CREATURE
HUNTER SHEA ***
When Andrew suggests a get away to a wood cabin by the lake, Kate is excited to spend some time away hoping it will distract her from her life of pain and health professionals trying to cure her host of autoimmune diseases. But something is lurking outside of their idyllic cottage…
Creature certainly is an unusual concept for a horror novel and is refreshingly very character driven. The main characters are indeed interesting; Kate is an unwell woman, almost bedridden by a host of auto-immune diseases that are eating away at her from the inside and Andrew is her doting husband who is trying his best to look after and support his wife but has anger issues and a drink problem. Kate’s portrayal in particular is heart breaking and a unique point of view. Although they are both interesting, the characters both feel a little two dimensional at times which makes the first part of the book feel a little repetitive before the supernatural elements kick in.
The second half of the book feels almost too fast paced by contrast. I found myself having to go back over certain parts as I missed vital information that was buried and skipped over in a previous paragraph. The supernatural element, although interesting, confused me greatly and left me with more questions than it answered. I actually thought I had guessed what was going to happen two thirds into the book and was a little disappointed that my guess was better than the actual outcome, in my opinion!
One thing I feel I have to mention is the incorrect first aid which is given in this book which annoyed me greatly. This doesn’t give away any spoilers but when Kate is having a seizure we are assured that Andrew knows exactly how to deal with it and has done so many times before. He then proceeds to stick a book in her mouth and enlist someone’s help in holding her down – two things you must NEVER do to someone having a seizure. Although this is a small point I do feel that putting misinformation in books like this can be dangerous as a reader may subconsciously remember it and then try to use it at a later date harming the person they think they are helping. The treatment isn’t essential to the plot and so could easily be changed or gotten rid of completely.
Overall Creature is an interesting concept for a horror novel but I feel it fell a little flat in being slow and repetitive in its beginning and conversely too fast paced and confusing in its ending. Unfortunately it hasn’t impressed me enough to break my 3 star max on horror genre books which seems to be the trend at the moment for me. Thank you to NetGalley and Flame Tree Press for a copy of the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Creature-Fiction-Without-Frontiers-Hunter-ebook/dp/B07GJVWWWR/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_pdt_img_top?ie=UTF8
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