The Preserve

by Patrick Lestewka

In the summer of 1967, seven men, members of an elite combat unit, embarked on a covert operation in the jungles of Vietnam. Two died. The survivors were forever changed.

Twenty years later, the remaining unit members receive a letter from an anonymous benefactor, along with a check for $50,000 and a promise of more to follow-if they agree to one final mission. Their task is simple: journey to the wilds of northern Canada to track down and kill three escaped convicts. The convicts are starving and unarmed. Easy money. A cakewalk.

But they have no idea what lays in wait on the snow-topped tundras and in the dark forests of the frozen north. Waiting with sharp teeth and slitted eyes and an old score to settle.

They have no idea.

But they will.

Soon.

They have entered...

THE PRESERVE

Genres: Horror, Fiction, Thriller, Splatterpunk, Vampires, Action, Historical

308 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Kelly (and the Book Boar) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Find all of my reviews at: http://52bookminimum.blogspot.com/

“Anytime. Anywhere. Anyhow. I will die for you.”



In 1967 a group of young men were brought together courtesy of Uncle Sam. They became killing machines and part of an elite task force known as the Magnificent Seven . . .



Five made it out of the jungle and went on with life . . . or whatever semblance of one they could make for themselves. Fast forward 20 years to the five men each receiving a letter along with a check in the amount of $50,000 if they attend a meeting – where a promise of an additional $1,000,000 paycheck is offered if they are willing to team up once again and participate in a rescue mission somewhere in the Northwest Territory known as “The Preserve.”

Where to start? Man this IS NOT a book I can recommend to just anyone. Mitchell told me to stop being such a little bitch and let him do this review, but to be 100% honest once he read the following . . .

“Then the thing turned to face us and its eyes, oh Christ those eyes, and its head bluntly misshapen, snouted, with the features of a boar . . .”

Yeah, he was gonzo and declared an automatic 5 Star rating should be given no matter what the remaining 3/4 of the book brought to the table.

So what did the other 3/4 of this book bring to the table? Well, aside from a repeat performance by my breakfast, lunch and dinner it brought one hell of a trip that I won’t soon forget . . . .



The Preserve might not truly be worthy of all of the Stars for most readers, but it’s getting all of them from me. I will forewarn you, you REALLY have to dig war speak. Luckily for me I was raised in a testosterone-driven family and cut my teeth on movies like Full Metal Jacket, Apocalypse Now and Platoon. The characters, the battles, and the atrocities all brought memories of those films to mind. As I hinted about above, you also need to have an iron stomach. This is by far the goriest book I’ve ever read. Nary a page went by without something unthinkable being described in great detail.

I decided to pick this book up because I am a giant pussy and am terrified to write up how much one of my favorite author’s soon-to-be-released novels failed to wow me. However, “Patrick Lestewka” was able to deliver everything I have come to expect from Nick Cutter. Man I love those crazy kanucks . . .



I picked The Preserve up a year or so ago due to the Cutter angle mentioned above (and also due to the $2.99 Kindle price tag). I decided to read it now both because of the Little Heaven fail and because Charlene’s review called it “fun.” Only Charlene would call this fun. She is my go-to gal for all things horror and the best kind of sicko!

[Char · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounded up to 4 stars!

I'm conflicted about this book that I read with my Shelfari group this week. I admit, I probably would not have chosen this one for myself.

This is a story about Vietnam vets and oh so much more. The first half of the book covers both a "now" and a "then" segment for each veteran. I do enjoy that type of format, but I dislike getting bogged down in a bunch of military stuff. Luckily, this book didn't do too much of that.

The second half of the novel is where things started getting wild. I don't like to read much about a book before I start it, and I have to say I was surprised and delighted that this one took the turns that it did. It was unpredictable and fun. A mysterious offer brings the vets together some years later and then, (literally), a whole new chapter begins. I won't go into the plot any further because it should be discovered as the author intended. I will say that the creativity and imagination displayed here were impressive. There were a couple of scenes that were just...unspeakable! (A plus for any horror fan.)

Lastly, I want to mention the outstanding editing. I don't remember seeing one typo or editing mistake. This is something that used to be taken for granted, but in this era of the independent author, I have learned to appreciate great editing more than ever.

All in all, this book impressed me. Even though it was not something I would normally choose to read, due to the military angle, I'm glad that I did! (This is why reading groups rock!) The character development was great and the creativity knocked my socks off. I enjoyed the second portion of the book much more than the first, which resulted in a 3.5 rating, rounded up to 4 stars to allow for the fantastic editing. I look forward to reading more by this author in the future.

This review can be found online at Ravenous Reads: http://ravenousreads.blogspot.com/
and also at Char's Horror Corner: http://charlene.booklikes.com/

[Mar · Rating 3 out of 5]

-Horror
-Fiction, Thriller, Splatterpunk -Some ex-soldiers from the Vietnam War receive a letter promising them an economical reward if they go to the jungle and kill a guy but there is a plot twist + some (ver explicit) bloody stuff, basically
-Themes such as post-war trauma, suspense, action, and survival elements
-Each one of the characters is CRAZY. I don't even know what to think about the interactions within them, I hated them
-Personally, it was a little complex for me to read it from time to time because it would literally explain to me how they opened someone's guts, how the hell am I supposed to know that SPECIFIC vocabulary😭
-If you are looking for an explicit and gorey story that tells you how each layer of your skin disintegrates until all that there’s left is bone, action and bloody things, read this
-Stand-alone
-Ermmm... what the flip!
-I had to take small breaks because there were times where I would get uncomfortable, because lord did I visualize some awful stuff!
-“War is the truth. Not a nice truth but a cold truth.”
-Characters: 3/5
-Plot: 3/5

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a surprise and what a wonderful book, with exceptional storytelling. This deserves a sequel. I just love the idea of a preserve where strange things are kept, and the battle to survive. This is another movie just wishing to be made......

[Kimberly · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were certainly elements here that I really enjoyed. Some of the army details were a little too hard to follow for me, personally. While the author took the time to write about each of the individual key characters, for some reason, only a few really seemed "real" to me. I'm not sure why--perhaps it was just that they stuck out--to me--as the main players in the novel. Halfway through the book, the REAL story begins (aside from occasional flashbacks that serve to illustrate what led the characters to the path they now find themselves on.)

Overall, I found the book to have a unique tone, but the characterization could have been more "memorable" with some of the men, and I would have enjoyed it more if the main part of the novel was introduced much earlier on in the story. Still, I felt that the writing flowed well, and I wouldn't hesitate to try another story from this author.

[Matty · Rating 3 out of 5]

Blend of visceral horror and existential reflection, primarily on the lingering negative impacts of war. This book contains some very graphic violence grounded in the reality of war. It was interesting to read and see a different side of Craig Davidson. Most horror fans are familiar with his writings under the pen name of Nick Cutter (The Troop, The Deep, The Queen). I plan reading The Coliseum next which is loosely connected to this novel.

[David Dalton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this monster/GI's action/horror story. All for under a buck. 4-stars because the book delivered as promised: an exciting monster(s) story. Set in a very isolated corner of Canada, hundreds of miles from any help, a group of ex-special forces soldiers are on the run..........I picked this thriller up from a posting on Goodreads.

[Brandon Baker · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars rounded up. I almost DNFd 20 pages in because of all the ridiculously cringey internal monologues, but I’m happy I didn’t. This is the most graphically, gratuitously violent books I’ve read in recently, and is definitely way more brutal than anything he’s written under his Nick Cutter pseudonym.

TW’s for racism, sexism, homophobia, beastiality, animal cruelty, violence against children, transphobia, graphic violence, and body horror.

[Steve Stred · Rating 4 out of 5]

** Edited as review is now live on Kendall Reviews! **

3.5/5

Most in the horror world know the name Nick Cutter, author of ‘The Troop’. Most even know that Nick Cutter is the pseudonym of Craig Davidson. Many will even know that Craig Davidson also used the name Patrick Lestewka to release a handful of extreme horror releases at the start of the 2000’s. The two most commonly known ones are ‘The Preserve’ and ‘The Coliseum.’ There are some rumours about a book Davidson himself said was so depraved it would never see the light of day, but whether that was going to be a Lestewka or Cutter book appears to be up for debate.

What I liked: the synopsis for this one had me very intrigued. Twenty years after serving in Vietnam together a squad is recruited to track some prisoners in the Canadian Wilderness. This book started out incredibly gritty and grimy and Lestweka’s Vietnam segment would have made an outstanding war-horror book by themselves. Things take an odd turn though, once they have landed in the snowy wild.

What I didn’t like: The turn the book took. This felt like two books mashed into a single release and I kind of wish the crew would’ve just stayed in Vietnam and then reunited to talk old war stories. The action here is great and the carnage is fantastic, but the ‘what’ just turned me off. Some of what happened felt cheesy and it was hard for me to take a few of the folks they battle seriously.

Why you should buy it: two reasons really. The first reason would be the Vietnam segment and what results from that is fantastic. Lestewka had such a great take on PTSD and how they each combated its effects. The second reason would be the ‘historical’ sentiment. If you are a fan of Davidson and/or Cutter, then you’ll want to check this out for curiosities sake. I have ‘The Coliseum’ as well and I’ll be deep-diving into that soon.

[Adam McPhee · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story's about a group of badass Vietnam Vets from an elite unit who went on to work as badass mercenaries, assassins, gamblers, a guy with a flamethrower, etc. and get reunited by a mysterious entity (it's a Wendigo, sort of) who wants them to travel into the Northwest Territories on some false premise, I forget what exactly. I think they're supposed to hunt convicts or something. When they get there they find out it's a nature preserve for paranormal creatures. An unnatural reserve. One by one they get picked off by the monsters and slowly turned into them through werewolf and vampires bites, etc. It gets kind of silly, even with the gore.

[jude · Rating 3 out of 5]

most disgusting book i’ve read yet award goes to:

[Dylan Derby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very ridiculous book, but enjoyable all the same. I would love to see even more of the creatures in the Preserve.

[Dave Edlund · Rating 2 out of 5]

OK, this was a difficult book for me to finish and a difficult decision regarding rating. Here is what I liked: Very unusual plot that involves five ex-special forces soldiers plopped in a desolate section of wilderness in the Northwest Territory. They must fight their way out, battling vampires, werewolves, zombies, and some sort of gigantic mutant insects things.
Here's what I didn't like: Way too much over-the-top extremely graphic violence; gratuitous violence; disgusting, obscene violence that served no purpose in advancing the plot. The ex-special forces guys are not heroes, they are psychopaths, some murderous, none of them good guys. Many times I just skimmed forward.
Too bad, because it could have been so much better.

[Michaela Bergen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the premise of this book (no spoilers but it is right in the title) and found it was executed brilliantly. I'm not savvy at all when it comes to military speak, but I found that didn't impede my comprehension or enjoyment of this book. I did find it a little too busy towards the end, thus the grisly details lost some of their impact, but I think it would play really nicely on film and I would love to see this as a movie.

[Niall Cavanagh · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a brilliant piece of work. The group of characters are so well drawn and inhabit fun little corners of pulp fiction - a bank robber, a degenerate gambler, a hitman, a mob enforcer. It's like if the elite squad from Predator were written by the lovechild of James Ellroy and James Crumley and were then dropped into a Nick Cutter world (aka a Patrick Lestewka world since they are one in the same). The way the story unfolds is as kickass as that sounds.

I also love that Cutter created his own Randall Flagg (King) or Man-of-Many-Faces (McCammon) type evil entity that is cosmic/ambiguous/unexplainable. Felt like a "heat check" on Cutter's part, sort of like an announcement that he should be considered in the King/McCammon class of horror authors. I loved it. In this case the character is literally named "Chaos" and I don't care how on the nose that may seem - the villain rules. Also a special shoutout to the character of "Answer" - a wicked piece of work that really shows off Cutter's skills as a writer. In fact, all of the characters were awesome. I wanted to spend more time with each of them.

I mentioned Predator earlier and reading this really did bring me back to being 12 years old and watching the VHS of that movie constantly in my dad's basement. This novel felt like a spiritual sequel (and improvement on) to Predator in a lot of ways and it was such a blast being in this world, with these characters. One of my all-time favourite books.

[George Dunn · Rating 4 out of 5]

QOTD: what's the GROSSEST book you've ever read?

"I often praise Nick Cutter for his ability to create such visceral passages. Descriptions that crawl under your skin and set up camp. The infamous turtle scene in “The Troop,” is permanently etched into my brain, there’s some gnarly insect horror in “Little Heaven,” that continues to make me cringe to this day, and his upcoming novel “The Queen,” has a death just as grisly and memorable- that has already taken permanent residence in my head. Arguably an author that flirts with aspects of the extreme, some may wonder what pandemonium, what hell, would be unleashed if Cutter took the plunge, and embraced the splatter. Due to its scarcity, few know that he already has. “The Preserve,” (written under Craig Davidson’s little-known second pseudonym- Patrick Lestewka) is a brutal, bizarre and downright blasphemous bloodbath, painting themes of morality and the balance of order and chaos with a gore-dipped brush. You can’t get ahold of this book without paying an ungodly amount of money, that no novel is really worth, but should you get the opportunity to read it, take it. "
READ MY FULL REVIEW via the link in my bio, highlights or by going to fanfiaddict.com.

[Dave Kirschner · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book was short, and slow to start. The first third of the book was tough to get excited about, the characters were all kind of unlikable and their introductions were dumped in a hurry.

But once this got going, holy hell it got going. This was visceral and gratuitous on it's violence, sincerely terrifying and the deaths were equal parts tragic and surprising, and the pacing refused to let you catch your breath.

The weird things that showed up later were way more interesting than the monsters when they first start, and I'd like to have been dealing with them the whole time, instead of the vampires and werewolves. But the book was quick, and using relatable villains is a good way to skip explanations.

Some of the monsters were similar to the things in Little Heaven by Nick Cutter, because they're both pseudonyms of the same author, and I will seek out and read everything he's written under any name, I can't think of anyone who writes horror, and by that the real horrible gut wrenching scenes where the thing in the dark finally catches someone, better.

This was a 5 star book held a little because of the slow start and rushed middle.

[Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I almost finished the book last Friday, then I couldn’t fight the tiredness, my illness brings, enough to continue.

And I did not want to spoil the ending with mad fits of nodding dog syndrome.

What’s a day or so going to matter when the book has been waiting for me to read it since the day it was published.

I loved this book. It felt honest to me. I loved the writing style, and the hardcore nature of the subject matter. It’s a very graphic book, but that’s the awful truth of war. It also had some of the most realistic portrayals of monsters I’ve read, and I’ve read about a lot of monsters.

As a child, I always hated films and books that lied about the ugliness of death. A clean sword and bloodless clothing is just not truthful.

I can’t wait to see where this author takes me on our next journey together.

[E. Artyom · Rating 2 out of 5]

В первой своей половине неплохой хоррор на военную тематику класса В. Не сказать, что оригинальный, но сделан умело, динамично и даже с интригой. Чуть ли не на четвёрку претендовал.
Чуть за середину злодейский злодей решает обнародовать свои планы, и довольно гармоничная до того картина романа стремительно разваливается под топорным обнаружением деталей, что автор полагает вот-это-поворотом. Минус балл.
Но на этом роман, увы, ещё не кончается. После ряда смертей (где-то обоснованных, где-то не очень) приходит время череды решений персонажей, отсутствие вменяемой обоснованности у которых опять-таки отнимает балл.
Разве что концовка не завалилась окончательно, чтобы корабль вырулил на кол. Корабль вырулил на двойку. Надеюсь, что перевод будет не таким унылым, как сам роман.

[Brooke · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s been a while since a book blew me away. Though it’s not surprising it’s from this writer. Don’t recognize his name? Well it’s actually a pseudonym for one of my favorite authors of all time, Craig Davidson aka Nick Cutter. I loathe war stories. In all forms of media I find them to be the least interesting, but not here. This book is not all that it seems. It is actually a splatter punk novel. If you are into gruesome stories with well rounded characters and a cosmic horror twist this one’s for you. I suggest going in blind for the highest enjoyment. Easily in my top 5 fav books I’ve read so far. I adore this book.

[NewsomeThings · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5
Predator meets Cabin in the Woods with just a sprinkle of some Magnus Archives.
Say what you want about this book, but it was NEVER boring. I found myself flabbergasted and unable to predict what would happen next (as someone who does not read book summaries, it kind of felt like being told im sliding down a laundry chute, but landing in a furnace) There was *always* something happening, it never let up for a moment. I can see why not everyone would enjoy it, but the pure entertainment factor needs to be acknowledged.

[Donnie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Original. Outstanding . A must read for lovers of horror. A military unit is called in to contain Vietnam era enemy. they find instead a village wiped out by a sentient, shape-shifting monster. The beat him on his home ground, then go back to civilian life. Years later they are contacted and persuaded by lure of money that could put their wayward lives back on track, to bring their skill-set to bear to hunt dangerous prey. Not realizing that they are the prey and may be the hunted.

[Brad Gosselin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Better in concept then execution

Got a little preachy and idealistic towards the end. The Villian, per say, has an appearance and monologues away any tension or surprises. Basic monsters nothing too creative or mind expanding. Battle field stuff is descriptively gross and violent. Transitions in chapters are choppy at times.

[Michael Noble · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting hybrid between a war story and an extreme horror novel

This book starts out as a war drama and takes its time to build up the characters before venturing in to some extremely strange and graphic places. Intense scenes and gory at times but and surprisingly philosophical. I would recommend to fans of David Morrell and Jack Ketchum.

[Conner Burnley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish I could Give this a 4.5. I really enjoyed this book. The character work in this book is amazing and makes you feel for fundamentally bad people. This is an insanely violent and over the top story that gets surprisingly deep in the last 3rd.

[Brian Mattina-Chmiel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this in a couple days, loved the start, the ending came very abruptly and felt rushed. One of the authors earliest works and it feels like he’s still working on world building. Worth a read. Very quick with a great concept. Good luck finding it though as it is out of print

[James Barrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was great. I'm impressed the author fleshed out so many different characters in only 236 pages. Reminded me a bit of the movie Predator.

[Bradlee Van Ravenswaay · Rating 4 out of 5]

It would have been 5 stars if not for the bit with the donkey.. and the section that followed…

[Carmen Mclain · Rating 3 out of 5]

Better the second half then the first imo. Maybe not the best book to read in a slump as it took me essentially 16 days to read a 150 pg book.

[Loretta · Rating 4 out of 5]

😳😳😳😳