The stars have aligned and I have gotten back to doing book reviews (or whatever you would call this)
I got an eBook version of this book in return for an honest review, so here it is:
I have not read all the previous Clickers books, only the first one (fair warning, if you are planning to read that one, do not read the introduction in Clickers Never Die, there might be a big spoiler in it, I learned that the hard way)
Anyways, back to the book. quick synopsis: Its World War two, place is Guadalcanal, the US marines are launching their offensive against the Japanese forces, but they will face off with more than just soldiers, the clickers are rising from the sea and with them the dark ones. This is the true story of what really happened.
Who does not love a creature-feature? And what is more creature-feature than the eponymous clickers, the big crabs with poisonous stingers with a hunger for human flesh?? Put them in a battle during WW2, what do you have then? Well, what you have then is a heck of a good time! The story itself is fast paced, I was 30% into the book and I was and hoping for a breather. There is plenty of action and gore in this story. This book features a plethora of interesting characters, most you should not get attached to, they might not make it (this is not a spoiler, it is a Clicker book set in WW2 after all).
This story consists of three interwoven story lines. There is the story of Dr, Custer, that is set nowadays. He is trying to prove climate change by the re-emergence of previously thought extinct creatures. We follow him on a road trip (of sorts) with a young girl named Jade.
Then there is the storyline where majority of the book takes place, that is during the invasion of Guadalcanal, where we follow Alcide Robichaude and his fellow marines trying to defeat the Japanese forces stationed there. Though Alcide is not your regular marine, he might have some experience with certain sea dwelling creatures from before. Finally, we have a storyline featuring a stranded seaman with the nickname “Doodles”, we follow his strange friendship with a creature he has named “Pincy”, whatever could that be?
For me, the most well-developed characters where Dr, Custer, Alcide and “Doodles”, but that is not surprising considering that the story are centred around these characters.
There is plenty of nods to the first Clicker book, as well as a reference to its authors. Also, quite a few marines with similar names of contemporary horror authors, see if you can catch them all!
What I find fascinating with this book, is that even though it is a collaboration, you cannot distinguish who have written what part. Usually, in my experience, there is rather clear divide in who have written what. No trace of this in Clickers Never Die. So Kozeniewski & Young must have similar style. I am embarrassed to say that I haven’t read any of their work before. Even though I have a few of their books on my shelf, collaborations and individually written books. I see now that I need to remedy this. Asap!!
So read this book if you love:
- Creature features
- Horror set during war
- Lots of action
- Lots of gore
- Big ass crabs
- Bigger ass crabs
- Off set humour
- Books that features only one strange sex scene
Format: kindle
Page count: 409