Ben McKelvie thought things with his neighbor Madeleine
Roux couldn't get any worse. After all, Madeleine
had single-handedly upset the local ecosystem and drawn
all sorts of raccoons, pigeons, and even rats to the area
out of a misguided desire to help rehabilitate them.
After her unexpected death, Ben thought things would
improve but now something far worse is stalking the
neighborhood. Will the unlikely trio of Ben, Lindsay
Clark, a curator from the National Smithsonian Zoo, and
Richard Severance, a cryptozoologist, be able to stop
this unholy predator before Ben becomes a victim?
What a great horror story! Bill Schweigart takes the idea
of the bad neighbor and turns it into one heck of a
thrilling tale. The rats are a bit gruesome, and I'm
definitely glad I've never lived next to a Madeleine Roux
as I'm not sure I would have been nearly as patient as
Ben and his neighbors with the Arlington Public Health
Division or the Barcroft Community Board for their
repeated inaction. I may have nightmares just thinking
about the rats and their burrows, never mind the one
horrific scene with rats overpowering a person. THE BEAST
OF BARCROFT is quite chilling at times, but oh what great
entertainment it provides.
Bill Schweigart shows us that heroism can be found in
even the most unlikely of people as Ben isn't your
typical heroic main character. In fact, THE BEAST OF
BARCROFT starts off with Ben in quite a funk as his
fiancée recently left him, he's on antidepressants but
decides to quit cold-turkey, and he's having panic
attacks. Even the local law enforcement officer initially
dismisses him as a crackpot due to his disheveled
appearance and outrageous claim that a big cougar
attacked his dog. I like the concept of a flawed hero and
Ben certainly fits this mold as Bill Schweigart does a
marvelous job at turning Ben around. By the end of THE
BEAST OF BARCROFT, I wanted more time with Ben, Lindsay,
and Severance.
Bill Schweigart crafts one darned good monster story with
THE BEAST OF BARCROFT. The various twists and turns keep
you guessing as to what exactly the beast truly is while
the tension keeps building. I'm excited to see there will
be a sequel. If you like horror novels, don't
hesitate to give THE BEAST OF BARCROFT a try as it's a
terrifyingly good story.
Fans of Stephen King and Bentley Little will devour The Beast
of Barcroft, Bill Schweigart’s brilliant new vision of dark
suburban horror. Ben thought he had the neighbor from hell. He
didn’t know how right he was. . . .
Ben McKelvie believes he’s moving up in the world when he and
his fiancée buy a house in the cushy Washington, D.C., suburb
of Bancroft. Instead, he’s moving down—way down—thanks to
Madeleine Roux, the crazy neighbor whose vermin-infested
property is a permanent eyesore and looming hazard to public
health.
First, Ben’s fiancée leaves him; then, his dog dies,
apparently killed by a predator drawn into Barcroft by
Madeleine’s noxious menagerie. But the worst is yet to come
for Ben, for he’s not dealing with any ordinary wild animal.
This killer is something much, much worse. Something that
couldn’t possibly exist—in this world.
Now, as a devilish creature stalks the locals, Ben resolves to
take action. With some grudging assistance from a curator at
the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and the crackpot theories of a
self-styled cryptozoologist, he discovers the sinister truth
behind the attacks, but knowing the Beast of Barcroft and
stopping it are two different animals.
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