Reach of the Claw

Luther, Illinois unknowingly harbors a monster. A very ancient evil is waking, an evil that man has stalked, trying to kill, for many decades. This boogey fairy has a taste for human flesh. It’s awake now…and it’s hungry.

Brent Mathers has more responsibility than the average sixth grader. His single mother works third shift at the local truck stop, giving Brent virtual free reign during the day. Other than school, Billy’s one daytime contact is the elderly neighbor with whom he visits. Mrs. Arimony, a peaceful, God-fearing woman, is acting oddly. She no longer needs her wheel chair, convinced that God has given her supreme powers to perform acts of His will. Billy is frightened by this change in the grandmotherly woman’s personality. He is the only one who notices the first sign of the Luchorpan’s return. His mother declines to listen to her child’s unfounded fears, a lapse that she will soon regret.

Ken Conner dismissed his grandmother’s stories of monsters and such as a child. Who actually believed that his family was cursed with the ability to track a monster? Who wanted to read the journal of a mad man who lived more than two hundred years ago, that suggested he had indeed tracked and been defeated by said monster? This was the stuff of campfire stories, not real life. That is until Ken begins to have vivid night terrors. These bleed over into his daytime hours. He is not convinced until he digs out his ancestor’s journal, and sees his exact situation described in vivid detail. He now finds himself in the small town of Luther, where the beast’s ‘scent’ is the strongest. He has to convince a single mother and her child that the Luchorpan is free and will be coming for the boy.

Reach of the Claw is not a book to read alone or at night. From the first page, this book will send shivers down your spine. The Luchorpan is a fairy that feeds on humans, and is believed to steal their soul as well. Mild mind control and supernatural powers make it almost impossible to stop. One scratch from its oversized, razor sharp claws ensures that another of its kind will be ‘born’. Mr. Crossett does an excellent job of creating edge-of-your seat suspense, and keeping your nerves taut to the very end of the book. This book reminded me superficially of the otherworldly slasher flick “Jeepers Creepers”, but has its own formidable originality. The metamorphosis of Mrs. Arimony was blood curdling. The way that her devout religion was turned against her by the Luchorpan, becoming a cultish obsession, chilled me. There is plenty of suspense, horror, monsters and blood contained within the pages of Reach of the Claw. This book is not for the fa! int of heart.

Reviewed by: Joletta