'Clickers III: Dagon Rising' – J.F. Gonzalez & Brian Keene (Deadite Press)

At this point, I am making no apologies for how what should have been a once weekly visit to the 'Clickers' universe has now become a mad dash through all the books as quickly as I can read them. I'm enjoying myself and isn't that what reading fiction is meant to be all about? The answer is 'partly' but that's a post for another day (and probably not on this blog) so lets stick with what's in front of us.

I had no idea where Gonzalez and Keene would take 'Clickers' next, especially as a resurgent United States had bombed the Clickers and Dark Ones pretty much to extinction at the end of the last book. Or at least... that's what they thought. You see, half the fun with giant monsters is that they keep coming back and that's exactly what happens here. The end result? You know the end result and it's awesome.

They thought it was over, but the second wave was only the beginning. In the aftermath of the Clickers and Dark Ones' siege and a coup against an insane President, America rebuilds. Change has come, and a better future is promised to all. But promises can be broken and there may be no future at all because deep beneath the ocean, a new terror awaits. Dagon, god of the Dark Ones, is waking up...and if humanity doesn't stop him, then mankind will face extinction. Trapped on a South Pacific Island, the cast of Clickers and Clickers 2: The Next Wave join forces with a mysterious group of occult agents to face off against the Clickers, the Dark Ones, Dagon and an all-new threat-the deadly obsidian Clickers. The stakes have never been higher. Dagon is rising... and humanity will fall.

So, what can I say about 'Clickers III' that I haven't already said about 'Clickers' and 'Clickers II'? I've already mentioned the sheer sense of fun that just pours off the page but nowhere is it more apparent than in a seemingly throwaway couple of paragraphs, at the end of the book, where mention is made of giant ants in Tampa. Sound familiar? Scroll down this page a little and you'll see why. Now, tell me that you wouldn't read 'Clickers vs Mandibles'. You can't because it would just be the best thing ever and you'd actually physically be unable to not read it. Just the hint of it adds to the fun and hints at a wider community of horror writers who are in on the act. I love it.

But lets go back to the beginning of the book and see where we end up. While 'Clickers' and 'Clickers II' were large(ish) scale affairs, 'Clickers III' gets all up close and personal with a small cast of human characters, a small island and a horrifyingly large swarm of Clickers and Dark Ones all set to usher in the end of the world. This is a book that gets right in your face and rubs your nose in all the gore you'd expect from a 'Clickers' book. It's also a book that really knows how to crank up the tension until the reader is literally tied up in knots waiting for the payoff. Put it this way, after reading 'Clickers III', I am never ever going to wear shorts to the beach ever again, just to be on the safe side... Seriously, my legs are still crossed.

Unless I've missed something (knowing me these days, that's entirely possible), 'Clickers III' is the first book in the series to mention Keene's 'Labyrinth' mythos; I'm sadly unfamiliar with the rest of Gonzalez' work (not for much longer though, payday today) so couldn't tell you if there's another mythos at play here. The Labyrinth though, works both as a sweet little Easter Egg for long time Keene fans (me!) as well fleshing out the Dark Ones' motives. It's not all just about revenge now, you get a feel for something much larger that stretches back into prehistory. Again, the sort of thing that this reader can't get enough of.

If you've read this far in the series, you'll know exactly what you're getting with 'Clickers III' and Gonzalez and Keene have a firm enough hand on the wheel that they deliver the good without even breaking a sweat. This is pulp horror at its best , no doubt about it, and highly recommended by me. Now to crack on with the final book, 'Clickers vs...'