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Tuesday 9 April 2019

SAVAGE SPECIES by Jonathan Janz

Jesse thinks he’s caught a break when he, Emma (the girl of his dreams), and her friend are assigned by their newspaper to cover the opening weekend of a sprawling new state park. But the construction of the park has stirred an evil that has lain dormant for nearly a hundred years, and the three young people—as well as every man, woman, and child unlucky enough to be attending the Algonquin Falls grand opening—are about to encounter the most horrific creatures to ever walk the earth.


This book is a Flame Tree Press ARC I've been meaning to read for ages, but just didn't find the right time. Until now. 

Jesse, Emma and Colleen are heading into the new state park to cover the opening weekend for their newspaper. Jesse sees this as a great opportunity to get closer to his co-worker, Emma. But when the park is overrun by hideous creatures, the trio is going to be lucky to escape with their lives.

Charly is married to an arrogant man who's more concerned with bedding his assistants than taking care of his kids. When her baby is taken by a creature, Sam the builder is the only one she can depend on.

As the monsters spread their violence all over the state park and the survivors are forced into rocky caves, it gets harder to see the light at the end of the tunnel...

O.M.F.G. Seriously. Wow. Yikes!

After finishing this insane ride, I need a moment to take a few deep breaths and clear my head. 😳

This is a creature feature at its best. Not only are the Children and Night Flyers gross, terrifying and unstoppable, but the action is exactly the same: terrifying and unstoppable.

I started the book slowly, trying to take my time so I could enjoy the full experience one crazy scene at a time. But once I reached the halfway mark, I couldn't stop. I wanted to keep going, wanted to race to the end so I could find out how everything was going to turn out. 

And boy, am I glad I surrendered myself fully to it because I was not disappointed.

The story is told in multiple POVs that really give the reader the full scope of everyone and shows how everything unfolds. It really gets into the heart and mind of all the characters, their motivations, inner thoughts and deepest desires. It's also a great combination of relationship drama--a marriage falling apart and the resulting love triangle, an impossible co-worker crush that will surely go nowhere--and outrageous violence. The creatures are horrid and don't stop. Not to mention how awesome the portrayal of human endurance, strength and strangers coming together comes across.

Asides from the amazing horror, this story is so well written. It would've been so easy to just focus on the merciless killing and bloodshed, to shock the reader at every step. Wait a second... THAT'S exactly how it goes. LOL. BUT, in spite of that this book has so much heart. 

It's filled with characters that are fully fleshed out and have real lives with shitty everyday problems. They have their own personalities and quirks, but are also very likeable. So when the casualties start adding up, you really feel the losses.

Well, for most of them because there are a few gross guys in the bunch that deserved what they got. 😮

Savage Species is an action-packed, violent, gruesome and absolutely awesome horror story. The monsters are relentless and grotesque. The characters are flawed and interesting. The story is intriguing and moves at the perfect pace. I was hooked from the beginning and couldn't put it down because the tension kept me on the edge of my seat all the way through. Oh, plus I was enjoying the hell out of it.

This book is balls to wall action, violence and excitement. I was ADDICTED! It's a total gorefest, packed with so much more. But, it's definitely NOT for the faint of heart.

Jonathan Janz has done it again. I loved this so much and thought this story was so excellent, I'm not sure this review will do this book justice.





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