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The threat seemed surreal, yet Jim knew he was being hunted. He was cornered by an animal that assumed a human form. A feeling of abject terror consumed him as the creature issued a dire threat. Jim had just wanted to go for a hike in the wilds of the Utah mountains when he came across a far-fetched sight: a pack of coyotes practically frolicking. They were led by a coyote with a bowler hat. Once noticed, Jim made a break for escape. He fled immediate danger, but his pursuer was wily. A vacationing family that nearly followed in Jim’s footsteps found, to their everlasting regret, that this pack of animals would not be deterred. As news of various disappearances reached Jim, he knew he has to confront his own fears and meet this coyote once again, but on his terms.
Combee has written a psychological thriller/horror book that hits deeper than your average scare-fest. The author’s intellectual chiller works its way up to the gory carnage. Jim is a socially awkward genius who lives in his own world, but the threat posed by the coyote snaps him out of his self-induced catatonia. The scenes that unfold before Jim and the unfortunate family take on the appearance of a psychotropic drug trip, at first awe-inspiring but then followed by unabashed trepidation. The pacing of the plot proceeds well as the action jumps from Jim to the perspective of the head coyote to the unfortunate hikers. Each chapter will keep readers pondering the next scare to greet them. This is Combee’s first novel but hopefully not his last.
RECOMMENDED by the US Review