Book Review: EIGHT CYLINDERS by Jason Parent

EIGHT CYLINDERS by Jason Parent (Crystal Lake Publishing, November 13, 2020 release date) Kindle edition, 124 pages. ASIN # B08L16XL9K 

Summary on the Goodreads website . . . . .

 

“Set in the mountainous desert just outside Sin City, Jason Parent’s EIGHT CYLINDERS is a wild mix of Fury Road, Dante’s Inferno, and Lovecraftian horror. Whip-fast and oozing darkness ‒ monster lovers won’t be able to resist this slick little read.”—Lee Murray, award-winning author of INTO THE MIST

Sebastian “Seb” McAlister has run out of luck in Vegas. Cornered by a trigger-happy gang and shot through the stomach, he makes a desperate escape in his supercharged Hellcat. Fate guides Seb safely out of Sin City and into the desert, but as his wheels fade into the horizon, he fades into darkness.

He awakes among a tiny community in the middle of nowhere. A mountain range circles the hodgepodge of shacks like prison walls looming high. And the warden that resides in those mountains is big, ugly, and deadly—a creature straight out of a Lovecraftian nightmare.

If Seb hopes to escape that wayward way station, he’ll need enough cunning to outwit a force beyond comprehension… and a fast car. With a little luck and a ragtag group of would-be monster mashers racing alongside him, Seb just might have a shot of making it through the mountains alive.

“In Eight Cylinders, Jason Parent serves up memorable characters, fast-paced action, and monstrous terrors. It’s hard-boiled, high-octane horror that rips the reader along while delivering genuine chills on a road to redemption paved with death and danger.” –James Chambers, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of On the Night Border.  

My Four-Star review on the Goodreads website . . . . .

     EIGHT CYLINDERS is a shot of pure adrenaline, an enjoyable escapist action movie on the printed page.

     

     If the next Fast And Furious film took place in Hell, EIGHT CYLINDERS could serve as the script.

     There's just enough of an introduction to main character Seb McCalister to create a smidgeon of empathy as we travel with him from a parking lot gunfight and a painful gut shot, to a delirious flight from the battleground to an unknown land in the desert near Las Vegas, Nevada. He's a desperate but likable criminal with a fast car, a Magic Eight Ball eyeglass to provide bad advice, and a death wish to survive long enough to see his girl Gemma one last time. 

     He loses consciousness during his escape and wakes up, patched up and healing, in a strange land surrounded by mountains and guarded by gigantic tentacled creatures straight out of cosmic horror icon H. P. Lovecraft's menagerie. 

     With a rag tag band of six adults trapped like him, Seb has to lead a fleet of souped-up cars and trucks out of the desert in order to save a young Asian girl under their strange guardianship. 

     EIGHT CYLINDERS holds the pedal to the metal and doesn't let up for 124 entertaining pages of forgettable fun.