This book
kicks off with a young couple heading out to the ocean for a romantic swim to
end their holiday. That turns out to have been a bad idea since they choose the
very moment that giant killer crabs have invaded the Welsh coast. The pair run
into and are quickly made a meal of by the creatures. Though at the time no one
realizes it. It isn’t until Cliff Davenport shows up to investigate the
disappearance of his nephew that things become interesting. With the help of
Pat, a lady friend he meets and becomes very friendly with right away, Cliff
tries to get help.
Luckily,
he knows people in the military and soon they are on the scene. This leads to
several encounters where they find out that bullets, fire, and even tanks can’t
stop the monsters! Hell, they even try and bury them alive, but the crustacean menace
isn’t going to be killed that easily! Do they stop them? If so what finally
does the trick? Well I’m not going to ruin it here in my review. I mean you
might actually want to read Night of the Crabs.
I say you
might want to read this one for one very important reason. If you are looking
for a serious horror novel that is filled with clever twists and turns, then
this isn’t for you. Night of the Crabs is a very straightforward and simple
outing in the genre of creature feature. The best way that I can describe this
book is that it feels very much like a cheesy drive-in movie. Characters are
introduced. Some of them die quickly in horrible ways and some become heroes
that immediately bed the beautiful ladies. Okay just Cliff falls into that latter
category, but you know what I’m talking about here. The army guys are dumb and
arrogant but get their act together and eventually help the hero kill off the
crabs.
This is
basically every monster movie that I watched from the fifties. I know that my
review of the book is sounding negative, but I don’t mean it that way. See I
love these movies and this kind of story. It is easily digested (pun not
intended!) and is what I consider to be “brain candy”. That is something that
you can enjoy without thinking too hard about it. The writing from Smith isn’t
classic but is passable. The kills are a bit repetitive, but the author doesn’t
shy away from describing the bloody deaths in great detail. As a gore hound I
appreciate that. I wasn’t thrilled with his need to keep revisiting Cliff and
Pat getting busy as it got in the way of the creature mayhem. Then again that
might just be me and my desire for more monsters in my monster stories!
Overall, I
think that this is worth checking out. I was in the mood for something simple
and silly and Night of the Crabs was perfect. I also see that there are another
seven books in the series, so I’ll have something to read when I’m in the mood
for some more killer crustaceans. The actual paperbacks can be a pain to track down
but getting them for the Kindle is a snap. Yeah, I know digital is the devil,
but at least I got to read the book!
© Copyright 2018 John Shatzer
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