Customer Reviews

Clickers

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have just recently started reading JF Gonzalez, and I have to say that I am definitely sold! As other reviewers have said, Clickers is an old-school creature-feature tale. Gonzalez knows how to shock, with just the right amount of gore, and the right amount of suspense. Yes, as another reviewer stated, there are some spelling errors and this book could have used a better editor, but that really did not detract from the story at all - at least not in my opinion. The story was engaging, so I was able to overlook any minor editing problems. I look forward to the sequel, and I would just love to see Clickers made into a feature film.

Reading this, I could almost close my eyes and see myself back at the old [route] '66 drive-in in st. louis watching a triple bill of some good-old fashioned b-horror movies. in "clickers" phillipsport, maine is being over run by giant crab-like creatures that eat everything in their path [ cats, people, etc.] but the catch is they have not come to the coast town to look for dinner, they are fleeing from even more horrible creatures from the sea, called "the dark ones", who come ashore looking for a meal. and they find it in abundance. this is not the first time this has happened, this town has a "history" of this sort of thing. I love all types of horror, but this has to be my favorite. I would love to see more of this gory, no one is safe, take no prisoners, horror. subtle this is not.

Only the term "transcendent" could do justice to J.F. Gonzalez's and the late Mark Williams' "Clickers". Labelled by the authors as an hommage to 3-D B-Movie Creature from the such-and-such lagoon flicks, "Clickers" quickly passes the thresshold of such cheezy monster fare into the realm of high-quality hard core, queasy-stomach-churning Splatterpunk.

The protagonist, an author of cheezy horror novels himself, moves to the lovely vacation spot of Phillipsport, Maine for some peace before starting his next novel. However, soon after his arrival, the town is confronted with an infestation of acid-dripping, over-sized mutant crabs (affectionately dubbed "Clickers") that emerge from the sea. Though the crabs' razor sharp claws, tremendous numbers and extremely painful poisonous barbs (which liquify your innards and turn you into a quivering puddle of crab lunch) do tremendous damage to the community and cause horrendous casualties among the innocent folk of Phillipsport, the Clickers' arrival is only a precursor to the infestation of an even more horrible, ancient race of "Dark Ones" (to use a Lovecraftian turn of phrase). The townspeople, continually diminished in numbers, are thrust into more and more terrifying and desparate situations by their antagonists as they endeavor to leave the community for safer inland territories.

Yes, giant man-eating crabs and slimy sea creatures are the stuff of the saturday matinee popcorn flick. And yes, we have the strong protagonist endeavoring to lead his woman, her child and the chummy local kooks to safety just as we do with every Harryhausen giant ant from the desert/mutant squid attacking the golden gate movie. But there the similarity ends.

The authors spend a considerable time fleshing out their considerable cast of characters, whether protagonists or jerks, smart, scrappy survivors or pathetic idiots. We see these people at their local haunts, in the privacy of their homes, in their work places. We begin to identify with their wants, their limitations, their dreams. And then all of a sudden these characters are horrifically violated, subjected to terrible pain and extrme anxiety, all in the places they felt safe so few pages before. Their varying conceptions of the nature and supremacy of humanity are simultaneously and irrevocably rendered null by the arrival of these ingeniously imagined creatures.

The agitation and terror of the work is doubled by the nature of the antagonists-- these are not supernatural creatures of evil, or visiting upon the collective guilt of Phillipsport, but are simply following the natural dictates of hunger and preying on the most defenseless food source available. There is no malice involved in their attacks, which makes the story all the more difficult and sad to consider. Humans we care about and recognize as individuals are inescapably rendered into walking sacks of lunch meat. Even innovative, quick thinking, well-armed, aggressive humans can do little to stop the onslaught (and in truth only serve to draw unwanted attention to themselves).

As the violence and gore are ratcheted up from chapter to chapter (especially when awful deaths happen to children and families in their pathetic scramble to escape from Phillipsport), this thematic ambiguity will more and more deeply unsettle the reader. All hope is extirpated from the community (except for the chance working of fate)-- something that most people, being semi-optimists in the power of our rational, intelligent minds, might find very hard to accept.

A masterwork of modern horror (think of the film "Deep Rising" but on a grander, more serious scale), "Clickers" will quickly ensure its primacy on the shelves of any discriminating horror reader.

A must read!

N.B. As a work of such extreme violence, this is not literature for the squeamish or for children.

I wanted to like this book, I really did. Killer crabs, the promise of violence reminiscent of 80's grindhouse horror, crazy pulp type stuff that would have me chuckling at the craziness of it all.

Here's the primary problem with this book, and the reason I could not finish it. Editing. From the very first page, grammatical errors were the name of the game. Missing words, screwy punctuation, etc. Now I've read many an underground press book in my time, but this was quite noticable.

However, the real issue is the lack of proof-read prose. I am not a professional writer by any means, although I have written my share of stories. But I think even an average reader would not be able to get through the first 20 pages without finding numerous sentences that could be reworded to form smoother prose. Words used repeatedly in succesive paragraphs, sentences begun with the same word 3 or 4 times in a row (not for effect, just out of laziness)... it was an unbaearable read because I wanted the writing to improve so I could get to the conclusion of a pretty cool story.

I don't know why the other reviews here leave this book with an average of 5 stars, but it makes me seriously question the authenticity of their authors. I am not nitpicking here, this book has serious problems with the grammar therein, and if someone would just take the time to make a final draft out of it, I think it has a lot of potential.

Wait for the 2nd edition :(

4 AND ½ STARS

While you may ask yourself what a new book about giant killer crabs can bring to the table that author and crab legend Guy N. Smith hasn't already done -- or Roger Corman's 1957 Attack of the Crab Monsters? Well, the answer is - plenty! Clickers is an incredibly exciting ride with some wonderful new twists to the savage animals. Authors J.F. Gonzalez and Mark Williams create their own mythos, and throughout the book, propel you into a brutal war with some very nasty (and hungry) creatures.

The authors keep up a fast pace, while at the same time, create some memorable characters with depth and insightful details. The authors balance action and dialogue very nicely and never linger too long on any one scene. Some of the descriptions are downright disgusting and you will love every bit of it and ask for more. Clickers is one of the rare books that feels truly inspired and I'm very glad to know that there are at least two sequels with possibly more on the way. While this tale might not have reinvented the crab-wheel, it was loads of fun to read.

Gonzales and Williams lead the reader on a crustatious feast-fest that is sure to delight any 'B' movie fanatic. But just as the the "demons of the sea " retreat, the real horror is about to begin. Without a doubt you will enjoy this gem of a story and crave for more.

While rough in places, Clickers is a fast-paced enjoyable read that is a throwback to the kind of novels I read as a kid. You know, The Rats and Slugs and books with icky monsters that tore things up and ate people. Clickers is obviously a tribute to that kind of story.

Rick Sycheck is a horror writer who moves to a quaint little village on the coast of Maine. No sooner does he arrive but he runs over a giant crab. Within hours, hundreds of these "Clickers" are invading town. They have venemous stings that reduce their victims to bubbling mush, and they eat everything in their path. Rick and the villagers band together to fight them off and...as they say in those old movies and commercials...but wait there's more! Something is hunting the Clickers!

To go further would spoil the story further. I loved this book. I rate it four stars because it could have used better editing, but don't let that distract you. Clickers is good, solid fun all the way around!

I took a gamble on purchasing _Clickers_, as it looked to me like a self-published job possibly awash in awful prose and riddled with irritating typos. Fortunately, when the product arrived I wasn't disappointed. The book is a handsome and professional-looking item, on high-quality paper.

I was even happier when I started reading. In no time at all, people in a small coastal fishing town are getting attacked and killed by these bizarre crab-scorpion abominations that are arising, inexplicably, from the Atlantic Ocean. The deaths are lurid, over-the-top, and fiendishly gruesome--standard B-movie horror fare, but the difference is this: you don't have to worry about a low-budget studio's cheap special effects lessening the horror for you or leavening it with a chuckle. Fiction is the theater of the mind; your own imagination, aided by the descriptions, will furnish all of the special effects you need.

Without giving too much away, here's a sample of the kind of macabre carnage that the novel provides: A lobster fisherman, reaching down into the water to retrieve one of his traps, is stung in the arm by one of the eponymous creatures riding atop the trap. Gradually, as the hapless fisherman attempts to fend off an invading army of terrier-sized crab-scorpions armed not only with stingers but with razor-sharp claws, his arm and fingers begin to numb and swell like sausages bursting through their casing. Then, when he attempts to hit one of the monsters with his injured arm, the swollen appendage bursts into a mess of liquefied flesh. The hideous beasties, sensing their victim's vulnerability, renew their assault and reduce him to a boiling pustule.

_Clickers_ doesn't make any pretense to "literary excellence." If you take it for what it is, though; the prose equivalent of a cold Coke and a bag of Cheetohs, then you won't be disappointed. It truly satisfies the deep craving some of us have for good old B-move horror junk that even the films themselves rarely provide.

The story went downhill after the first dozen pages - and since it is a fairly long book you can imagine how awful it was by the end! The ending tries for Lovecraft and misses completely. The hero has all the charm and sophistication of a twelve year old and the other characters aren't any better. It is not worth your time.

Simply put, I couldn't put this book down! If you like horror in the vein of Jack Ketchum or Edward Lee -- or better yet -- Guy N. Smith, you will love Clickers!