Title: Just Add Water | Author: Hunter Shea | Publisher: Kensington Books | Pub. Date: 2017-6-13 | ASIN: B01LXVR9H1 | Genre: Horror | Language: English | Triggers: None | Rating: 4 out of 5 | Source: Received a copy from Netgalley for review consideration | Purchase on Amazon
Just Add Water
It’s fun! It’s easy! They only cost a measly dollar. Just clip out the ad in your comic book. Then ask Mom to mail it in. A few weeks later, receive a packet of instant Sea Serpent dust. Then:
Just add water . . . and watch them grow!
WHAT COULD GO WRONG?
Just ask David and Patrick. Their “instant pets” are instant duds. They don’t hatch, they don’t grow, they don’t do anything. So they dump them into the sewer where Dad pours toxic chemicals . . .
WAIT UNTIL FEEDING TIME.
It’s been years since David and Patrick thought about those Sea Serpents. But now, small animals are disappearing in the neighborhood. Strange slimy creatures are rising from the sewers. And once the screaming starts, David and Patrick realize that their childhood pets really did come to life. With a vengeance. They’re enormous . . . and have a ravenous hunger for human flesh . . .
–S&S–
Just Add Water Review
The only other book I’ve read by Hunter Shea was The Montauk Monster. I enjoyed it, and when I saw his name popping up again and again, I knew I’d get around to reading another work by him. That finally happened in Just Add Water, which had a ridiculous synopsis with an equally ridiculous cover.
Just Add Water sounds like a cheesy, Tales from The Crypt type tale, and that’s exactly what it is. The basic plot is boys dump what they think is a failed experiment down the sewer, and it comes back to bite the whole town in the butt. Those same boys then have to save their town. It’s mindless fun with a spicy twist that will have certain foodies eyeing their food with a new respect (and perhaps trepidation) next time they eat.
I thoroughly enjoyed this throwback tale of Just Add Water that imagines a world wherein kids didn’t get ripped off by the ads in the back of comic books. Where little boys can be the unexpected heroes they never thought they’d have a chance to be. And, of course, mindless stomping monsters who just need to eat. Blood and guts and flaps of faces festoon the quiet town this all takes place in, melting my inner gorehound into a puddle of jiggling joy. I’d love to see this sketched up as a graphic novel issue itself. It would be perfect.
Hunter Shea is a talented writer, and his creature feature fics are quickly eating their way into happy reader’s hearts. Just Add Water sets a lighter tone than the Montauk Monster, and closes with an ad for another ferociously freaky and fast read. One can only hope that Shea delivers on the promise he teases in the closer. Overall, just a fabulous bit of bloody fluff from Hunter Shea. I can’t wait for more.
Stormi and I are buddy reading this one next month and now I can’t wait!
Oh, cool! It’ll be a fun one for you two to talk about!
I have this one to review, it made me think of sea monkeys…lol. The cover reminds me of the cartoon magazine type thing the ads for the sea monkeys came in so I thought the cover was fun and cute…hehehe. 🙂
I just finished Savage Jungle by Hunter. Again, great fun. Very silly, but entertaining! Sometimes, that’s all I want from a book.
Right? Fun fluff in a book is seriously underrated.
Darn it. Checked my book orders and this won’t arrive until June 13th!
That sucks! Maybe still available on Netgalley?
LOL Sounds like it will satisfy my horror addiction! I grabbed this the other day. I’ll be reading it Friday night. Got to set the mood! I usually grab Hunter’s books in print, but had to get this one ASAP.