Bracken, a down on his luck oil man is offered a chance of redemption when a billionaire offers him a job to repair a ghost oil rig in the South Pacific Ocean. The payment is enough to retire him and his small crew. But when they arrive on ghost rig Sera, Bracken soon discovers they're not alone. Something very large circles under the water around the rig. Something that shouldn't exist, but does. A thing of nightmares. And it's hungry...
Needing a bit of a horror fix, I picked this one up. Typically, deep water creature features tend to be of the B-movie quality so I wasn't expecting to be overwhelmed by Leviathan: Ghost Rig. Which is a good thing because it was absolutely as suspected! What exactly DID I expect, you ask? (Well, you might not be asking but you are in for a treat because I'm still going to tell ya!)
- Big Ass Ocean Monster - Check!
- Human Villian - Check!
- Creepy location - Check!
- A character to do stupid stuff like wandering off alone - Check!
- A character that sacrifices themselves for their friend - Check!
- Grizzled veteran that has seen it all before - Check!
- Weird, unexplainable plot twist - Check!
- Lone survivor - Check!
Leviathan: Ghost Rig didn't bother to ask you to connect with any of the characters, or tax your brain on any complex world building. No, it gives you exactly what you expect from the cover: a big ass sea monster trying to eat people on a decrepit oil rig. There is quite a bit of similarity to other horror works like The Thing, Jaws, and maybe even the Meg. (I'm looking at you, Ending- with the MC inside the beast in a robotic diving thingy staring at its heart. Stab. Stab.) Instead of feeling like a nod to the classics, it felt more like buying the store brand of Oreos. Are they cookies? Yes. Did you eat them? Yes. Did they make you as happy as the real Oreos? Not quite. Would you eat them again? Umm, yup!
I was slightly disappointed that the world building wasn't expanded. It begins with an interesting scene of a dust storm and attack by a "cycote", a mutated mix of black mamba, timber wolf, grizzly bear, and Bengal tiger, created as a biological weapon of warfare. As always, this is a fantastic idea and when they escaped, they had to train elite teams to eradicate them. Obviously, they missed one. This. This is what I want to see more of! It completely sucked me into the story...and then, we go directly to the oil rig, without passing go. (sad face)
I was slightly disappointed that the world building wasn't expanded. It begins with an interesting scene of a dust storm and attack by a "cycote", a mutated mix of black mamba, timber wolf, grizzly bear, and Bengal tiger, created as a biological weapon of warfare. As always, this is a fantastic idea and when they escaped, they had to train elite teams to eradicate them. Obviously, they missed one. This. This is what I want to see more of! It completely sucked me into the story...and then, we go directly to the oil rig, without passing go. (sad face)
This was an enjoyable couple of hours spent with this book. It was entertaining and didn't make me think too hard. It had plenty of action, a high body count, and a big ass thing swimming in the ocean that wants to eat you. Really, what else do you need?
Lucas lives in a small Iowa town with his wife and kids. He's always been drawn to the darker side of things, and let's not ask him what he keeps in his basement. He writes both adult and young adult horror, science fiction and urban fantasy. His adult book, FALL TO RISE will be released later this year by Dark Recesses Press.