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A review by paulabrandon
Monstrosity by Edward Lee
3.0
Clare Prentiss, formerly in the Army, is now homeless. She was raped by the commander's son, and the whole thing was covered up and she was dishonourably discharged for being a liar. However, salvation comes in the form of a new security chief job at a cancer clinic that has developed an exciting cure for an aggressive form of cancer. The job comes with a much-needed salary and its own cottage on the beach.
Sound too good to be true? Of course it is. There are frogs, snakes and cockroaches all far bigger than they're supposed to be - some with fangs! Clare wonders what happened to three employees who used to work at the clinic who suddenly vanished. She starts experiencing erotic thoughts and dreams, and becomes lustful for Dellin, the guy who recruited her. And there seems to be a deformed rapist monster picking off local rednecks who trespass on the facility's grounds!
This was a decent horror romp, with something always going on, so it was never boring. It isn't inundated with new characters every chapter. I also appreciated that while there was rape in this novel, it never came across as lurid and exploitative, as it usually does with an author like, say, Richard Laymon, whose work I otherwise quite like. It is never described in any detail and generally actually has relevance to the plot. There was plenty of gore and violence, like any good horror book!
However, as much as things were happening, it still felt like the book was spinning its wheels for most of its length. The explanation as to what is going on only comes in the last 50 pages or so. Up until then, it's just characters seeing mutated creatures and animals, and the hulking monster creature going after the locals. It felt somewhat repetitive at times, and I occasionally just wished for the book to get to the point!
Other than that, there's nothing remarkable here, but it does offer a decent helping of horror and manages to be consistently entertaining.
Sound too good to be true? Of course it is. There are frogs, snakes and cockroaches all far bigger than they're supposed to be - some with fangs! Clare wonders what happened to three employees who used to work at the clinic who suddenly vanished. She starts experiencing erotic thoughts and dreams, and becomes lustful for Dellin, the guy who recruited her. And there seems to be a deformed rapist monster picking off local rednecks who trespass on the facility's grounds!
This was a decent horror romp, with something always going on, so it was never boring. It isn't inundated with new characters every chapter. I also appreciated that while there was rape in this novel, it never came across as lurid and exploitative, as it usually does with an author like, say, Richard Laymon, whose work I otherwise quite like. It is never described in any detail and generally actually has relevance to the plot. There was plenty of gore and violence, like any good horror book!
However, as much as things were happening, it still felt like the book was spinning its wheels for most of its length. The explanation as to what is going on only comes in the last 50 pages or so. Up until then, it's just characters seeing mutated creatures and animals, and the hulking monster creature going after the locals. It felt somewhat repetitive at times, and I occasionally just wished for the book to get to the point!
Other than that, there's nothing remarkable here, but it does offer a decent helping of horror and manages to be consistently entertaining.