Rattus New Yorkus by Hunter Shea Book Tour and Giveaway :)
Rattus, New Yorkus
One
Size Eats All #2
by
Hunter Shea
Genre:
Horror
They’re
Bigger
Deep
in the sewers of New York City, the rat population is growing. Dr.
Randolph Finch is determined to break the cycle. His new rodenticide,
Degenesis, doesn’t kill rats. It sterilizes them from reproducing.
But nothing adapts faster than a New York rat . . .
They’re
Smarter
City
exterminators and soon-to-be divorced Chris and Benita Jackson think
they know how these rats think. They know how rats breed. And they
fear that Degenesis has only made these rats stronger. More
aggressive. More intelligent. And more ravenous than ever . . .
Tonight’s
Dinner Special: Us
After
a noticeable surge in rat den activity, the Jacksons witness
something strange. Without warning, the rats disappear—only to
reassemble in a massive lair beneath Grand Central Station. Millions
upon millions of them. Working together. Operating as a hive mind.
Feasting on the flesh of the homeless below—and planning their
all-out attack on the unsuspecting humans above . . .
Raves for The
Montauk Monster
“Old school horror.”
—Jonathan Maberry
“A lot of splattery
fun.”—Publishers Weekly
“Frightening,
gripping.”—Night Owl Reviews
It
was going on dusk when we got to the restaurant. Business at Pasta 13
was light at the moment. Restaurants didn’t get humming until at
least seven on weeknights. I called the owner ahead of time and we
met him out back by the dumpster. It wouldn’t do him good for his
diners to see a pair of exterminators come strolling inside. “You
were here already today,” he said to Benny. The man was tall and
thin everywhere except his hips. He looked nervous, but then he
always looked nervous. Owning a restaurant was not for the
fainthearted. “We
need to take a closer look,” she said, nodding toward the suitcase
in my hand. “Yes,
but please, be discreet.” “We
take an oath of discretion,” I reassured him. He didn’t look
reassured. “Come
directly to me if you need anything. My staff doesn’t need to
know.” I
opened my mouth and closed it. If
his staff didn’t see the piles of rat shit everywhere, they were
either blind or willfully ignorant. “Let’s
go down that one,” Benny said, pointing to the largest burrow. The
edges were fuzzy, having snagged copious amounts of hair. That meant
it was the road most taken for this nest. “As
you wish, Alice.” I
opened the case and assembled the camera. It looked like a snake that
plumbers use to clear drains, with a fish-eye lens on the end. It
hooked up to a small monitor so we could see into the den. This
time of day, the rats should have been starting to get restless, but
they were more than likely still in the main nest. “You
want me to do the honors?” I asked, the camera poised over the
hole. “By all means.” I
once had a rat jump out of a burrow just as I was about to drop the
camera down. It landed on my chest, desperate to find the soft tissue
of my face. Thankfully, Benny had swatted it away with a spade she’d
been using to cover up some of the burrows. She’d managed to slice
it in half like a samurai. Warm
rat entrails soaked through my shirt, but thanks to her, I was still
pretty. “Get
ready,” I said. Sometimes,
when we went exploring like this, the rats would pour out of the
other burrows and swarm around us in a frenzy. Our pants were tucked
into our tough leather boots. Benny gripped what she called her
swattin’ pole. It had once been a nine iron, the head replaced by a
wood block, held on with a half mile of duct tape. What it lacked in
esthetics it more than made up for in efficiency. I slowly snaked the
camera into the hole. With night vision activated, we watched the
black-and-white monitor. What
we saw was very similar to the video from a colonoscopy. Just
traveling down a winding, dark tunnel. A
normal rat’s den contained seven or so rats. We had caught three
with snap traps last week. Their dwindling numbers, especially if the
Degenesis was working, couldn’t account for the growing feces. “Expect
anything,” I said.
“What?” “Just
ruminating.” I
pushed the camera deeper, kicking up a puff of dust deep in the
burrow. A
rat’s twitchy face sprang into view. I instinctively recoiled, then
recovered in as manly a way as possible. “Say
cheese,”
Benny said, standing over me. “You
talk about my tired old witticisms.” The
rat retreated, tunneling backwards down the hole.
I
knew I had to hurry up. The other rats would be ready to scatter. Working
the cable as fast as I could, I remotely spelunked, wondering just
how far down they had settled in.
In
my periphery, I caught a rat leaping from a burrow to my left. Benny
gasped. “What?”
She
pointed at the screen. “Holy
shit!” I
let the camera cable drop as if it were a poisonous snake. We
watched as dozens and dozens of rats writhed over one another. Every
inch of the nest was packed with vermin bodies. “Pull
back a little,” Benny said.
“Yeah,
yeah.” I
tugged slightly on the cable so we could get a better view. “Look
at all the babies,” Benny said. “It’s
like the maternity ward in Shanghai,” I said. We
were either looking at multiple litters or the granddaddy of all
litters. “What
do you think? At least twenty?” Benny
peered at the monitor. “I’d second that. And they all look like
they’re from the same generation.” “I
guess there’s no point in saying how impossible that is.”
“You
guess right again.” More
adult rats were scurrying out of the holes around us. From what I
could see, several had stayed behind in the nest to guard the babies. “I
don’t like this at all,” I said, moving the camera some more to
get a different angle. All of it was being recorded. “They
like it less,” Benny said. The
camera’s intrusion had brought about sweeping panic in the nest. I
almost felt sorry for the little critters as they sought refuge
around the adult guardians. “I
think we’ve seen enough,” I said, pulling the camera out. “I’ll
send the file to Ratticus, see what he thinks.” “Stop,
Chris.” “Fine.
Dr. Finch.”
“No.
Put the camera down.” “Why?” I
looked to Benny, whose eyes were wide and darting about. Following
her gaze, the camera slipped from my suddenly milquetoast grasp. We
were surrounded by rats. A dozen pairs of marble black eyes locked
onto us. They
weren’t running away. And
they were sure as shit not afraid.
Get Jurassic, Florida: One Size Eats All #1 HERE!
Hunter Shea is the product of a misspent childhood watching scary movies, reading forbidden books and wishing Bigfoot would walk past his house. He’s the author of over 17 books, including The Jersey Devil (Pinnacle 2016)), Tortures of the Damned (Pinnacle 2015), and We Are Always Watching (Sinister Grin). Hunter’s novels can even be found on display at the International Cryptozoology Museum. The Montauk Monster (Pinnacle 2014) was named one of the best reads of the summer by Publishers Weekly. He was selected to be part of the launch of Samhain Publishing’s new horror line in 2011 alongside legendary author Ramsey Campbell. His video podcast, Monster Men, is one of the most watched horror podcasts in the world. Living with his crazy and supportive family and two cats, he’s happy to be close enough to New York City to see the skyline without having to pay New York rent.
Follow
the tour HERE
for exclusive excerpts, guest posts and a giveaway!
Comments
Post a Comment