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The Cryptid Chronicles #1
Monstyr
Nick Hayes retreats to the forest to escape his demons, but he soon discovers a bigger monster is waiting for him in the woods.
Nick takes a summer job in a National Park after a terrible breakup. However, before he can put the pieces of his life back together with help from a new friend, he uncovers a dark secret. Someone or something is hunting campers in the park. No one is safe. Not adults. Not children. Or the smallest forest dweller. Given his troubled past, Nick would rather die than let another innocent soul go missing.
Can Nick stop the monster before it kills again, or will he become its next victim?
Nick takes a summer job in a National Park after a terrible breakup. However, before he can put the pieces of his life back together with help from a new friend, he uncovers a dark secret. Someone or something is hunting campers in the park. No one is safe. Not adults. Not children. Or the smallest forest dweller. Given his troubled past, Nick would rather die than let another innocent soul go missing.
Can Nick stop the monster before it kills again, or will he become its next victim?
158 pages, Hardcover
Published August 28, 2022
155 people are currently reading
142 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
April 17, 2023
A creature feature using Goat Man in the monster role.
It's plain to see the author is aware of David Paulide's series of books about disappearances in national parks. The protagonist is a young park ranger, who gets roped into the search for a little girl, and gets involved with legendary Goat Man.
Too many dream sequences. Too much teen angst for a 20 something.
...And according to the lore...Goatman is most often seen near bridges.
It's plain to see the author is aware of David Paulide's series of books about disappearances in national parks. The protagonist is a young park ranger, who gets roped into the search for a little girl, and gets involved with legendary Goat Man.
Too many dream sequences. Too much teen angst for a 20 something.
...And according to the lore...Goatman is most often seen near bridges.
May 9, 2024
3.5*
And it could have EASILY been 5 stars for me tbh. But some of Henry Scott’s writing about certain things in this book just really annoyed the piss out of me 😒 BUT the monster story fucking DELIVERS 👌🏼🖤 I loved everything about the monster story! The human/interpersonal stuff… ick. I could have written a better story for the humans and their thoughts/actions/interactions in middle school. Luckily there isn’t a lot of that content in the book and it’s a short read. So, overall I enjoyed the experience! I’m definitely gonna go straight into the second book 🤷🏻♀️
And it could have EASILY been 5 stars for me tbh. But some of Henry Scott’s writing about certain things in this book just really annoyed the piss out of me 😒 BUT the monster story fucking DELIVERS 👌🏼🖤 I loved everything about the monster story! The human/interpersonal stuff… ick. I could have written a better story for the humans and their thoughts/actions/interactions in middle school. Luckily there isn’t a lot of that content in the book and it’s a short read. So, overall I enjoyed the experience! I’m definitely gonna go straight into the second book 🤷🏻♀️
October 31, 2022
New author for me
I love this book and I devoured it! This book broke my reading slump and held my attention. Very good book!
I love this book and I devoured it! This book broke my reading slump and held my attention. Very good book!
October 5, 2025
Really good.
October 29, 2022
Am not sure how I managed to get two consecutive novels about The Goatman, but man! (No, goat! Is it a man, or goat?) ...Any monster who can mimic the voice of a human gives me the willies!
March 26, 2024
A local legend, The Goatman, is responsible for multiple deaths at the campground. A summer resident forest ranger is on the case, backed by his newly formed love interest, in addition to an aging veteran ranger who’s been piecing the whole thing together for years.
I love monsters. I love monster stories. I REALLY wanted this one to be better than what it ended up being. I didn’t hate this book, however it wasn’t exactly one that I’ll have fond memories of either.
First off, I really was intrigued by the goatman concept. I was on board with this one the moment I opened the front cover. The chapters were short, and written fairly straightforward. It was an easy book to push through and finish, and yes there was plenty of the goatman to be had.
However…it took a while to fully comprehend who the main character was, and why I should care about him. Too many characters thrown out at once, none of them really developed as one that stood out from the rest, other than their ages, really had me struggling to know where the character focus was.
Some of the dialogue was excessive and unnecessary, which took me out of the presumed moment. There is dialogue that the reader needs to know, and then there is dialogue that comes across like a scripted actor in an infomercial and just adds words to the books word count.
Situations came up during key moments that had NOTHING to do with the story AT ALL, and then never came to fruition later. One in example was during the final pages of the book as 2 people are racing down a mountain with the goatman literally a few leg strides behind them, and one of the people says to the other, “I gotta go to the bathroom.” Where did that come from and WHY didn’t anyone proofreading this say, “this has zero significance to anything, you need to cut it.”
I have a lot to gripe about with this one, but the bottom line is that it was mildly entertaining and not once did I feel the need to skim read it, and DNFing it was never a consideration. If you go into this one knowing that it’s kind of a B-movie style novel, I think you’ll tolerate some of the clunkiness of the story. I enjoyed it enough that I will eventually be reading the sequel in the near future, and not just because I already own it, so take that for what it’s worth.
⭐️⭐️⭐️ - 🤷🏻♂️
I love monsters. I love monster stories. I REALLY wanted this one to be better than what it ended up being. I didn’t hate this book, however it wasn’t exactly one that I’ll have fond memories of either.
First off, I really was intrigued by the goatman concept. I was on board with this one the moment I opened the front cover. The chapters were short, and written fairly straightforward. It was an easy book to push through and finish, and yes there was plenty of the goatman to be had.
However…it took a while to fully comprehend who the main character was, and why I should care about him. Too many characters thrown out at once, none of them really developed as one that stood out from the rest, other than their ages, really had me struggling to know where the character focus was.
Some of the dialogue was excessive and unnecessary, which took me out of the presumed moment. There is dialogue that the reader needs to know, and then there is dialogue that comes across like a scripted actor in an infomercial and just adds words to the books word count.
Situations came up during key moments that had NOTHING to do with the story AT ALL, and then never came to fruition later. One in example was during the final pages of the book as 2 people are racing down a mountain with the goatman literally a few leg strides behind them, and one of the people says to the other, “I gotta go to the bathroom.” Where did that come from and WHY didn’t anyone proofreading this say, “this has zero significance to anything, you need to cut it.”
I have a lot to gripe about with this one, but the bottom line is that it was mildly entertaining and not once did I feel the need to skim read it, and DNFing it was never a consideration. If you go into this one knowing that it’s kind of a B-movie style novel, I think you’ll tolerate some of the clunkiness of the story. I enjoyed it enough that I will eventually be reading the sequel in the near future, and not just because I already own it, so take that for what it’s worth.
⭐️⭐️⭐️ - 🤷🏻♂️
July 30, 2025
Good Cryptid Fun
Monstyr is a wonderful page turner of Grade B monster fun and that is a compliment. It isn’t great literature, but the tale of Nick, Rex, Epi and company dealing with missing and dead campers in a national park will keep monster lovers wildly entertained.
I look forward to the next book in the series and the continuing adventures of Nick and Epi as they deal with a brand new and deadly cryptid.
Monstyr is a wonderful page turner of Grade B monster fun and that is a compliment. It isn’t great literature, but the tale of Nick, Rex, Epi and company dealing with missing and dead campers in a national park will keep monster lovers wildly entertained.
I look forward to the next book in the series and the continuing adventures of Nick and Epi as they deal with a brand new and deadly cryptid.
August 22, 2025
Nick enjoys his job volunteering as a forest ranger. He has made two friends and gets lots of time to think about his past and how to make his future better. Then a little girl disappears and dark secrets about the park threaten his perception of reality and his life.
Not sure why but I thought this was geared towards a younger audience. Between sexual interludes and gruesome imagery, I was clearly wrong, so horror lovers can rejoice.
Not sure why but I thought this was geared towards a younger audience. Between sexual interludes and gruesome imagery, I was clearly wrong, so horror lovers can rejoice.
August 28, 2023
Loved the creature in this one
I loved it! I expected one type of creature but was surprised by a totally different one. The characters came alive and drew me in quickly. I especially loved that the creature had his own character development. I am so glad the story continues with book 2.
I loved it! I expected one type of creature but was surprised by a totally different one. The characters came alive and drew me in quickly. I especially loved that the creature had his own character development. I am so glad the story continues with book 2.
August 5, 2025
Nasty monster
It had all the elements that I usually like but for some reason it just couldn't hold my attention completely. The goatman was wicked but some unpleasant people. I finally finished after reading a few pages here and there over months. I'm not sure if I'll read the next but I probably will at least give it a chance.
It had all the elements that I usually like but for some reason it just couldn't hold my attention completely. The goatman was wicked but some unpleasant people. I finally finished after reading a few pages here and there over months. I'm not sure if I'll read the next but I probably will at least give it a chance.
February 13, 2023
Great read!
This was one of the best page turners I've read in years. I had a compelling plot and the action never stopped for very long. The author gave us background info on the characters, but avoided making the story about that info.
This was one of the best page turners I've read in years. I had a compelling plot and the action never stopped for very long. The author gave us background info on the characters, but avoided making the story about that info.
May 21, 2023
Very enjoyable story
Especially enjoyed finding the surprise pictures. Great story. What got my attention was one reviewer said this story broke their reader's block. So I jumped in. Great refreshing scary book. Give yourself a treat and read the story.
Especially enjoyed finding the surprise pictures. Great story. What got my attention was one reviewer said this story broke their reader's block. So I jumped in. Great refreshing scary book. Give yourself a treat and read the story.
September 5, 2024
Fast read
Fast paced, well written story with good characters. Obviously very well thought out. Not exactly horror but certainly could be considered supernatural. Twists throughout the story make it that much more interesting. Had a hard time putting this one down.
Fast paced, well written story with good characters. Obviously very well thought out. Not exactly horror but certainly could be considered supernatural. Twists throughout the story make it that much more interesting. Had a hard time putting this one down.
December 12, 2024
I admit I wasn't too sure going into this one, but it was recommended to me as a book that would hold my attention from page one. It certainly did that! It's a twisty, quick-paced story with interesting characters that I enjoyed from beginning to end.
November 10, 2022
Very much a monstyr
Good, intense, not to unbelievable story. Keeps you on the read and not wanting to put it down but it fits in with an excellent X-Files story for sure
Good, intense, not to unbelievable story. Keeps you on the read and not wanting to put it down but it fits in with an excellent X-Files story for sure
March 3, 2023
A fun little monster yarn!
March 16, 2023
Different!
This was a very interesting story. Not one time during reading it, was I bored. It was intense and exciting. Will definitely try other titles by the author.
This was a very interesting story. Not one time during reading it, was I bored. It was intense and exciting. Will definitely try other titles by the author.
October 15, 2023
Cool
This story is great. Lots of scares, heroism, and a wee touch of romance. I'll definitely be looking for more books by this author.
This story is great. Lots of scares, heroism, and a wee touch of romance. I'll definitely be looking for more books by this author.
October 1, 2025
very entertaining.
August 28, 2023
Great for fans of Stephen King, a dash of scifi and tons of suspense. This book keeps you flipping pages!
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews