'Slugs' – Shaun Hutson (Caffeine Nights Publishing)

That slightly dead space between Christmas and New Year wasn't so dead this time round, being filled with all the good Christmas and New Year stuff (drinking mostly but also playing with my daughters) and the not so good bit where I had to get my head round being back at work again. I'm still working on that one...

As it was then, I gave myself a bit of a break from reading anything that couldn't be put down at a moment's notice (to mend toys etc) and resolved to treat my brain to a good old fashioned slice of horror fiction, just like they used to write it back in the old days (i.e. the nineteen eighties, pretty old...) 'Slugs' looked like it could fall into that category, first published in 1982 and a book that I'd never read until now, so I popped a copy onto my Kindle and gave it a shot...

They slime, they ooze, they kill... One female slug can lay 1.5 million eggs a year a fact which holds terrifying consequences for the people of Merton. As the town basks in the summer heat, a new breed of slug is growing and multiplying. In the waist-high grass, in the dank, dark cellars they are acquiring new tastes, new cravings. For blood. For flesh. Human flesh.

I've got to admit, there was a part of me that wasn't too impressed when I first saw the blurb for 'Slugs'. Oh no, the slugs are coming, what on earth will we do? Just walk really fast and make sure that you've got some salt handy, I think we'll be ok... ;o)

In Hutson's hands though, 'Slugs' is (for the most part) a book that manages to convince its readers that slugs can be pure evil and not just to people with a thriving vegetable patch. Don't get me wrong, when Brady (our hero) is in his garden and has to face down several slowly advancing slugs, I had to really suspend my disbelief in order to get anywhere near to the sense of panic that Hutson wanted to convey. Fair play to Hutson though, he doesn't give up and keeps on giving it his all, right up to the point where the slugs come into Brady's house via the plumbing. Now that was a scene that was scary, especially after a few preceding scenes that show the reader just what these slugs are capable of...

Those particular scenes are pretty gory and really feel like Hutson is saying, 'oh the hell with it' and just going all out in order to turn the reader's stomach. I don't know if my stomach was turned, as such, but it did feel more than a little wobbly when confronted with Hutson's assault on pretty much every orifice a ravenous slug can gain access to. No punches are pulled here...

Where Hutson really shines though is in how he draws out the suspense prior to to some poor devil getting eaten. A couple of slugs are not a problem at all but a few hundred slowly closing in on a unsuspecting drainage worker (or couple making out in the best traditions of nineteen seventies or eighties horror)? That's entirely different and Hutson proves to be more than accomplished at not only drawing out the tension but knowing when to draw a line under it and go for the kill. Not every supporting character you meet is destined for a gory death and that makes for a slightly more unpredictable and unsettling tale.

There's a lot going for 'Slugs' then but ultimately, what you get out of this book will very much depend on how far you can suspend your disbelief as to how dangerous a horde of slugs can be. My supension of disbelief went far enough that I found 'Slugs; to be a slightly inconsistent but enjoyable read that got me through a couple of days back at work and then into the New Year. If you find yourself waiting on a chapter where panic buying sees all supplies of salt dangerously depleted (hint: this doesn't happen) then this isn' the book for you. I'm not going to lie, I'll probably see if I can pick up the sequel somewhere...