The Ancient Enemy
by Donald Thompson
1979 Fawcett Gold Medal
Paperback, 220 pages
Trillions of roaches destroy everything in their path as they
rip through a desert bordello. Doctors are assigned to find out what happened to
the folks at the said bordello and are soon joined by some of the surviving
working ladies and two johns who were all away the night of the attack. Soon,
they are held hostage in the house of ill repute by a biker gang with automatic
weapons.
Frankly, if you’re not itching to read this after that
description, I just don’t know what to tell you. This book is another
super-fast page-turner that doesn’t slow down for a moment. It starts the day after
the first roach attack and quickly unfolds in all its nasty glory. The action
takes place over a span of less than two days and the unexpectedly lovable group
really goes through hell. The male characters are all fully formed, interesting
individuals but the women in the story suffer a bit from not getting as much of
the author’s attention. Perhaps Mr. Thompson just couldn’t get in touch with
his feminine side.
But that’s just an observation, not a real knock. I mean, the
book has action, gore, sex, torture and roaches. Plus, it has romance! This is
one of those novels where a second peril is introduced (the psycho biker gang)
to try to make you forget the roaches, but you never really do. They’re always in
the back of your mind.
Some folks with high standards might think this pulpy trash
is poorly written, but I liked it. The Ancient Enemy delivers.
This review originally appeared in Midnight Magazine #7 (Jan. 2021)
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