Do you like war stories? How about tales describing close encounters with the great hairy beast known as Bigfoot? Well, if you answered “Oh, hell yes!” to either or, especially, both of these questions then guess what? Today is your lucky day. Because I’m here to tell you about a book by Eric S. Brown called Bigfoot War. A novel that’s sure to appeal to the war-story-meets-tale-of-Bigfoot-encounter lover in all of us.

Early in the book we meet Jeff Taylor, a resident of the rural, very small town of Babble Creek, North Carolina where, as a child, Jeff’s father was brutally killed by a vicious, monstrous creature. A Bigfoot, if Jeff is to be believed, which he is not, by the majority of the town’s residents. After all, Bigfoot doesn’t really exist. It is a creature of legend, nothing more. Jeff’s certainty regarding the cause of his father’s death leads to him being seen as a bit of a nutcase by the locals, none of whom are too broken up over his departure from Babble Creek once he is old enough to join the military. Understandably, these same people are less than thrilled when Jeff eventually returns to the town where he was raised, now trained in the ways of weaponry and killing, ready to take revenge on the creature he is still convinced ended his father’s life.

After enlisting the help of his old friend, Tom Railsback, Jeff heads into the woods on a mission to hunt and destroy the towering beast he believes is still inhabiting the area. Turns out he is right. After tracking down and killing the monster which has caused him so much grief, Jeff believes the nightmare is over and he can finally put that awful chapter of his life behind him. This time, though, he discovers that he couldn't have been more wrong. Turns out that there is a large number of other Bigfoots (Bigfeet?) living within that particular stretch of woods. And now they’re all pretty pissed that one of their own has been killed. No, actually, they’re really pissed.

Let the war begin!

Much carnage ensues. The blood flows and the viscera flies as human and Bigfoot face off on the streets, in the stores, and in the homes of the once peaceful town of Babble Creek. The few police officers there find themselves almost immediately overwhelmed by the sheer scope and ferocity of the assault levelled upon the citizens they were sworn to protect. Reinforcements are needed. A distress call is sent out to the next closest town but given Babble Creek’s relative isolation, will those reinforcements arrive in time to do any good? And, even if they do, will they be enough to halt the Bigfoot onslaught?

Eric S. Brown’s Bigfoot War is a quick, short read that consists of about one part character development and ten parts action. It’s hard to think of a book that delivers more immediately and more succinctly on the premise it has set for itself. You want Bigfoot? You got it. You want war? Yeah, you got that too. You’ve also got a book that’s a bloody, brutal good time. That is, if you find the idea of people being torn apart and big, hairy creatures having their heads blown off a good time. Hey, to each their own.