Teeth of the Sea by Tim Waggoner
Severed Press (October 2017)
182 pages; $10.95 paperback; $4.99 e-book
Reviewed by Frank Michaels Errington
Teeth of the Sea begins from the point of view of some very large sea creatures and returns to that viewpoint periodically throughout, to great effect.
Most of the action takes place in and around the relatively new luxury resort, Elysium, far from anywhere, in the middle of the ocean. Ancient sea creatures return to the place where they’ve come every ten years or so to lay their eggs and they are terribly hungry.
The best quotes are expletive-laden but are oh so good.
Some deeply buried primal instinct rose within him and shrieked a warning. He stopped climbing and looked over his shoulder, and what he saw was too much for his conscious mind to process all at once. Something was coming at him – something huge – gliding through the water with silent, graceful speed. He thought it was a whale at first, but when he saw its mouthful of sharp teeth, he amended his identification to shark. A big-ass shark. Jaws on {EXPLETIVE DELETED} steroids. Except that didn’t seem right, either. The thing’s head was long, narrow, and tapered at the snout, more like a crocodile than a marine animal. Then the creature lunged forward, fastened those teeth around Spencer’s legs, and pulled him beneath the water.
Teeth of the Sea is filled with both likable characters (Joel Tucker and the crew of The Hidden World and researcher Andrew Rivera and his daughter Lara) and those you can’t wait to see become the next meal for these pre-historic monsters (the king of gross-out comedies, Shayne Ferreira, and any number of clueless Millennials).
One of the things I liked about Waggoner’s latest tale of terror is that no one is safe…in the water…or on land.
I know it’s cheesy, but this is the kind of story where cheesy seems fitting. Teeth of the Sea has real bite.
Recommended.
Excellent read, I devoured it! (no pun intended).