Nature on the Rampage! - The Dinosaur Fan - Fiction Novels featuring Dinosaurs, Prehistoric Animals, Mutant Creatures, and Primeval Man

Rats

Author(s):

Zindel, Paul

Publisher:

Hyperion Paperbacks

Date:

1999

ISBN:

0-7868-1225-7

Cause:

Catastrophic “Natural” Events

Creatures:

Living Mammals

Submitted by:

Mike Riley (12/03/04)

Exerpt:

“EHHHHHH! EHHHH!"

She was in madness now, and Marge's right foot slammed down again to crush the accelerator. The tires howled, and somehow suddenly grabbed. The truck shot forward, crashed into the boardwalk, and headed straight for the kids. Marge's dreams of saving them, were gone. There would be no Marge-the-Savior photo in the newspaper, she knew. Oh, she would be in the papers. Like Leroy Sabiesiak. She'd be in there just like Leroy.

The rats were tearing and biting the skin from the insides of her thighs. Several had crawled up her shirt and they bit vengefully at her naked arms and shoulders. In a moment, the rats had covered her face again. She felt the claws that tore into her eyeballs. She screamed as the paws scraped and bit into her sockets until the rats' teeth were at the gateway of her brain."

Reviews:
"Zindel's style is fast paced and the plot is chock-full of shivery, stomach-churning action." (School Library Journal)
"The book does contain a somewhat watered-down message about environmentalism, but readers caught up in the fast-paced, blood-spewing action may not take time to ponder the moral." (Publishers Weekly)
"Staten Island and the rest of New York City are threatened by an invasion of vicious killer rats in this gory, makes-your-skin-crawl thriller." (School Library Journal)

2-1/2 Scars

My Opinion:

This is another of what I call "teen cuisine" novels (i.e., "gifted" teenagers ("toss in one part Sherlock Holmes, one part Indiana Jones, one part Thomas Edison and stir") saving adults from horrid creatures) by Paul Zindel. In this story, we find a horde of intelligent rats lead by a mutant "Emperor" rodent striking back at the human population as their city dump home is asphalted over. Of the Paul Zindel books I have read so far, this was the most enjoyable. Some of the attacks, as far fetch as they are, are quite riveting especially since most of the creatures in this story or "ordinary" rats which most of us have encountered at home and/or the pet store. It's an easy, fast, fun, and often gory read with plenty of "Nature on the Rampage". If you can place your brain on hold and remember this is a kid's book, you will enjoy the story.

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