I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Eight Cylinders by Jason Parent Published by Crystal Lake Publishing on November 13 2020
Genres: Adult, Horror
Pages: 124
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
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The nitty-gritty: Lovecraft meets The Twilight Zone in this fast-paced, monster-filled horror story.
This was a lot of fun! I wasn’t sure what to expect from Eight Cylinders, and I definitely got something a little different, but I ended up really enjoying this book. As you might have guessed from the cover, there’s a Lovecraft vibe to the story, but it also has a strong Twilight Zone feel as well, especially the ending.
The story follows a petty criminal named Seb who, after barely making it out of a vicious gunfight alive, finds himself lost in the desert outside of Las Vegas. But he’s not alone. Seb has stumbled upon a group of misfits just like himself, who explain to him that they are stuck in this place, and have been for quite some time. And now that Seb has found his way into their encampment, Seb’s stuck too. Seb doesn’t believe it for a second, and he’s frantic to get back home to his girlfriend Gemma. But when he hops in his Charger and tries to leave, he discovers his new friends are right: there’s something monstrous living in the mountains surrounding them, something gigantic with long, sticky tentacles, and it will do anything to stop them from leaving.
Parent has an “in your face” writing style that actually works pretty well with this length of story, and he doesn’t hold back when it comes to descriptive, graphic violence. Let’s just say there are some scenes where characters are attacked by the tentacled monster and they ain’t pretty! The author seems to revel in blood and guts and puke and, well, you get the idea. The writing itself is pretty rough around the edges, though. I ran across some awkwardly written sentences that definitely needed a little more editing. But while this might have bothered me in a different story, with the breakneck pace of Eight Cylinders, I didn’t have much time to reflect on whether the prose was perfect or not.
With a story this short, you don’t get to know the characters that well, so I didn’t connect with any of them, to be honest, not even Seb. Also Seb isn’t the kind of guy you like anyway. He’s a criminal and he isn’t that nice. He’s obsessed with his car and its “seven hundred horsepower, six-point-two-liter Hemi V-8 engine and Six-hundred-fifty-pound-feet of torque” and he’s sure that the car is his only hope of getting past the tentacle monster in the mountains (and spoiler: he’s right). The other characters seem to exist just so that Seb can try to get away, although there is a tame coyote named Juke that I liked!
What really made the whole thing work for me was the ending, believe it or not. Just like the classic Twilight Zone episodes that I’m so fond of, there is a big twist at the end that puts everything into perspective. I loved the growing sense of dread that the author manages to convey, and that final twist settles over the reader like a blanket of doom. Really, it was the perfect ending. If you’re in the mood for a gritty, high octane, quick read, then Eight Cylinders is a good choice.
Big thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy.
Very intriguing! More than the Lovecraftian vibes, what piques my curiosity here is your reference to the Twilight Zone, because I did indeed enjoy the unexpected twists at the end of many episodes, and I’m more than curious to see how that applies to this story… 🙂
Thanks for sharing!
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It was almost the best part for me, that TZ twist!
I don’t know why but tentacles freak me out so bad. So this sounds really creepy to me (not that that is a bad thing). It’s too bad you couldn’t connect with any of the characters but yeah at 124 pages it’s a pretty short story to do that.
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There are definitely some freaky parts…
I would have gotten Christine vibes from the cover, but I’m glad to hear it goes beyond, into Lovecraftian territory, cool. Good review!
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It really didn’t have any Christine elements, but the Lovecraft parts were a lot of fun:-)
I don’t think that this is the right story for me, even if the Lovecraftian vibes seem interesting. But it was interesting reading your review, thanks for sharing!
Thanks for reading, Susy:-)
I do miss The Twilight Zone, and I like coyotes! 🙂
I do too, I love the TZ marathons that come on occasionally:-)
This does sound like fun! I’m not sure I’m in the mood for the violence and car love at the moment, but I’ll bookmark it for when I am! Great review.
Thanks Lisa:-)
Twist endings can be really fun, glad it worked out so well here!
It really did, endings can be hit or miss…
You had me at tentacled monster but you knew that right. I liked the other book I read by this author so I’m purchasing this one for sure.
Yes, you and me both with the tentacles:-)
I need to try a book from this author, I seen his work around. 🙂
I’ve never read him before, but I’d definitely pick up another of his books.
Whoa, this is new to me. I would have picked this up based on that cover alone, lol. It sounds like a fun read too 😀
It was fun! In that “over the top” way.
This one sound like a bucket of fun:)). And being able to pull off a proper twist ending so that it turns everything on its head is a real achievement. Thank you for sharing and I’m glad you enjoyed so much – even if you weren’t all that fussed about the characters.
Mmm. Not sure about the Lovecraft vibes but the TZ twist does sound really good.
Lynn