REVIEW: Tooth And Nail by: Craig DiLouie

PLOT: America’s Military forces are brought home from overseas as a Rabies-style virus is laying waste to the population. As New York crumbles around them, a small platoon has to make its way to a research facility that may or may not have a cure, across a city filled with millions of crazed killers.

Review: Can someone please explain to me why Craig DiLouie isn’t more of a household name? With the watered-down nonsense that is filling the shelf on the New York Times bestseller lists, it’s a shame that a writer like DiLouie has to toil in the shadows. The man knows how to flat-out write! TOOTH AND NAIL, his story of an Army platoon stranded in New York City as a virus that turns ordinary citizens into mindless killing machines, is gritty, violent, addictive and utterly realistic. In fact, it might be the most realistic Contagion story I have ever read.

A virus, known as the Hong Kong Lyssavirus, is running rampant in New York City. The infected, known as “Mad Dogs”, turn into mindless and violent killers, ready to rip, claw, bite and kill. The Army is brought in to protect hospitals and other vital buildings, but is soon overrun and are forced to fight for their lives against a growing horde of killers that are only getting bigger. Told almost entirely from the soldiers’ perspective, DiLouie concocts a thrill ride that grows in intensity with each page up to the shattering climax. The violence is real and absolutely brutal. I appreciated the way DiLouie brought the soldiers out as real people with real fears and feelings. There are no super-soldier Rambo types. You can feel their anguish when they realize that in order to stay alive, they must kill their fellow citizens.

While I loved the book, a few things stood out to me in the downer department. The story isn’t exactly a beacon of originality. Take BLACK HAWK DOWN, toss in a healthy dose of 28 DAYS LATER and a dollop of Robin Cook, mix it all up in a blender and you get an idea of what you are in for. In parts, it played more like a war drama than a contagion book. Some of the soldiers seemed interchangeable with one another, with only a few characters being allowed to truly stand out. In the hands of a lesser writer, this might have hampered the narrative, making it clichéd and hackneyed, but to DiLouie’s credit, he never ventures into maudlin mode, and he layers on plenty of suspense to keep the story moving briskly.

All in all, this is a must read. Craig Dilouie is proving to be one of the true great talents in the horror genre. One part riff on the Apocalypse, and one part love letter to the Military, this is a novel that needs to be part of your library.

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