Book Review: Nocturnal Creatures by Robert P. Ottone
Title: Nocturnal Creatures
Author: Robert P. Ottone
Release date: October 4, 2022
If you’ve followed my reviews, you’ll know I have a soft spot for the big fella. You know who – Bigfoot, the big stink, Sasquatch, the one who woops in the night! I love squatch fiction and having recently read a number of Ottone’s work, I was excited to dive into his newest, ‘Nocturnal Creatures.’
You never know what you’ll get with Bigfoot fiction (and the same with movies). You could get heartfelt nature pieces, blood-and-guts gore, or simply a combination of the two. What was Ottone going to do with it?
What I liked: The story follows a family, living on their farm, trying to make ends meet, when something seemingly arrives and begins to steal from their orchard. Our main character, Cassie, a teen girl who is struggling with her brother gone, overseas fighting in a war, finds an unlikely friendship and growing relationship with the new boy, Darwin, who has moved with his mom to their extra house on the property.
The story progresses quickly from when Darwin and his mom arrive to when everything hits the fan. The creatures descend, the family tries to defend itself and a plan is hatched to get rid of them once and for all. Ottone does a solid job of ramping up the action, while also painting a vivid picture of what the creatures look like.
I really enjoyed this take on the struggle between a creature losing its habitat and interacting with humans who’re encroaching on their territory. Cassie is a really solid character and one that I would hope we get to revisit in the future when she’s older.
What I didn’t like: There’s a couple of minor things. The first is that the entirety of the characters within the book seem to just accept that the creatures exist. It happens so rapidly that it made for a jarring moment.
The second is the ending. A lot happens and within that it kind of felt like a deflating moment instead of a solid finale. A key familial character just disappears and I didn’t find those who remained to react like I thought they would. As well, several others either die or are grievously wounded, but it happens so quickly it lost some of its impact.
Why you should buy this: If you love creatures in the woods raining tons of carnage down on those around them, look no further. This one rips along from start to finish and the squatches never let up. Ottone attacks each section of the book with a crazy grin on his face and you almost feel like he was laughing like a loonatic the entire time he wrote this.
This was a fun one!
4/5
