Spear Creek

by Steven J. Taylor

Retired couple Paul and Margaret Lewis are about to see their dream trip turn into a nightmare. All their life, Paul and Margaret have held a lifelong ambition to replace the bricks and mortar of the family home for a life on wheels traveling across Australia. Shortly into the journey, however they hit a roadblock when a pandemic strikes. The government calls for a full lockdown, and Paul and Margaret are forced to find into the nearest, and only, place of refuge available to a dilapidated farm in Spear Creek. Surrounded by beautiful redgums and quiet mountain ranges, Spear Creek should be the ideal place to wait out a lockdown. But between a rude owner with strange rules, and the horribly mutilated kangaroo corpse found on the grounds, there is something distinctly sinister about the place. Tensions mount on the farm as their fellow guests act out against the owner’s strict rules. But as the confrontations escalate and threaten to spill into violence, an even deadlier threat lies in wait below the muddy waters of the farm’s dam. It will answer to the riddle of what happened to this once thriving farm, but is it a tale Paul and Margaret can escape Spear Creek to tell?

Genres: Horror

149 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 21, 2020

Reviews

[Peter Topside · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars. A near perfect creature feature! Steven J Taylor crafted a really unique horror story here. And I loved how he didn't start off with the creature as the main antagonist. The big reveal was held off, making it feel much more important. And even its subsequent appearances were also kept minimal. So good creative decisions there by the author. I also liked how our leads, Paul and Margaret, were depicted as older, making only references to aged TV shows and such, giving their characters credibility and accuracy. The subplot concerning Paul and his racism was handled well. I'm not totally sold on how Matsui was utilized for that purpose, and feel some of the uglier scenes with her needed some additional padding to keep it all relevant. This would have made the resolution at the very end much more powerful. I also wanted to know more about the giant Yabby. Was this just a freak of nature, or was it a victim of some type of environmental accident or pollution issue? That may have been referenced briefly, but I don't remember seeing it. And it didn't have to be anything extravagant, but even just a brief explanation alluding to the cause would have been good. Something like a newspaper clipping that Paul saw in Bennett's house while he was snooping would have sufficed. But I loved the originality of this creature. Now on Bennett, he was written to be disliked from the minute he showed up, with his vulgar and aggressive language and actions. I won't spoil anything, but with what he turned out to be, I feel like a more cerebral and soft-spoken Bennett may have worked out a little better. This nasty stranger just intimidating and threatening his guests, having them suspend any hesitations on the supposed pandemic and even paying him oodles of money for supplies, not making any immediate attempt to flee, was a little hard to believe. If he was more softspoken and suspiciously attentive, it would have made a bit more sense. I was also very relieved to read about Maisy at the end, too. So beyond some creative adjustments that could have fine-tuned an already very strong story, backed by an incredibly talented author, this was a very positive reading experience.

[Michael Beach · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable, quick read. The first two-thirds ficus around the tensions between characters, particularly the enigmatic Chris and the farm owner Bennett. But other strange things are afoot and just as events come to a peak, the story dives into a white knuckle ride to the finish.

[Carolina Vargas · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really like this book!! It keep me hooked from the start. The characters were likeable and i liked their interactions, from how Paul and Margaret were together and how they related to the younger cast. More suspense than horror, i found the book engaging from start to finish.

[Julianna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked the book, it kept me engaged and at the end of each chapter left me wanting more. It’s an easy read and also an easy story to visualise what’s happening. I really like the twist at the end.

[Scooby2]

DNF

[Terry and dog · Rating 4 out of 5]

Add one more killer creature to Australia's horror creature list! Great story with good characters that have some very special problems. It went along very smoothly with just the right amount of suspense until they all start having to fight for their lives. Extremely enjoyable.