Scorpion: Second Generation
By Michael R. Linaker
1982 New English Library
Paperback, 158 pages
New English Library unleashed
Linaker’s Scorpion in 1980 and evidently, it sold well enough to warrant
this sequel. Well, I thank my lucky stars for that! This book is by-the-numbers
nature-strikes-back hokum and for that, I love it. Fast, no bullshit, gore,
sex, and nastiness… what more could I ask for?
A few years after the initial
scorpion menace, another Cornish resort town is seeing a rise in death and
dismemberment, not to mention some nasty envenomation. Sounds like our old pals
the scorpions weren’t completely wiped out after all. And they have evolved:
this second generation are bigger and meaner than their boob-munching
counterparts from the first novel. They are also dying from an infectious
disease that can be passed to humans. Cornwall is, once again, fucked.
This is the Guy N. Smith crab
novel you never read. Linaker merely swaps in scorpions for crabs and scuffling,
scratching sounds for click-click-clickety and there you have it. This
is a quick, gore-splashed mutant scorpion book that does exactly what you would
want it to. Linaker probably knocked it out in a couple of days and, if you
have the time, you can probably enjoy it in an afternoon.
Linaker was (is?) an extremely
prolific author who specialized in actions thrillers, notably a slew of Mack
Bolan titles, as well as a number of Westerns. I’m not sure how or why he came
to NEL’s attention for a few horror novels but thank goodness he did! This book
is a perfect antidote to a shitty workday. Just picture your boss getting his
bones snapped and his skin split by a four-foot scorpion, his innards slipping
out onto the floor. Hell to the yes!
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