half-cajun deputy (why did we have to be reminded of that so damn often?) take his club from the car when it should have been referred to as a nightstick or baton. Finally about 60% into the book the nomenclature was changed but then he reverted to his seemingly cavemen weapon again.

I guess if you want an interesting take on the Chupacabra myth this might be a good read for you but not if you are as picky a reader as I am.

[Sandro Filipe · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rate: 2.5 stars

When I saw this book, I thought that it would be interesting to read a book about the Chupacabra. However, there were two major nos to this book: [SPOILER] I can't accept that the Chupacabra is something else than a mythical or an otherworldly creature [END OF SPOILER] and the randomness and total nonsense (in my opinion) of the book's ending...

trad.: Quando eu vi este livro, pensei que seria interessante ler algo sobre o Chupacabra. Contudo, tenho dois grandes nãos para este livro: [SPOILER] não posso aceitar que o Chupacabra seja algo que não uma criatura mística ou de outro mundo [FIM DE SPOILER] e a total confusão e falta de sentido (na minha opinião) que teve o final do livro...

[Nyarlathotep · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you want to waste your time and

So, a novella about  El Chupacabra? Sounds good,  right? Well, I guess we’ll still have to wait for one as this isn’t a good one, not even an OK one.

The characters are completely 2 dimensional. There almost seems to be an effort to NOT develop them.

There are many grammatical and editorial errors throughout. I think check with a good word processor would have caught many of them.

Now to the (not so fun) plot. It appears that the author wasn't keeping track of what his characters were doing, placing things, where they were.

MINOR SPOILER: the interaction with the general almost made me delete this from my Kindle. It was so ludicrous that it was unbelievable: from the top secret info the gen was just spilling out of his mouth. You’d think he was at a tea social. The very worst thing was the actual ending itself.

I normally give an author a second chance and, checking Amazon, I see he has a cryptid trilogy out. I, personally, will not be giving this author another chance, but YMMV.

The author’s bio seems to be the best fiction in this work.

[Josèphe-Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone who has always had an interest in the world of cryptids and unexplained mysteries, I felt compelled to read this. Once you get past the lengthy description of the creatures' appearance and the introduction, it's non-stop action until the very last page! I believe Mr. Tanner has a potential diamond in the rough with this story. (I just think he needs to have it edited more thoroughly). Some of the phrases and expressions he tried to use were a bit strange. Nevertheless, he accomplished his goal: he caught my attention and I remained entertained as I read the novella. To list a few of my dislikes though, I must say I could have done without the "CSI-style" dissection of the unfortunate canine, as well as the technical jargon used to explain the Chupacabras' methods of consuming prey. Splicing in the famous "Roswell Conspiracy" was a bit predictable and even tiresome. (How many of times have we seen movies or read books that blame every bizarre mystery on the U.S. government?! LOL Seriously, I can think of many.) As for the parts I liked: The characters were well thought out and creatively depicted. I kept cracking up at the way the single women of the small town persisted in trying to get a date out of the deputy. Plus, it was a pleasant surprise to see a mention of my small island birthplace. The ending was a little confusing. I guess the author wanted us to use our imaginations. I'd really like to see this story turned into a full-length novel or even a sci-fi movie. I look forward to reading more of Dallas Tanner's work.

[J.M. · Rating 2 out of 5]

There is a good story here. What it needs is a strong editor to bring it out. There are multiple errors throughout the book, and the ending seems unsupported by the events leading up to it. Some of the characters are unbelievable, and given the carnage prescribed to the Chupacabra throughout the story, the characters' actions at the end seem a little too "Hollywood ending" to me.

Like I said, the story is there. It kept me reading, despite the issues I had with it. A good editor could corral the author and trim the story into something that would get a 4 star review from me, but as it stands now, I have to give it 2 stars.

[Diana Brewster · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wasn't really digging this book. I found it a little confusing with a crossover between alien conspiracy and the chupacabra. There's nothing wrong with alien conspiracy but this wasn't written right IMO

[Byron 'Giggsy' Paul · Rating 2 out of 5]

not completely terrible, but this just lacks something to make it good. Reminds me of a bad syfy channel b-movie.

[Sharon Jenni · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had not heard of the Chupacabra legend. A quick read and informative about the myth.

[Jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

best book ever!

[KittieDanger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Always interesting, never boring, that's Dallas Tanner