The Litter by Kevin R. Doyle
ABOUT THE BOOK
They kept to the shadows so no one would know they existed and preyed on the nameless who no one would miss. Where did they come from, and who was protecting them? In a city that had seen every kind of savagery, they were something new, something more than murderous. And one woman, who had thought she had lost everything there was to lose in life, would soon find that nothing could possibly prepare her for what would come when she entered their world.
MY REVIEW
It’s been a while since I read a horror novel and there is something going bump in the night in this one. Something killing people in the Zone. That part of the city left to the homeless and the lost. Not only killing but mutilating their victims…chewing them.
The book is told from several points of view which gives it more intensity and depth. Karen Bannister is passionate about helping the homeless and when a young boy disappears, she is determined to find him. But she finds much more than she bargained for. Jared Woodson is a seasoned reporter who stumbles upon a secret so big that the cops don’t want anyone to know about it. What Karen and Jared discover is unbelievably savage and dangerous. How will they explain what they saw in that alley and will they survive the fallout?
I was completely riveted by the storyline which included not only the incredible suspense but the sad backstory of Karen and her father’s tragic estrangement. Mr. Doyle’s imagination is diabolical and thought-provoking considering the nightmare aftermath if the cops go in without knowing what awaits them. Of course, I’m not giving you any more than that so read at your own peril.
I am excited to recommend this creepy and chilling tale full of well-developed characters and shocking reveals.
Thank you to Mr. Doyle for giving me the opportunity to read this book with no expectation of a positive review.
The author will award a $10 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner.
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EXCERPT
“I’ve never seen anything like this,” Pam said.
“Still think it was a dog?” her partner asked.
“What else could it have been? It doesn’t take the ME over there to know that this guy’s been all chewed up.”
“What I’m getting at is it may not have been a single animal.”
“Come again? Are you thinking of a pack or something?”
“Well,” Gonzales said, “just looking at it . . .” He waved his arm in the direction of the mess on the pavement.
“That’s insane, Enrico. Who the hell ever heard of a pack of dogs attacking people in the middle of a city?”
“You ever hear of one dog doing anything that even remotely looks like that?”
“What about rats?” she asked the older cop, fearful he would laugh in her face.
“I actually thought of that myself for a moment there. It’s not the most far-fetched of possibilities.”
“No?”
“Not at all. Once, I saw what was left of an old wino eaten by rats, back when I’d been on the force not much longer than you have. But that was a guy who’d crawled under the porch of a house, probably trying to escape the weather. Besides, long ago as it’s been, from what I remember, that body didn’t look anything like this.”
“No, huh?”
“Not really, no. It looked more like he’d been nibbled on till he was worn down to practically nothing.”
Pam pointed towards the corpse.
“That’s not a bunch of nibbles,” she said.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
A retired high school teacher and former college instructor, Kevin R. Doyle is the author of numerous short horror stories. He’s also written four crime thrillers including The Group and The Anchor, and one horror novel, The Litter. In the last few years, he’s begun working on the Sam Quinton private eye series, published by Camel Press. The first Quinton book, Squatter’s Rights, was nominated for the 2021 Shamus Award for Best First PI Novel. The fourth Sam Quinton book, Clean Win, was released in March of 2023.
Follow Kevin on his website, Facebook, and Goodreads.
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If you didn’t write, what would you do?
I liked the excerpt. This sounds like an intriguing read.
I enjoyed your review, thanks for sharing
Thank you, Marisela. 😊
Sharon,
I’m a little late getting around to things today, but wanted to let you know how much I appreciate your kind words.
My pleasure, Kevin. Congratulations on your sixth novel! I look forward to reading your other books and I’m sure your students are very proud of you.
Sharon,
My replies are not quite as coherent as they should be. For what it’s worth, this was third book published.
Looks like a good read.
The excerpt sounds really good.
Did you face any challenges when writing this book?
Tracie,
Oh Lordy, boy did I face challenges. For a little context, this was the sixth novel I wrote but only the second to find a publisher. I had projected about a year to write it, but the plotting became so tough that it took me about eighteen months from start to finish. I did a first draft, a rewrite, a complete revision, and there were some sections, I’d say about a fourth to a third of the book, that I had to revise a third time before I got them how I wanted. All this, of course, while teaching high school. Of the books I’ve written in the last decade, this one definitely ranks as one of the two toughest to plot and complete. Thanks for asking.
Thanks so much for such an insightful response. As former preschool teacher I can imagine the challenges of teaching and inspiring high schoolers while writing a book. You are definitely an inspiring role model and I wish you much success!
Tracie,
One major challenge. This was my seventh book written, but only third published. (The first four were trial efforts, as it were.) The biggest challenge was that I was still feeling my way long the plotting process, so it ended up taking a year and a half to do the basic writing. There were some sections I rewrote three or four times till I got them the way I wanted. Since then, I’ve worked out a few techniques to cut down on the amount of rewriting, techniques I wished I’d known when I tackled this project.
Mainly finding the time and concentration. Plotwise it was really intricate, and I was still learning the best way to go about plotting things out. Combine that with a full-time teaching load and in places things got a bit rough.
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