Customer Reviews

Cannibals

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I came across this book on Horrorweb, where it got a good review, so I decided to give it a shot. It's really fast-paced with a cool bunch of characters. It reads like a summer movie.

A bunch of teens are thrown off a boat and wind up on an island where they have to escape from cannibals and find a way off the island. It's pretty realistic in that not everyone gets off alive. There are some jokes, a lot of action, and you really care about the characters. They are 3 dimensional, and will probably remind you of people you know.

Rex Bowman's Cannibals, although technically a "young adult" novel, is a compact, ruthless thriller that will entertain cannibal fans of all ages. The basic plot is simple as can be: six teens are stranded on an island. With cannibals. Mayhem ensues. And this is not "high adventure" mayhem, but down-and-dirty, brutal bedlam. As one character notes, being shipwrecked can "sound so wonderful and exciting when it's happening in a book. Just the opposite when it's happening to you. In real life it's miserable and scary and all you feel is your hunger and thirst." Here, the teens' travails don't sound like fun at all; indeed, the novel's likable protagonists, fearsome villains, unabashed nastiness, and even its relative brevity (222 smallish pages) all work together to make Cannibals a horrifyingly satisfying nightmare.

I read the Rex Bowman book this week. It's an easy, fun read that's full of suspense, entertainment and a sense of humor. I'm looking forward to more work from him.