Viper By Alan Riefe

Viper
By Alan Riefe
1990 Charter Diamond
Paperback, 271 pages

 
                                              

    This is a pretty good read, told in three different sections. In the first, we meet our cast of characters, the orphaned Felicity Jane and her aunt and uncle who are raising her. This part takes place in India where the uncle is working for a year or so, and the local Zaman is their majordomo. The second part is in Hawaii where the family usually resides and concerns a rich family who were left out of their rich father’s will and may explain how Felicity Jane became an orphan. Y’see, the old man left everything to her mom, the housekeeper. The third section finds Felicity Jane, Aunt Helen, and Uncle Bill back in Hawaii and the greedy family trying to knock off the kid to get the millions.

    OK, but is this a horror story? Yes. Yes, it is. Back in India, Zaman had discovered that the young girl had a gift, a unique way with snakes. He saw her as a davi, the snake Goddess of Naga. She could control venomous snakes to do her bidding. That talent would come in handy if there was a group of people trying to kill you. And when Uncle Bill's Jeep was returned to the US, Zaman had secreted a Russell’s Viper in it for Felicity Jane, as well as some tea that may or may not help her turn into a snake goddess in the flesh.

    Things get pretty exciting with the horrible group of brothers and sisters in a cat and mouse game with the child. Felicity Jane is a badass herself and knows what is going on. She and the snake are a good team, and the greedy group of siblings are all a mess in one way or another. It is also good to see a Russell’s Viper used instead of a cobra or something more obvious. They have a formidable venom and are the most common snakebite in India. Gorgeous animals, too.

    Alan Riefe is a fun writer to read. A little florid at times, but he is a competent and smart storyteller. He has written a number of Westerns and romances under different pennames, the super-hip Cage detective series under his own name and a couple more horror books. I am more interested in his comic book work where he penned a few stories for DC’s “mystery” titles in the early 70s as well as comic adaptations of Get Smart and Hogan’s Heroes for Dell. That is a well-rounded scribe in my opinion. This edition of Viper also gets points for the great Lisa Falkenstern cover!

The Accursed By Paul Boorstin

The Accursed

By Paul Boorstin
1977 Signet
Paperback, 184 pages

                                                   

                As a snake lover, it is sometimes tough for me to assess a book such as this. I mean, many people have an unreasonable fear of snakes, or they just dislike them for whatever reason. (Because the Bible tells them to… oops, did I say that out loud?) This book plays on, and plays up that fear, putting (or keeping) snakes in a bad light. This, of course, just adds to the bad publicity.

 

                Then again, I do love seeing snakes wreaking havoc on stupid humans and this book delivers that, including a wonderful scene with a Reticulated Python plucking a baby from its newborn crib in a hospital. That alone makes this book worthwhile. The author’s science is good, having been a National Geographic explorer, though he also makes up a lot of shit to serve his narrative.

 

                In the deep South, one of those cracker-barrel snake-handling preachers is at it again, saying that if you handle the venomous snake and do not get bitten, you’re A-OK in God’s eyes. If you do get bitten, well, Satan had your soul. This guy doesn’t just use local rattlesnakes, he imports Cobras and shit. He is “probably” also responsible for the Reticulated Python that is living in the low-budget, trashy hospital next to the swamp.

 

                Poor Dr. Adam Corbett. He just wants to help the impoverished locals and get them good medical attention. Too bad hospital head Straker is such a penny-pinching douchebag. They clash often and the good doctor has to put up with incompetent nurses, as well. And cover-ups and babies disappear. And, worst of all, his wife has come from Atlanta to be with him in the hick-water hospital and give birth there.

 

                OK, that’s pretty much the set-up. There are deaths, human, serpent and canine, but no real pathos gets created because all of the characterizations are wafer-thin and mostly unlikable. Even the pregnant wife is an annoying idiot who gets herself into lots of predicaments for the sake of storytelling but really, who cares? As always, I root for the snakes. Not a terrible book but not really satisfying either, and it even felt a little long at 184 pages.

The Mountain King By George Ernsberger

The Mountain King
By George Ernsberger
1979 Berkeley
Paperback, 250 pages

 

                I read this book as a teen. In the years since, I couldn’t remember much about it, just that there were snakes, but I do remember that I liked it. I figure that since it has been over 40 years since I last read it, the time was ripe for a revisit.

 

                Four couples head out for a wilderness weekend to a remote cluster of homes (their own summer cottages) on the side of a mountain in the Catskills. Tranquil, beautiful, and restful. Except for pretty much everyone involved is a douchebag. One husband fantasizes about punching his wife in the face, many of them have had “a past” together, and assholism and cattiness runs rampant. It’s a good thing that during a massive storm, part of the mountain breaks loose and that sends hundreds of confused Timber Rattlesnakes down to make life hell for the humans.

 

                I have no complaints about the characters all being kind of unlikeable; that just means they are real. Ernsberger gives us an excellent portrayal of a group of damaged people. You know, like we all are. Of course, when the snakes are loose, I really root for them because snakes are better than humans. The Mountain King is a Timber who has been living on the mountain a long time. At roughly 7 feet, he is the king of the den. Ernsberger’s science is excellent and his passages from the King’s point of view are cogent, which is very impressive when writing for an animal who relies on instinct rather than thought.

 

                I liked the book a lot this second time around, though I’m willing to bet that I only read the juicy parts as a teen. The bickering and yammering between the humans wouldn’t have interested me and the human to snake death ratio is way one sided. Kind of like real life. Humans kill snakes way more often than vice-verse. Even though I’d like a lower snake mortality rate, this is a thrilling and well written adventure tale filled with claustrophobic situations and a feeling of dread and hopelessness.

 

                This appears to be Ernsberger’s only novel. He had been the vice president of Berkely Books prior to this book’s publication. The only other credits I can find are for two fantasy anthologies published by Avon in the late Sixties where he was the senior editor at the time.

The Snake by John Godey

The Snake
by John Godey
Berkley 1978
Paperback, 280 pages

 

This book is great.

 

An eleven-foot-long, highly venomous Black Mamba is loose in Central Park in New York. That is the premise. The story itself is more about what goes on in New York City while this animal is at large than the animal itself. The different factions of citizens and their different wants and needs and proposed solutions to the problem are what drive the narrative.

 

Suspenseful, humorous, and dripping with cynical social commentary, The Snake works on many levels. The science is top-notch here; Godey’s research was impeccable. No bullshit, made-up anti-snake propaganda here, just facts that the characters (and the reader, for that matter) choose how they want to take it. Oh yes, snake-hating is on display here. It wouldn’t be realistic if there wasn’t, but there are also people who want to save the innocent animal who is, after all, just trying to survive in a foreign and unknown habitat. The Snake is more of a thriller than a horror novel, but don’t let that deter you.

 

Godey nails it, speaking from every angle. The cops who want to end the search, the mayor who makes impossible demands, the herpetologist who wants to save the snake, the religious group who claim it’s the devil incarnate and the reporters looking for a scoop… everyone gets a believable voice. John Godey (which is the penname of Morton Freedgood) also wrote The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3 and since I’ve only seen (and loved) the film, I really want to read the novel after finishing this. His writing in The Snake is consistently engaging and entertaining. I even laughed out loud a couple of times. That doesn’t happen often. Read this mofo.

This review originally appeared in Midnight Magazine #8, July 2021.

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