Jackals

This was my first intro to the late Charles Grant and I liked it enough to grab a lot of his other books. The story centers around a clan of deranged night people who are called Jackals, who hunt people whose cars break down on deserted stretches of highway or lonely back roads. The way Charles Grant wrote these 'beings' was clever, because you never really know if they're human or not, even at the end of the book. You have to decide. There are spooky moments and the book was written nice and smooth. The only thing I would have liked was for a little more written on the Jackals' night prowlings. The main story line is defense against them and not more sprawled out, giving you a chance to see behind the scenes of one of their prowls. Other than that, this was a solid, four star book that any fan of classic horror should read. No splatter-gore, but still spook and a decent story.

Ever wonder why you see so many abandoned cars on the side of the highway? Charles Grant has an answer that will freeze your blood. Grant posits a fringe race, known as Jackals, that prey on the weak and vulnerable. Except for their eyes, they look and act like humans, at least until they decide to kill. They've always taken victims on the edges of the human herd; in modern times, they find easy pickings in the breakdown lane. Of course, nature always seeks a balance--sometimes the hunters become the hunted. Jackals is the story of one such hunter, a man named Jim Scott. Scott has battled a family of Jackals known as the Modeens ever since they killed his sister years ago. He has an odd support group in his work: Maurice, a fire and brimstone preacher, Nola, a sassy waitress, and Peter, a gas station attendant. They've had many skirmishes with clan Modeen over the years, and have always come out on top. Little do they know that they are about to become embroiled in a bloody endgame that will settle their long running feud once and for all. Grant's prose is tight and economical; he easily manufactures tension that doesn't let up until he lets you go on the last page. As usual, he leaves most of the scary stuff to your imagination--no gross outs here folks, just pure, unbridled fear. If you're in the market for well-written suspense, this is the place to find it.

JACKALS is a gem of a horror novel. It is filled with vivid, haunting images that kept me turning page after page to reach the end. Brooding hero Jim Scott reminds me of the dark, take-charge Ethan Proctor, investigator extraordinaire in Grant's later BLACK OAK series. Filled with chilling little one-liner paragraphs such as "Something reached them on the wind" this little novel is sure to crawl under your skin. Scott hunts the jackals. That's what he's done since the heartbreaking loss of his beloved sister to one of their packs. Convinced that there is still something human about these jackals, Scott grapples with some guilt over murdering them, but along with the help of other hunters (Maurice is a particularly intriguing character), he is determined to prevent the jackals from destroying more lives. The novel begins with a bloody and beaten Rachel literally crawling her way to Scott's cabin for help. From then on, the novel never stops delivering with haunting writing and nightmarish visuals. Grant is one of the masters of the genre; he relies on our own fears rather than basic gross-out value to scare the reader. If you haven't read Grant, do so now! You won't regret it.

The writing in this book was very vivid and allowed the reader to really picture each scene as though I were in the room with them. It was the kind of book that I could not put down and was anxious to get to the end as I was unable to guess the outcome ahead of time. I look forward to reading other books by Charles Grant.

If you are looking for a comfortable, cozy reading experience, don't even think about looking at this one. This haunting & fastpaced tale of hunting and being hunted by otherworldly creatures leaves you with a racing heart and a fear of shadows in the night. Never once before have I had such a strong urge after a chapter to go on reading the next, and the next, and the next, .... I am sure looking forward to Mr.Grant's next book.