That Thing At The Zoo Review

That Thing At The Zoo (Deacon Chalk #0.5)

-       James R. Tuck

Kindle Book

Shredding monsters is his stock and trade. He sniffs them out, tracks them down, and corners them. End of story. But when the tables are turned, expect the unexpected. Knowing his enemy is a rule Deacon Chalk swears by. But he's never seen anything like whatever is leaving the Atlanta Zoo's most dangerous predators bloodless, skinned, and hanging high in the treetops. And he's only got until sunrise to keep it from turning the entire city into a slaughterhouse. Now Deacon is in zoo lockdown with a handful of staffers to save. His zookeeper backup has more guts than monster-hunting experience. And the only chance Deacon has to run this thing to holy ground is to unleash his darkest, most uncontrollable instincts

This is an enormously fast-paced, frantic, fun and entertaining read. Deacon Chalk is one hard-assed monster slayer. His family were killed by monsters five years ago and ever since he has dedicated his life to fighting the things in the dark that threaten humanity. When something starts skinning creatures at the zoo, Deacon Chalk is called in to figure out what did it and solve the issue.

Deacon is like Buffy but without the soul searching. He knows who he is and what he does. He fights hard and fast, but he thinks as well. He knows preparation is half the battle so he prepares and has a team that supports him. And once he goes in, he goes in strong and determined. While short, That Thing At The Zoo is a great appetiser for what promises to be a good anecdote to all those with Urban Fantasy fatigue. A hard hero with a trouble past, plenty of action and fantastic writing makes this a great introduction to a new series. In fact I picked up Blood and Bullets, the full length novel as soon as I finished this novella!

Recommended for fans of Jim Butcher and Faith Hunter. 7.5 out of 10