Book Review: The Nightcrawler by P.A. Sheppard
Title: The Nightcrawler
Author: P.A. Sheppard
Release date: March 18th, 2021
Thanks to P.A. Sheppard for sending me a digital copy of this, his Aphotic Realm 2021 release. I’ve had this on my radar for a while, but as life goes, I’ve been slammed and have had this one languishing on my ‘To Buy’ list for far too long.
It wasn’t until Sheppard reached out asking about a post I had regarding Splatterpunk Award nominations that we got chatting and he ended up sending me two of his books.
I went into this one completely blind. Sometimes you just need to do that to let the book speak to you and I was confident this would be the case.
What I liked: The book opens up thick in the heart of the action. Caz and her father are bunkered in an old bank vault. The world as we know it has ended, strange creatures have emerged in the night, and during the day, roving gangs have taken over the streets. In a way it reminded me of del Toro’s ‘The Strain’ tv series (although these things are not vampires).
Things ramp up as Caz and her father are targeted by a gang and Caz discovers a shocking thing about her father. Sheppard doesn’t hold back and as Caz struggles to go on, this read goes from a ‘stuck in a room’ survival story, to one almost akin to McCarthy’s ‘The Road.’ Only with creatures.
Caz makes her way towards her families cabin in the woods, a place they’d been prepping just in case the world ended and along the way she meets up with a man, a woman and a baby. It’s with these folks she is able to confront what she’s experienced and looks towards the future.
Sheppard keeps the entire story dark, dirty and the reader is planted firmly on the edge of their seat throughout. It ends with an uplifting finale, but one that still allows for further books in the future.
What I didn’t like: At first, we learn nothing of these creatures and we’re led to believe they are Nightcrawlers of some kind, but as the story goes on, there’s a shift where they’re only referred to as roaches. I found it a bit jarring and it kind of took away some of the eeriness of just what they were.
As well, this one treads very familiar waters with a plot that has been done a million times. Luckily, Sheppard makes the characters relatable and ones you want to root for, otherwise, the survival/creatures take over aspect wasn’t anything you wouldn’t expect.
Why you should buy this: If you love post-apocalyptic-survive-at-all-costs-because-crazy-creatures-have-taken-over horror, look no further. Sheppard’s created a very intriguing character with Caz, and as I mentioned, it would be great to see what happens after the ending here.
Good stuff.
4/5
