Book Review: Wildlife by Jeff Menapace

In the Everglades, there are sights that should never be seen…

Deep in the Florida Everglades, a tragic accident has ignited a deadly feud between two families.

Meanwhile, a young writer, his girlfriend and her family take a boat ride into the isolated wilds of the Everglades for research on a new book, only to become unwitting witnesses to a brutal crime.

Now, as night falls, forced to travel on foot, they must flee through the treacherous wilderness while desperately avoiding the deadly wildlife—and the far more lethal human predators that are hunting them. 

My Review:
Everyone knows better than to mess with the Roy family, a violent bunch of psychopaths that live out in the swamps, so things look bad when a young boy is accused of an unfair attack on young Travis Roy, and the Roys declare war on their new enemies and set out for revenge. The row escalates into murder and a group of innocent tourists are about to be caught up in the carnage.

Ida Roy is the head of the family with her sons Harlon and Tucker, Tucker's wife Jolene and their son Travis. She rules the family and nobody wants to get on her bad side. When Travis picks a fight with Noah and loses, Travis is too scared to admit it and lies that he was set on by Noah and his brother Ethan, which outrages the furious Roys. Jolene is sent to seek vengeance against the boys who hit her son but the dispute gets worse when Noah hotly denies what Travis said and an accident provokes the Roys to declare war on the terrified Daigle family. They know exactly what the clan are capable of and they anxiously wait for the attack to come.

Elizabeth is introducing her new boyfriend Dan to her parents Russ and Vicky. Dan is a horror writing who is writing a new book with a scene with a snake eating someone and wants to do some reearch on it while in Florida. The family arrange for Dan to join them on a boat trip in the Everglades where boat owner Sam is able to give him some answers. Sam decides to take the boat to the Roy's house to see the alligators that they keep on the property but he arrives at the wrong moment and witnesses the result of the fued, exposing his tourists to the very worst of human nature. 

This was my first book by the author and I read it during a good reading spell in the summer where I was getting through some really good reads. I can never resist a story with the redneck killer family from hell torturing and causing terror for their victims so I was pretty keen to read this and the sequel, both of which I really enjoyed (review of sequel to follow). The story is typical of the type in the genre but it was exactly what I expected and wanted so I crtainly have no complaints. The plot moves along at good speed with just enough information to give the characters enough personality for the reader to care about.

There isn't a lot that I can say about the plot without saying what happens in it and ruining it. The Roy family are just plain evil in their behaviour but I can at least see why they are angry over the alleged unfair events. The chain of events that happens because of one lie makes me want to just strangle Travis for being a whiny, pathetic little git! I did actually quite like his father Tucker, who is not as keen on the violence and revenge as the rest of his family, and struggles over what to do with the captives they have. The rest of the Roys are a nightmare. The book cover features alligators and they do have a cameo role in the plot though the main focus is the Roy family. 

I liked the writing of the author and the way he told the story. It's the kind of horror that I enjoy with no messing about in the plot and getting straight to the story. I'm looking forward to trying another series of the author next year and I hope I enjoy it the way I did with Wildlife.

Read August 2018.
4 stars.