An action-packed fast paced monster freak show in an amusement park full of bloody gory mayhem and a few survivors who try to make it out alive. 

• Entertainment factor: ★★★★★
• Gore factor: ★★★★★
• Thrill factor: ★★★★★
• Monster factor: ★★★★★

Shock Waves is a monster novella full of freaky monsters that cause mayhem and death in an amusement park. This is a rollercoaster of a ride that is not for the squeamish among us. 

It consists of 166 pages. 

Plot

Danny is a 17-year-old teenager who works at the Lone Star Land Amusement Park as a foreman at the rollercoaster ride Shock Waves. His girlfriend Stacey also works at the park at a water ride. When people start complaining about the ride Danny decides to go on the ride in the last cart to check it out. In front of him are a couple Juan and Lidia. 

Just when the ride has reached the top of the lift the power goes out and they have come to a halt. The cause of this power fail has something to do with a big explosion on the other side of the road at a construction site. Rocks fly into the sky, but to their horror something else erupted from the blast. A winged monster that starts to attack them. And that’s not all. With terror Danny watches all sorts of freakish monsters crawl out of the hole from the explosion. First they cross the road treating everyone on their path as dinner and now they are coming towards the Park. Danny and the other guests are sitting ducks. 

First they have to get out of the ride, then he has to find Stacey and escape all the mayhem. Together with Juan and Lidia, his coworker Kyra, a 13-year-old boy Todd, an old couple Harry and Patty, a young teenaged couple Mike and Vickie and young mother Anna and her baby Ryan, they set out on journey through the park to find Stacey, while fighting off monsters, hiding and running. 

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Short Review

Set in September 1988 this feels like a throw-back to the monster movie revival full of gruesome deaths, survival and a group of survivors that can be picked off one by one. The story jumps right into the action. We have a short moment to get to know Danny and then the monsters are upon them. 

The monsters are a freak show of all kinds of insects, arachnids and reptilians, but then taken apart and put back together in surprisingly strange and deadly new monsters. They encounter a lot of different kinds of monsters that are a bit similar to already existing animals, but are bigger or even a lot bigger, like giants and are very deadly and very hungry. This not only sets the group of survivors on edge but as you read this action packed bloody, gory violent rollercoaster, you’ll never know what they are going to encounter next. 

The kills are very graphically described. It’s very bloody and gory, with intestines, brains, limbs and blood flying around. While the monsters and the mayhem are over the top, the group of survivors is a very likable group. All the characters are likable, except maybe one, and that makes it all the more horrible when not everybody makes it out alive. The people whom you get most attached to from the start, will make it though. I think that was very nice of the author. It’s nice to see the ones you’re rooting for actually make it. 

It’s not only very fast paced, with vivid writing and likable characters, it also keeps you want to read until you know they are safe. Each chapter ends with a little cliffhanger so you keep on reading. Luckily it’s a short read that you could read in one sitting, or in one day, because it’s hard to put down.

Shock Waves is a very fun, entertaining fast paced rollercoaster, but gory and full of monster mayhem.