While the action-packed plot will keep readers glued to the page, it’s this motley team of characters that lend the book its heart ... brilliantly paced ... As the group is driven to confront their greatest fears and challenges, the tension continues to mount up until the novel’s exciting conclusion. This is a true page-turner that seamlessly blends elements from various genres, from horror and science fiction to classic adventure tales.
The eco-thriller takes a deadly turn in this action packed, unsettling, and violent tale of nature out for revenge ... This is an unsettling story from its first lines, punctuated with a sense of doom that intensifies with each turn of the page. Readers looking for an anxiety-inducing, fast-paced horror-thriller hybrid with echoes of Jeff Vandermeer’s Southern Reach Trilogy and Christopher Golden’s Ben Walker series will love every minute.
After a clunky start to set up the premise and accommodate the necessary worldbuilding, the story takes off, playing on contemporary fears of climate apocalypse as the team runs through the forest with animal-possessed Kat and a menagerie of wild animals in pursuit ... Jurassic Park meets catastrophic climate change in this creepy, cinema-ready story.
Lebbon excels at building a world that is both wondrous and deeply unsettling, but shallow characterization—especially of the women, whose worlds seem to revolve around the men—prevents the human characters from being as effective as the ever-shifting landscape. Lebbon stumbles a bit in the execution of this powerful premise.
