About a month or two ago, I read Clickers, by J.F. Gonzalez and Mark Williams, and had one hell of a time with it.
In Clickers, a hurricane rips through a small New England town, bringing dog-sized beasties that look like a lobster and scorpion put some Barry White on the turntable and got their groove on. Oh, yeah, there has to be a pitbull somewhere in the mix to give them a thirst for blood.
Now, as if that weren’t bad enough, soon after the Clickers cause mayhem, something follows them out of the ocean. The Dark Ones. Seven foot tall Sleestacks (how I envisioned them, anyway). They take care of what the Clickers missed.
Yeah, it was one big bloodbath.
I read Clickers in preparation of its sequel, the appropriately named Clickers II: The Next Wave. This time Gonzales teamed up with Brian Keene. So I was pretty excited to dive into it, as I have enjoyed the works of both writers (and Keene does have that special place in my heart).
Boy, I was not disappointed.
The first thing that makes Clickers II a better book than Clickers is Gonzales is a much more seasoned writer than he was when he co-wrote the first book. And, while I enjoyed Clickers quite a bit, the writing in the sequel is a step-up.
The story in Clickers II is a little tighter, as well. Like in the first, it still jumps from different characters’ points of view — meaning one chapter you’ll be reading about Rick (the main character in the first book), and the next you’ll be reading about what’s going on with the President, or the Mafia Guy, or the scientist, etc. I really dug that, because it was nice when things started coming together. And, speaking of the president, holy shit…the character is obviously based on Bush (as well as his cronies), and cranked up to 11. While his character is satirical, it’s not too far off from the truth. In addition to not believing the East Coast is being over run by car-size Clickers, he refuses to pull troops out of Iraq to defend the US citizens from these buggers.
Oh, did I not mention that the Clickers are much bigger than in the first? Yeah. See, the Dark Ones, the guys that eat the Clickers, got a little pissed off after the U.S. Government found one of their breeding grounds completely obliterated it. So they rounded up the biggest Clickers they could find, sent them in first (just like last time) and, when everyone on the EAST COAST is in a panic, they stride in and finish up. That’s right, kids. The Dark Ones aren’t just busting up a town. They want the whole damn coast. And they have a plan this time. Not just to feed, but to avenge. Man, these guys kick some serious ass.
If there’s one problem with the book, it comes towards the end. (This may contain a minor spoiler, so you may want to skip this entire paragraph if you haven’t read Clickers II, and you plan on it.) In the final chapters, the Dark Ones bring up the queen Clicker. 100 feet wide, 30 or 40 feet tall. When this bitch came out of the water, I got a little excited. Now the shit was really going to hit the fan. But, no. It didn’t. Because it was killed off with two shots from a tank. With very little fanfare. It was a little sad because there was so much blown potential. It’s almost as if I’m missing out on some chapters. Like there’s a director’s cut out there somewhere, and it’s going to come out in a couple months. I can’t explain it, but the entire scene with the queen Clicker just felt like it was missing more.
But, even with that, I still enjoyed the hell out of Clickers II. Like its predecessor, II has a B-movie feel to it that makes it a lot of fun to read. There’s blood, there’s guns, there’s beheadings, there’s grue and there’s no lovey dovey crap to take away from the action. This isn’t Keene’s best book (The Rutting Season will probably always be my favorite), nor is it Gonzalez’s (I give that to Bully). What it is, though, is what it’s meant to be. A helluva lot of fun.
It’s sold out in its Limited Edition form, but here’s to hoping it comes out in a mass-market paperback like its brother, as it’s well worth a purchase. In the meantime, I suggest you pick up Clickers from Amazon (or some other source), as it’s worth the duckets, as well.
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