The FBI's Most Wanted

 I'm a sucker for killer Bigfoot stories, but there are so few well written ones out there, it's like playing Russian roulette every time you pick one up, and it's always a pleasant surprise when you stumble across a good one. The last surprise I got with Bigfoot books was Nick Sullivan's Zombie Bigfoot. So when I spied Heath Stallcup's Genoskwa: A Story of Vengeance, and that it was the beginning of a series, I decided to chance it.

Our story opens with a the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force checking out a possible terrorist cell deep within the Catskill mountains. When they arrive, they find the camp abandoned, a short bus turned onto its side, blood, lots of blood, and a couple of bodies. Not long after, they come under attack by some unseen threat, which turns out to be the Genoskwa, a subspecies of Sasquatch. When they don't return, a recovery team is sent in, and they too fall under attack. It becomes an all-out battle, and you're on the edge of your seat wondering who dies and who makes it out alive.

Stallcup doesn't waste any time getting you into the action, and even though there's a large cast of characters, none are fully fleshed out. Most of them are cannon fodder, but there are some you get to know well enough to know that if something happens to them, you aren't going to be happy, but then again, when you read this type of fiction, you're not reading it for the characters; you read it for the monster mayhem, and Stallcup provides plenty of that. You won't be disappointed.

If you decide to read this one, I strongly suggest getting an ebook copy or the audiobook because the print edition does have its issues. The first page of each chapter is very difficult to read; there's a full page graphic that acts as a backdrop to white text. I initially bought the print edition and was forced to get the ebook just so I could read the first page of each chapter. The other issue with the print edition is a personal pet peeve, and that's improper line formatting in that there are often large gaps between words within a line. Some might not be bothered by this, but for me, it's distracting enough to pull me out of the story.

If you're looking for killer cryptid fiction, or just want some all-out monster mayhem, this is definitely one to check out. For me, the next three have already been added to my TBR pile. Final rating, 4/5 stars