Review: RATTUS NEW YORKUS by Hunter Shea

Author Hunter Shea, who is about as prolific as they get, possesses a particular (and peculiar) talent for cryptozoology and cryptobotany {see THE DEVIL'S FINGERS}. He also demonstrates a scientific bent for mutations of the natural order. (He also has an unbelievably eidetic memory of 1950's sci fi and horror B-films). Here are science, decadence of civilization, and genetics clashing. If you loved the films "Ben" and "Willard" (I did), for sure you are gonna love RATTUS NEW YORKUS. Be aware, the good guys don't always win (this is Hunter Shea' s horror playground, after all), and Mr. Shea is no stranger to Apocalypse.

This story is a novella and reads very fast! A divorcing husband and wife exterminator team are assigned to test a new rat control substance that is supposed to stop them from breeding. Unfortunately the planned genetic modifications don't work to plan and they breed more prolifically and become aggressive and fearless. With the reputation of New York rats, this is a seriously scary scenario!

It's a very fast paced story with constant action through most of it and although the nature of the action is fairly predictable, the details are what makes the difference. I would call it a light Horror. There are definite horrific bits but with comedy asides.

The subplot dealing with the dynamics between the divorcing partners adds some depth but wasn't explored all that far and I felt was left unresolved. Overall the story didn't have a lot of depth, but if you're looking for a fast action Horror that will make to wonder about the scratching in the walls, this will do nicely.

In many ways it resembles one of those old 1950s creature Horrors, but with a more modern feel and without the predictable happy ending.

Rats! The prolific Hunter Shea takes a rodent size bite out of the Big Apple

34 years after reading James Herbert’s seminal masterpiece “Rats” I find myself once again reading a novel about the pesky rodents we all love to hate. Herbert certainly raised the bar for visceral violence in his 1970s cult classic, but flash-forward forty odd years and the prolific American Hunter Shea finally turns his pen to rats. He was bound to eventually as this author really loves a creature-feature, everything from giant iguanas in “Jurassic Florida” to Nessie herself in “Loch Ness Revenge”. In 2019 we’ll probably see the giant iguanas fighting Nessie in a Hunter monster mash-up! So, Hunter Shea loves this type of trashy, fast-paced, cartoony horror, and to be fair he’s really good at it. This latest creature feature has just as much in common with the trashy b-movies of the 1950s as it does with the pulp horror of the 1970s, gleefully mixing it all up.

Like the majority of his output “Rattus New York” is undemanding fun, with sketchily drawn characters, and moves at such a lick you’re never going to get bored. It’s a quick read and so so easy to enjoy you will have to stop yourself from finishing it in one sitting (I read it in two). When it’s loaded with ridiculous scenes of scared and angry mums stomping masses of giant rats trying to chomp on their babies you’ll just keep on reading and before you know it the novella will be finished.

The plot is a simple one of nature biting back at mankind. A scientist, Dr Randolph Finch, releases a new rodenticide, Degenesis which is supposed to sterilise rats and prevent them from breeding, making them easier to kill. Of course, something goes wrong with the formulae and the rats get bigger, harder to kill, and more dangerously, more intelligent. Some of these rats were so clever I thought one of the blasted critters was going to start playing the piano! The scientist Finch is actually just a supporting character in the novella, the main characters being a pair of city exterminators, the soon-to-be divorced Chris and Benita Jackson. This pair were top-notch leads and the comedy banter between them was great.

“Rattus New York” is seen from the point of view of exterminator Chris, who is still in love with his soon-to-be ex-wife. When out on a couple of local jobs they notice that groups of rats are both more aggressive and intelligent. Having been in the game for twenty years, they are startled to see rats using incredible guile to avoid traps and attack humans in packs. Before long a massive lair is discovered under Grand Central Station where millions of rats are hiding. And plotting! Quickly, the authorities realise what has happened to all the homeless people…. The fun is just about to start and Hunter Shea begins to move swiftly through the gears.

Chris and Benita were entertaining lead characters, with Chris reminding me slightly of the exterminator Vasiliy Fet in Chuck Hogan and Guillermo del Toro’s “Strain” trilogy and they really find their legs once the action heats up. The novella is littered with fast moving action sequences, mass attacks, blood baths, but never loses its sense of humour. It’s not deep or fancy and if you fancy switching your brain into neutral for some shlock horror look no further.

However, I did wonder whether Hunter Shea missed an opportunity to come up with something meatier than this final 112-page novella? I felt there could have more substantial set pieces and more battles and with the rat invasion taking place over a longer period. The potential of this story was so great I felt that a chance was missed to create something less formulaic. I really liked the way the novella closed, but again there could have been much more detail in the lead up to this conclusion which was a bit rushed. Perhaps more characters could have been involved resulting in a more challenging and involved work? Small quibbles. Either way, I’m also fine with this readably trashy horror which was good company for a couple of hours.

“Rattus New York” is the second instalment of a trilogy called “One Size Eats All”. The first book, “Jurassic Florida” came out earlier in the year and “The Devil’s Fingers” concludes the trilogy in October.

New York rats have a bad reputation, and this book is not going to win them any positive vibes. The long asked question may finally be answered-Who is the king of the cement jungle ? Man or rat, the battle is on ! Welcome to fight club, rat vs man, all rules off the table, only one can win.
It's all fun and games till the rat pops out of the mouth. Oh yeh expect to cringe, chuckle and shutter as you read along. Keep a hockey stick close, and be ready to run. Oh my, I loved the ending the skittering sound...so Carrie with once last EEKK or squeak depending on your humanity level.
Thanks NetGalley and publishers fr the review copy.

Although humans are at the top of the food chain, we believe we're the dominant species on Earth largely only through our own hubris, and often to our own peril. In the genre of natural horror, this is often the predominant theme, and being too smart for our own good more often than not meets with disaster. Urban legend has it that there are five times as many rats as people populating the boroughs of New York City, while scientific estimates place the rat census at approximately 24% of the human population. Even at this much lower end, it's safe to say that's a lot of rats.

Rats are prime fodder for scary stories. They carried the plague, after all, and are host to a number of diseases, like rabies, salmonella, leptospirosis, and some even carry hantavirus. They've been the subject of horror books and movies - James Herbert wrote a series of novels about these suckers beginning with The Rats, and their celluloid exploits have scared audiences aplenty in Willard, Of Unknown Origin, and The Food of the Gods - but if you really want your blood to curdle, check out Morgan Spurlock's real-life horror documentary, Rats. Hell, just the trailer alone should make you shiver! These rapidly scurrying, long-tailed critters with those sharp incisors built just for gnawing can be frightening critters in the right hands...or even worse in the wrong hands.

Hunter Shea introduces us to New York exterminators Chris and Benny (or Benita if one must be formal), former spouses and now somewhat uncomfortable co-workers, as they take to the streets to test a brand-new rodenticide, Degenesis, which promises to control Manhattan's rat problem with maximum efficiency and efficacy. I probably don't need to tell you that it doesn't work, or that it ends up doing exactly the opposite of what its developer, Dr. Finch, promised. Oversexed and hyper-aggressive, the city's rats are ready to challenge mankind for ownership of the Big Apple.

When he's not delivering emotionally loaded whoppers like Creature, Shea writes fun, highly entertaining, playful creature features. Rattus New Yorkus falls firmly into the latter camp with Shea delivering a tight, perfectly sized, single-serving novella-length story. Chris, our first-person narrator, is New York through and through, delivering sarcastic responses and one-liners no matter the situation, while pining over his lost love. Since the story is confined to Chris's headspace, we don't get to know Benny except through him, but Shea gives us some nice flashes of insight into her personality and their lives together on the job, as well as a decent idea what their marriage had been like. The first person narration serves the story well, though, limiting the viewpoints on any given scene solely to Chris's observations and keeps things moving along pretty rapidly.

The human protagonists are a nice touch, but it's the rats that are the main attraction. After Degenesis fails spectacularly, Chris and Benny have more than their fair share of close calls and near misses as New York's rat population explodes exponentially all across town, turning into an uncontrollable calamity. I had a hunch Rattus New Yorkus was going to be right up my alley, and this suspicion was nicely solidified during an underground encounter roughly halfway through that made the hairs on my arms stand on end. From that point on, Shea charges firmly ahead toward a battle for the ages that will prove once and for all who's in charge - man or beast?

If that's not enough to sweeten the deal, there's a bevy of flamethrower action during the book's climax that rat haters are sure love. For the rat lovers out there, there's plenty of squirm inducing chompy-chomps on unsuspecting victims and tidal waves of rodents scouring the streets (waitaminute, tidal waves of rodents? I better jot that down. Could be the next Sharknado!).

[Note: I received an advanced reading copy of this title from the publisher, Kensington/Lyrical Underground, via NetGalley.]

More often than not I know that reading a Hunter Shea book is just going to be a fun time with a bit of gore. This was one of those times!

Benny and Chris are a divorced couple who have a business they run together. It puts them at odds with each other a lot. They are exterminators and Manhattan has a huge rat problem. There is a new rat poison created by Dr. Finch called Degenesis that is suppose to put a stop to the rat population by making them sterile.

Benny and Chris use this new poison in several of their locations and after a few weeks they decide to check things out at a local restaurant and find out that this amazing new product isn't so amazing. It's like the rat population has done the opposite of what the poison was suppose to do and it's made the rats not afraid of humans, made them seem to have way more babies and they are a bit more hungry than usual. Benny and Chris very lot out of the room as the rats attacked them.

They contact Dr. Finch and he comes to see them because he doesn't think it has anything to do with his poison but boy is he in for a surprise, the whole of Manhattan are in for a surprise because they are not the only exterminators using Degenesis and the rat population has gotten a little, um a lot more out of hand than it was before.

So some might find this book scary but I found it more creepy than scary and that is because I am not a fan of rats and the description of all the urine and feces and nasty rats just gave me the creeps. It reminded me of the movie Deadly Eyes but on a ramped up scale of like thousands of rats.

I really liked the characters in this one so I think that is why I probably rank this one a bit higher on my like scale than Jurrasic Florida. I especially liked Benny, she was the boss of that business  and she was pretty awesome. Her and her swatting club thing that sent those rats a flying! I liked Chris too as he tried his best to protect Benny but she could take care of herself.

Overall this was a very quick read as it's one of his novella that can be easily read in one day. It's just typical Hunter Shea and I really liked it.

“Possibly a thousand rats were on our tail, their own tails bobbing like Satan’s spaghetti”



I had the pleasure of receiving an advance reader copy of Hunter Shea’s ‘Rattus New Yorkus’ to read and review.

“They’re bigger.. They’re smarter.. We’re what’s for dinner”

This is such a fun book to read, I love horror like this, monster horror, animals in some shape or form taking over, taking charge, being in control, it’s great. As a proud owner of two rats, I definitely got a kick out of this story.

Degenesis, a new experimental rodenticide created by Dr Randolph ‘Ratticus’ Finch. It doesn’t kill the rats, but sterilizes them so they cannot reproduce, or so it’s meant to.

Instead, Manhattan is overrun, there are more rats than ever before and they are much more aggressive, not to mention they are reproducing at unparalleled levels.. and they have become organized.

Chris and Benita ‘Benny’ Jackson, exterminators on the city payroll, are one of the teams tasked with ridding New York of it’s ever growing rat problem.

Chris and Benny are currently in the midst of a divorce, they are still working together and living together and generally get on well. I really enjoyed the relationship between them, it made a refreshing change that they were not ‘together’ as it were. We didn’t have to put up with any romance or sexy scenes, it was just straight up circa B-movie horror.

They had delivered the Degenesis to several sites across the city, setting it in the traps with the hopes that the rats would eat it. They always seem to take the food from the traps, they are just generally too clever to get caught in any of them. When Chris and Benny return a few weeks later to one of the sites, a restaurant, they are shocked to discover that rather than a decrease, there had been a bit of a baby-boom in the rat kingdom.

While carrying out an preliminary examination of the area, they found a large nest, filled with many baby rats. They were shocked to see how much the population in this particular area had grown in spite of the Degenesis, but they were even more surprised at what happened next. They were surrounded.. and the rats were not leaving, they were not scared, they were ready to attack.

The descriptions involving the rat take-overs were great, I could really see it in my minds eye. I really loved the idea of thousands upon thousands of these ‘mutant’ rats just pouring out of the walls (took me back to one of my favorite movies, Aliens, “They’re coming outta the walls. They’re coming outta the goddamn walls”.

Rattus New Yorkus is a great book, a fun getaway from those real life stresses. It’s very easy to read, no complicated science babble or over convoluted plots. It’s very simple and straight to it. I very much enjoyed reading it and I am immensely grateful I was given the opportunity.



4/5 – A lot of fun, enjoyable horror, great banter between the main characters. Give it a go if you get the chance.

And for the Star Trek fan in me, I love the line “the Borg-like rats” – Thank you Hunter Shea.



Lesley-Ann – The Housewife of Horror

My mum hates rats, when her and my dad first moved in together they came home one day and there was a rat doing it's thing in their kitchen, it was massive apparently. so my dad had to kill it with a kitchen knife, he did it with such force that the vinyl kitchen tile came up when he pulled up the knife, rat still attached, so yeah, she hates rats.

I mention this simply because I read this, thought of her and was telling her about it as I have a sick sense of humour. Cruel I know but also kinda funny as she can laugh about it slightly now.

Anywho, when I saw the title of this I didn't have to read who the author was because I just knew it would be a Hunter Shea story!

Millions and millions of rats, a rodenticide called Degenesis, the Dr responsible for said rodenticide and the crack exterminators, soon to be divorced, Chris and Benita (Benny) Jackson merge together for a rip roaring journey through the sewers and streets of New York each trying to kill the other, with plenty of blood, gore, rat and human based deaths and the humour of Hunter Shea.

It's a good story, well written and just adds to my love of Hunters books. I need them all, I need physical copies on my shelves of every single book so I can loan them out to share the love, all the love and with this one, the ratty love!

*Huge thanks to Hunter Shea, Kensington Books, Lyrical Underground and NetGalley for this copy which I chose to read and all opinions are my own*

I am a fan of Hunter Shea, and he really shines in these fast paced novellas that are published at a nice price for the reader. Thank you Net Galley for allowing me to read this before the publication. What is grosser than rats? How about lots of them? More than you can count. How about bigger ones? Smarter ones? Well this novella from the twisted mind of Hunter Shea takes us on a very scary trip with a few exterminators and a creator of a new rat poison that does not have the desired effect. Watch as New York is overrun. Very old school horror done extremely well.

I'd seen a lot of crazy shit in my day, but this one took the cake, the plate, and the fork right out from under me."

Exterminators Chris and soon-to be ex-wife, Benny (short for Benita), handle pest management, saving New York one rodent at a time. Even though they are mid-divorce, they are still in the business together. When a new rodenticide is developed to sterilize the urban ratties, the lucky pair start doling it out to the not-so-lucky city rats. Except as they quickly discover, it's not doing what it's marketed to do. The rats are becoming something else. Something smarter. Aggressive. Something MORE. Suddenly, they start acting as one, planning, and actively attacking humans.

"The rats...kicked into high gear, squealing out a spine-chilling war cry. Yes, a war cry."

Rattus New Yorkus is a riot! I gleefully demolished this in an hour or so. It's a fleeting read, throttling at a breakneck pace towards misadventure and mayhem. As any good horror should be, it's filled with likable main characters, imbued with exactly the right amount of dark humor, and speckled with a copious amount of gory, cringable descriptions.

"The muffled sound of a rat panicking within a human body is one I nor anyone who has ever lived thought they would hear."

I can't wait to read the other two in the One Size Eats All series.

There's one thing for sure -- No one does creature features like Hunter Shea!

Another winner by Hunter Shea! A well written scary read. This book will have you cringing as well as laughing out loud. Enjoyed it!

I once chased a giant rat around my Hell's Kitchen living room, so Hunter Shea's Rattus New Yorkus was extra chilling for me. This short, action-packed book is a testosterone-laden, action/horror thrill ride. No time is wasted on a lot of set-up. You're pretty much thrown right into the meat of the tail (see what I did there?!) of a new insecticide that is not killing the rats so much as making them hyper violent and sexual, as well as capable of conspiring and plotting with other groups of rats. The details are realistic enough that when the hordes of rats start swarming out of basements, sewers and walls, you feel this could really happen. If you've ever wondered what you'd do if millions of crazed, flaming rats came pouring out of Grand Central Station towards you, this is your book! It's pure, crazy, over-the-top, escapist fun.

Rattus New Yorkus, one of the One Size Eats All series, is all out fun. Chasing rats that are genetically out of control is now another arrow in the Hunter Shea quiver. I can't get enough of his seemingly endless creature features. These rats were supposed to have been given a lab created poison. But, instead of killing them, which would be too easy and boring, it made them near invincible. I'm a Hunter Shea fan, and I'll keep reading what he is writing for as long as that is, and please be a very long time!

I've always enjoyed stories where Nature strikes back at mankind, and RATTUS NEW YORKUS is a great example of this type of yarn.

When a new toxin designed to sterilize rats in New York City has the opposite effect, creating a massive population of sex-crazed, aggressive rats, exterminators (and estranged spouses) Chris and Benita Jackson are drawn into the bloody battle to save New York City from the ravenous monsters.

RATTUS NEW YORKUS evokes those crazy creature features of the 50s-60s, and like those films, this one is a hell of a lot of (sometimes gruesome) fun.

Hunter Shea has once again delivered a satisfying tale of Nature-gone-mad that I highly recommend.

How much more fun could this book could be? The answer is none! None more fun!

I had to hold myself back from finishing this novella in just one sitting. I wanted to try to savor it, but it was too hard.

A man and his soon to be ex-wife run an extermination company in Manhattan and are chosen to try out a new rat poison. After dispensing some healthy doses they thought their job was done, but it turns out the poison seems to have backfired, (isn't that always the way?) Now there are more rats than ever. Not only are there more, but they're more aggressive AND let's just say they're happier in their little rat bedrooms. Soon, they've taken over the sites where they were treated and many more sites as well. Can Manhattan escape this scourge of aggressive, horny rats? You'll have to read this to find out!

RATTUS NEW YORKUS is flat out FUN! It doesn't get bogged down in philosophical questions or literary mumbo-jumbo. We're here for people killing rats and boy, do we get them!

I've been slow to come around to Hunter Shea and I'm not sure why, exactly. Maybe I was trying to fancy myself as more of a literary reader? Don't get me wrong, I love literary horror, cosmic horror and all kinds of stuff, but lately? Creature features have been bringing it as far as I'm concerned, and Hunter Shea is up there with the best writers of them, EVER. I love me some James Herbert and Guy N. Smith, but Hunter? This is pure unadulterated fun and if you want some for yourself? Pick up RATTUS NEW YORKUS when it comes out. You won't be disappointed!

This gets my highest recommendation! You can pre-order your copy here: https://www.amazon.com/Rattus-New-Yorkus-Hunter-Shea-ebook/dp/B078LPXDK1/chashorcor-20

*Thanks to Lyrical Underground and NetGalley for the e-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest feedback. This is it!*

Rattus New Yorkus by Hunter Shea was received direct from the publisher. Hunter Shea is one of the few “creature feature” type writers left. This means he consistently writes books with a blood thirsty creature(s) as the central character that are blood soaked and action packed. The modern thinking mans “dark fiction” just doesnt cut it in my opinion. This novella’s central character(s), if you havent figured out the what and where from the title alone, has rats in New York. This. Novella starts strong and never lets up with action, gore and humor thrown in.
If you, or someone you buy gifts for likes what I described, certainly give this fast read a try.

5 Stars

A fast-paced novella about the rats of New York City becoming more aggressive, smarter, and reproducing faster. Is Dr. Finch’s Degenesis, a chemical designed to stop their reproductive systems, to blame? The set-up is scary and there are some good creepy scenes, but I found the ending unsatisfying with no resolution of the central questions.

Creature feature in perfection!

This story does everything right: from super-scary creatures, which are already scary enough in real life, to likeable main characters with just the right sense of humor. I must admit I easily imagined Chris to look something like the exterminator in The Strain series, but I guess that's due to the fact that I've not seen that many exterminators so far. Also, I think they share a similar kind of humor, which seems to be a necessary quality in order to do the job without going nuts. It was so sweet to observe how Chris cared for his beloved, but separated, ex-wife 'Benny' Benita, and I was not disappointed to read how the story ended - he totally deserved it!

Of course, the story also featured the mandatory wise-ass scientist who is to blame for the catastrophe because he missed to do some field-study and made the fatal (hehe!) assumption that wild rats would behave and react like lab rats.

Finally: the rats - nasty and annoying little creatures, but manageable if encountered alone. Give them a hive-like mind and highly increased aggressiveness, and they turn into mankind's worst nightmare. I was impressed by the sheer masses of them, which enabled them to literally overrun everything the humans threw in their way - walls, fire, you name it. Note: if I remember correctly, rats featured in the first creature horror I ever read (thanks to Mr. Herbert), and I guess that left a lasting impression...

Put together, it was a pleasure to read this fine work of genre fiction and I enjoyed every last page of it. Highest recommendation!

Loved this book. Went straight online to look for more. Well written and interesting all the way through. Perfect length for a good read. Will keep getting books from this author.

I know rats are supposed to be smart, but I have no idea if they are this smart. Good god, I hope not!

Chris and Benny (short for Benita) are contract exterminators for NYC. Despite going through a divorce, they are partners in their pest removal business. Dr. Randolph Finch (AKA Ratticus) has created a new rodenticide called Degenesis. While it does not kill the rats, it sterilizes them. The city has decided that all their exterminators will use the new Degenesis.

After baiting the traps with Degenesis, Chris and Benny return to a local Italian restaurant with a pest problem. Turns out, the problem is even worse now. Not only are the rats multiplying, but they are becoming more aggressive. Desperate to believe that this is an aberration, Dr. Finch accompanies Chris into an abandoned building to check the traps. In the basement, they find hundreds of rats tripping over each other to reach them. Having locked themselves in the building to keep out the dangerous humans, the cowardly doctor and Chris end up forcing their way out of a second story window and down the fire escape. After their near-death escape, they can see the rats piled in the windows and watching them.

Then after the population explosion, the rats mysteriously disappear. But where did they go? And what are they planning?

I adore Hunter Shea and his creature features. I recently watched an extraordinarily cheesy old creature feature from the 50s, and I couldn't help but think that Shea does this, only makes it believable for today's audience. It's not hard to believe that a lab rat (see what I did there?) could create a "new and better" rat eradicator and royally mess it up. And I love the humor. After some police kept the rats back with their sidearms, Chris says: "Guess they don't like guns...Good thing the little monsters are liberals." Later on, Dr. Finch calls to say that the rats that had been captured and studied had killed themselves. Chris asks: "So, how did they die?...Was it pills? Did they make out with the business end of a thirty-eight special?" The end was a little darker than I thought it would be, but not unexpected and very fitting. Definitely an enjoyable Shea creature feature!