Mr. Moon's review of Rotten Little Animals

Mr.Moon's Nightmares All Day Day is only five days away! I was lucky enough to receive a signed copy of Kevin Shamel's Rotten Little Animals to add to the prize pack. In honor of that I wanted to share a review I wrote for Rotten Little Animals awhile back. I also want to take a second and tell everyone that Mr.MoOn's Nightmares All Day Day is only the beast it is becoming because of Mr.Shamel. His generosity and kindness are second only to his ability to write damned entertaining fiction. I'm honored to be able to add a signed copy of Rotten Little Animals to my prize pack!




Mr. Shamel takes us deep into the secret world of the furred and feathered with his debut novel Rotten Little Animals. As is so happens animals really can talk...and so much more.

The story starts with an animal film crew shooting a zombie movie in a human family's back yard. Stinkin' Rat is the director and the brain behind it all. A human boy named Cage accidentally spies the animals filming and (in order to protect the secrets of animals everywhere) the animals kidnap him. It is quickly decided the crew will film the kidnapping and enter the resulting movie into the Animaux Film Festival (held every year in France, of course). Chaos ensues and I don't mean a little bit of chaos. We are talking zombie fights, torture-porn, award show massacres, and more angry little critters than you can shake a stick at. I don't want to ruin any thing for you (the story evolves quickly with a ease that veteran writers have trouble mastering) so I'll just say the action and laughs don't end til the last page.

The story is very fast paced and well told, the twists you encounter pull you in deeper into the secret world of the animals. Shamel gives his characters (be they animals or the odd, okay, very odd, human) personality and life. As the story unfolds you pick up on Shamel's tongue-in-cheek commentary of the state of the world. I felt he clowns it all well. Greed, perversion, and the movie business are all comic fodder in this little gore streaked, chuckle filled story.

All in all a great first novel that balances laughs and action perfectly. Highly recommended for fans of action, comedy, animals, scat (hey, animals poop, okay?), and good smart fiction.

get it here