The Jersey Devil
By Hunter Shea
Pinnacle Books, 2016
Paperback, 378 pages
If I’m going to tackle a book
that is 378 pages long, it has to be written by Hunter Shea. Only he can tell a
story that long that will hold my intertest. No fluff, no filler; every word is
essential and moves the tale along. And what a tale it is. Shea’s cryptozoological
monster books are a treasure. He takes every known fact/ rumor about the mythical
beasts and makes it an integral part of the story. I was prompted to research
the Jersey Devil after finishing this book and yes… he nailed it. And improved
on the legend.
The Willet Family are a close-knit
crew, and they have a history with the Devil. Ol’ Boompa, the gran’pa, had
encountered it years ago and has had revenge burning in his veins ever since.
With a spate of new Devil sightings, the family gets together with a shit-ton
of firepower, and they head out to hunt. Naturally, they get a lot more than
they bargained for.
Rarely do I root for humans in a
book like this, but Shea makes the Willet Family so damn likeable that you have
to. The Devils, plural, yes- there are many, are formidable creatures but they
aren’t infallible. But there are just so many. Throw in captive humans kept for
breeding reasons, a rock concert, and innocent people stuck in a very bad
place, and you have a page turner that moves very quickly and delivers the gory
goods.
I’ve said it before; Hunter Shea
gets it. His name should always be mentioned when speaking of the greats of the
genre that I love the most… nature-strikes-back. Guy N. Smith, James Herbert,
Hunter Shea… he is among the elite.
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