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Squeal Enoch St John 9780692201862 Books

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Squeal Enoch St John 9780692201862 Books

The following is based on a free copy of the novel provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.

Picking up a novel by a first time published author is always a bit of a raffle. Sometimes you wind up disappointed by what you've won; other times you walk away pleasantly surprised with your bounty. And then there are those times when it's a bit of a mixed bag.

Squeal starts very promisingly. St. John wastes no time in introducing the reader to the threat of a huge feral pig in a prologue sequence that ties back into the main narrative in fairly short order. And that main narrative, though simple, works well as far as basic set-ups go. A group of ne'er-do-well teens opt to attend or a sent on a wilderness retreat to help them learn the error of their ways while the bond with their fellow group members and learn that they each have something positive to bring to society. Led by the tough founder of the program and his God-fearing second-in-command, the group have barely stepped off the beaten track before the pig makes its presence known in a fatal way. Its frenetic stuff for the first third of the short novel, and before long the characters has been whittled down to a more manageable number.

It's at this point that the pace of the book suddenly nose-dives. After such a frenzied start, I was expecting more of the same, but instead St. John's novel of survival horror turns into something of a character study. He paints some detailed and interesting characters - which, truth be told, is the best part of the novel - but doing so at the expense of maintaining the tension established early on feels like a waste. So the reader is left getting to know this eclectic group of characters all the while wondering what happened to the pig that only hours before decimated a sizable number of their peers. I can't help but wonder if Squeal wouldn't have benefited from taking its time getting to know the characters first before placing them in harm's way...

Squeal also has the misfortune of being released hot on the heels of Nick Cutter's The Troop, with which it shares a number of similarities. Such a comparison is unfair, however, as Nick Cutter's real life alter-ego has been around and writing for some time, while St. John is just learning to ply his trade. The Troop is also far more gruesome than what is on offer here, so readers with a more delicate constitution can step more confidently into the scarcely-described gore of this world.

The end of Squeal is ambitious and will likely divide readers as to its effectiveness. I'll confess I wasn't a huge fan, but I have little doubt others will enjoy what St John here reserves for his denouement.

Overall, Squeal is an interesting foray into the world of survival horror with a number of memorable characters that is somewhat let down by a stuttering pace. I nevertheless look forward to reading more from the author in future.

3 Pieces of Smuggled Contraband for Squeal.


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Squeal Enoch St John 9780692201862 Books Reviews

Have to be honest, I didn't have high hopes for this book in the beginning. I was wrong. Enoch St. John certainly gave me a little twist I wasn't expecting there at the end. The story begins with a group of juvenile delinquents heading into the woods on a retreat to try and change their lives when things start to go horribly wrong right from the beginning. A mutated wild hog is on the lose, but is that the only monster in the woods? St. John does a good job building the characters. The only problem I really had with this was how abruptly the ending came. Felt like there should have been more, but it was still a very good ending. Be careful though or you will read over it without even noticing what has actually been happening.
Started out well, got into the action quickly, then just cut off and left the kids sitting and waiting for the copters to come and get them. Nothing more about the child who was trying to get everyone killed, nothing more about the madman.chasing the boar. Disappointing ending.
Believable plot,and a fast read.I would have loved to see a little more action.More about the pig.
I never write reviews but I do read a lot, and this is a really good book in my opinion! More, please! I thought it had a good plot since I enjoy reading about wildlife horror that could happen. But the real story is the group being rehabilitated.. I think the writer is very talented. I will be looking for more, Enoch St. John!!!
~4.5 Stars~

Okay, so this book .

I initially bought it because I heard 'unattended young people in the wild + pig', thought Lord of the Flies, and decided that if it was anything like Lord of the Flies, it would be great. And while it is a lot different than Lord of the Flies, there is still that feel to it.

I'm going to start with the things I didn't like, because there were only a few - just enough to knock off half of a star. First, parts of it were kind of predictable - I knew who was going to make it out alive from the first descriptions. There are two characters that I just knew were going to survive, no matter what happened, and they did.

As well as that, the eventual fate of another character isn't quite clear - the last you hear of said character, said character says that they 'need to finish the game once and for all,' and then you never hear from them again.

Also, is it just me, or do all Chinese-American (or Chinese-Canadian) characters have the last name Zhang? I don't think I've read a book with a Chinese-American/Canadian character where their last name wasn't Zhang. It's popular, yes, but it's been every single one .

Now to the things I did like.

First of all, there was a seriously unexpected villain. You're introduced to a lot of characters at once, so of course a few are going to fade into the background while the first set gets introduced, but I did not see this kid coming. It was kind of brilliant.

Second, the ending. That one kid regardless, the ending was awesome. I had to re-read it a few times to see if I read it right, it was so great. Definitely awesome.

Also, the gore. Enoch St. John definitely didn't shy away from killing off characters, and it worked really well for the book.

Next, characters - considering this book is less than 300 pages and most of them die, you don't really see that much of very many of them. Either way, the ones that you did get to know were pretty great. All of them are 'bad kids' in some way - the book revolves around a wilderness camp for such people. A wilderness camp that, you know, goes horribly wrong, but they all have their issues. And you as the reader get to see a little bit of backstory even for the ones who die within the first fifty pages.

It was also a really, really fast-paced book. I finished it in a few hours, and I loved almost every minute of it.

Overall, a fast-paced, exciting book with a basic plot that works well and a cast of characters that you get to know just in time for them to die on you. I loved it.
The following is based on a free copy of the novel provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.

Picking up a novel by a first time published author is always a bit of a raffle. Sometimes you wind up disappointed by what you've won; other times you walk away pleasantly surprised with your bounty. And then there are those times when it's a bit of a mixed bag.

Squeal starts very promisingly. St. John wastes no time in introducing the reader to the threat of a huge feral pig in a prologue sequence that ties back into the main narrative in fairly short order. And that main narrative, though simple, works well as far as basic set-ups go. A group of ne'er-do-well teens opt to attend or a sent on a wilderness retreat to help them learn the error of their ways while the bond with their fellow group members and learn that they each have something positive to bring to society. Led by the tough founder of the program and his God-fearing second-in-command, the group have barely stepped off the beaten track before the pig makes its presence known in a fatal way. Its frenetic stuff for the first third of the short novel, and before long the characters has been whittled down to a more manageable number.

It's at this point that the pace of the book suddenly nose-dives. After such a frenzied start, I was expecting more of the same, but instead St. John's novel of survival horror turns into something of a character study. He paints some detailed and interesting characters - which, truth be told, is the best part of the novel - but doing so at the expense of maintaining the tension established early on feels like a waste. So the reader is left getting to know this eclectic group of characters all the while wondering what happened to the pig that only hours before decimated a sizable number of their peers. I can't help but wonder if Squeal wouldn't have benefited from taking its time getting to know the characters first before placing them in harm's way...

Squeal also has the misfortune of being released hot on the heels of Nick Cutter's The Troop, with which it shares a number of similarities. Such a comparison is unfair, however, as Nick Cutter's real life alter-ego has been around and writing for some time, while St. John is just learning to ply his trade. The Troop is also far more gruesome than what is on offer here, so readers with a more delicate constitution can step more confidently into the scarcely-described gore of this world.

The end of Squeal is ambitious and will likely divide readers as to its effectiveness. I'll confess I wasn't a huge fan, but I have little doubt others will enjoy what St John here reserves for his denouement.

Overall, Squeal is an interesting foray into the world of survival horror with a number of memorable characters that is somewhat let down by a stuttering pace. I nevertheless look forward to reading more from the author in future.

3 Pieces of Smuggled Contraband for Squeal.