Reviews

Crota by Owl Goingback

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arbitrary_abode's review

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adventurous dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

marieintheraw's review against another edition

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5.0

Absolutely creepy gorey and monster horror atmosphere.

casualshino's review against another edition

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4.0

The reason I picked this up is because it won a Bram Stoker award the year I was born, 1996.

A really gore heavy and gruesome monster story. Great tale of ancient evils reawakened to take vengeance on man. The heroes of the story are likable but just shy of being fantastic and lovable. They both felt slightly lack luster. The overall lore and soft world building around this monster was pretty cool.

If Owl Goingback had spent some more time getting me invested in the characters I could see this being a perfect book, but alas… they were killed off too quickly.

micksland's review against another edition

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dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

3 stars

Winner: 1996 Bram Stoker Award for First Novel
Nominee: 1996 Bram Stoker Award for Novel

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This is a great example of pulpy, action-driven 1990s horror. It’s a creature feature and offers excellent scenes of terror in the first half, before falling off a little bit in the end. Everyone reading this book will know exactly what to expect. A few characters are introduced only to be killed off pages later. The plucky local sheriff, aided by the Native American game warden, investigates the creature and eventually builds to a final confrontation. Nothing about the plot is original, but it’s still a fun read.

One criticism is that every single female character is either a murder victim, witness, eye candy, or wife to the major male characters. This is something very common for the genre, but still could have used some improvement.

Other than that, it was a fun read for people looking for a breezy horror novel.

posies23's review against another edition

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4.0

A good, old-fashioned "monster on the loose" novel, with tons of action and suspense. What sets this one apart is the quality of writing, which -- overall -- is very high, and the connections to American Indian legends.

There were a few clunky sections, but it moved along at a great pace and made me want to keep turning the pages until I was done.

Recommended for fans of "monster" books, and people who want something a little different in their horror novels.

I'm definitely going to check out more books by the author.