By Ronald Kelly
1990 Zebra Books
Paperback, 320 pages
Don’t be fooled by the
lackluster cover. (Whut up, Zebra?) This is a top-shelf animal attack book full
of characters that really need to be murdered in the most ghastly ways
possible! When a dog-fighting ring is broken up, the lowlife scum that run it
go to Mexico to purchase some “pit-devils”, ferocious little killing machines,
to bring back to the USA and breed for fights. What could possibly go wrong?
Sulphur Springs, Texas has a
whole lot of shitheads for such a small town. Number one asshat is the sheriff
who is a letch, a racist, and a potential pedophile. The main pit-devil keeper
is a wife- beating drunk with no redeeming qualities. There are a handful of
decent folks, however. Bowie Kane, a native American, gets a lot of heat from
the small-minded citizens. But not from Lynn Sykes, mother of two, who feels bad for Bowie. Their platonic friendship is, of course, very misunderstood,
especially by Lynn’s husband.
Naturally, the pit-devils cannot
be contained. What are they? Well, technically, they’re Tasmanian Devils, but
Bowie suspects they are more than that, thanks to a fragment of undeciphered
Indian parchment. Was this whole thing foretold? Forget anything you might know
about Tasmanian Devils. These guys chew through leather, steel, skin and bone
and are all but indestructible. The gore flows heavily and with so many shitty
people to eat, it’s hard not to cheer for the devils. One thing they don’t eat:
eyeballs. Leftover eyeballs sitting in bloody skulls are used a few times to
good effect for corpse ID.
This is Ronald Kelly’s second novel,
and I give it a huge recommendation. His deep South leanings are on full
display here, and you can practically taste the dusty land in and around
Sulphur Springs. Unfortunately, there is a fair amount of animal violence in
this, as you might expect. The devils are hard to kill but with enough
firepower, they can be exploded into mush. Snake collecting and skinning is in
there too. It is a sad fact in the real world.
That said, my very favorite part
of the book is the opening of Chapter 18, when Lynn’s young daughter Becky is off
searching for her missing puppy… “Ruffles! Here, girl! Here, Ruffles!” I
literally laughed out loud.
Pitfall was finally
reprinted by Macabre Ink in 2023 with a much better cover and a bonus short
story, “Last of the Chupacabra”. Since the Zebra original is getting a bit
pricey, this is a good way to go.
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