A Crying Shame

Rating:
Summary: A "presequel" (of sorts) to Watcher in the Woods
Review: I first saw this book in the discount bin at B Daltons and picked it up mostly because of the blurb on the back cover. I found the book well written and fast paced.

The story starts out with a attack on a house owned by a brother and sister. The brother attempts to chase off the intruders with a shot gun but the results of that attempt ends up with the brother being killed and his shotgun thrown into the house bent like a horseshoe. There is some comic relief early in the book when the Sheriff while investagating the aftermath of the attack 'teases' a very religious deputy about his bad timing on copping a feel. but after that the story gets serious.

The hero of the story is a soldier of fortune who was hired by the brother to investage the stories behind the swamp and if possible to capture a 'link'. With the brother dead, the hero is hired by the sister to continue the investigation advenge her brother's death. After killing a few 'links' he brings in some doctor friends of his to perform a study of the dead links. Their findings are shocking and the verbal abuse they heap on the hero is fun to read.

The story is fast paced and has it moments like when the hero tells off/embarasses the aid to the president of the US in front of him. There are some moments in the book that will make some readers uncomfortable when the story dips a little into a hate crime with racial overtones but lets say the bad guys get theirs very shortly afterwards.

Any long time reader of Mr Johnstone's will be a little surprised with the tone of the storyline but will agree it is a well written book. A direct sequel to this book would be great but the way the book ended I guess I will have to settle for a 'next generation' type sequel of "Watchers in the woods."

If you can get your hands on a copy of this book be prepared to be scared, amused, angered and happy as well as scared again.

Rating:
Summary: A Crying Shame
Review: The story is as follows : The missing link between human and animal is alive and well and living in the wilds of Southeast America. Actually, they are not that well. They are slowly dying from attacks of savage insanity and the females are growing sterile. Just like any wild animals, they have the instinctive need see their genes continue into future generations. Unlike most animals, they are able to formulate a long-range strategic plan for accomplishing this. The males attack in packs the unsuspecting human females they can isolate. They gang-rape them and abduct them, carrying them back to their community lair to raise children. They are hoping for human offspring rather than beast so they can leave the childrren on the doorsteps of human houses and perpetuate their species by integrating their genes into the human race. The story is a well-woven complex tale which alternates between the terror of rape and the pity for a dying race facing extinction. WARNING : this book contains graphic accounts of rape and is not for children. However, it is a collectors item as an early work of William Johnstone and as a book that predates the age of politically correct censorship.