Published: Dec. 28, 2010
Words: 87,453 (approximate)
Language: English
ISBN: 9781452493077

Short description

Alcorn Corp. is working with an experimental cat food laced with hormones and appetite enhancers. The food causes cats to grow and exhibit extremely aggressive behavior. When the test animals are released, a few people try to prevent them from killing people in a small city. But when the formula is stolen and sold to enemy nations the genie is out of the bottle, and nothing will ever be the same.

Extended description

In picturesque Athens, Alabama, a pet food company is working with an experimental cat food laced with hormones and appetite enhancers. The feed causes cats to add muscle, gain weight, and exhibit extremely aggressive behavior. When Patricia Reese, head of the research project, threatens to expose the pet food as a threat to public safety, she finds herself out of work, her home ransacked, and all her carefully gathered proof missing.

The cats involved in the testing are scheduled to be euthanized by the company, but well-meaning animal rights activists release the animals. These enhanced, hyper-aggressive felines begin to prey on small game in the area, and then the ravenous animals turn their attention to people.

An unemployed scientist, a small special ops team, and a homeless veteran join forces to protect the inhabitants of Athens. Racing against time, they try to prevent the looming catastrophe. (Read more) In picturesque Athens, Alabama, a pet food company is working with an experimental cat food laced with hormones and appetite enhancers. The feed causes cats to add muscle, gain weight, and exhibit extremely aggressive behavior. When Patricia Reese, head of the research project, threatens to expose the pet food as a threat to public safety, she finds herself out of work, her home ransacked, and all her carefully gathered proof missing.

The cats involved in the testing are scheduled to be euthanized by the company, but well-meaning animal rights activists release the animals. These enhanced, hyper-aggressive felines begin to prey on small game in the area, and then the ravenous animals turn their attention to people.

An unemployed scientist, a small special ops team, and a homeless veteran join forces to protect the inhabitants of Athens. Racing against time, they try to prevent the looming catastrophe.

But when someone steals the secret formula that created the menace and sells it to eight foreign enemies of the United States, the most deadly biological weapon ever created has been unleashed. The genie is out of the bottle and the world may never be the same.

Disclaimer

No animals or people were harmed during the writing of this book. The author does not hate cats, dogs, women and children, animal rights activists, homeless people, hunters, runners, truck drivers, maintenance men, chicken farmers, police officers, sheriff’s deputies, women who text while driving SUVs, or the elderly. However, the author is deathly afraid of anyone who texts while driving because of several near death experiences attributable to such individuals.

The author is a cat lover, but he is also a writer. This book started with the basic premise of what if. What would happen if a pet food were tampered with in such a way as to make the animals abnormally large and aggressive? Writing this book was, at times, painful for the author who feeds and pets a feral cat on a regular basis. But as a writer, the author felt the storyline was too good not to write, just because it made him uncomfortable.

The setting of this story is in Athens, Alabama, which is where the author resides. Athens was chosen because of his intimate knowledge of the city and the surrounding area. To the best of the author’s knowledge, there are currently no homeless people residing in Athens. The depiction in this book of such an individual is the product of the author’s imagination and is there for storyline purposes only. There is an animal feed manufacturing plant located where the author situated Alcorn Pet Food Corporation in the book. However, it is not configured as described in the book. The author went with that location because of the surrounding terrain, but the real facility is not named Alcorn. The feed produced at that location by the real company is safe.

As far as the author knows, there is no real pet food company by the name Alcorn. That company is the product of his imagination. His research on the fictitious name found no connection to the pet food industry.

The personalities, traits, and decisions made by government officials in portions of this book are not based on the actual individuals currently holding those offices, or any who have held them in the past. They are the product of the author’s imagination.
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Adult-content rating: This book contains content considered unsuitable for young readers 17 and under, and which may be offensive to some readers of all ages. For more information, see the Support FAQ.

Tags

fiction, horror, covert ops, thriller suspense, action adventure, ricky sides, animal rights, biological warfare, post apocalyptic prequel

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Reviews

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Review by: Amy Shojai on Feb. 05, 2011 :
Congratulations Ricky Sides on an engaging thriller! I read lots of suspense/thriller novels, and am particularly interested in those that include animal characters/plots. The premise—agri-terrorism—is a reality in the world today, and marrying that horror the innocence of beloved companion animals is inspired.

I was a bit confused by changes of point-of-view within several scenes, and disappointed that the heroine first introduced in the opening had so little to do in the last half of the book. However, an equally engaging hero carried the story through to the satisfying end. I particularly liked the action/fight scenes in the story.

CLAWS draws a chilling picture of “what if” and makes any pet lover raise an eyebrow at that purring couch potato kitty begging for a full bowl of kibble. Particularly coming on the heels of the pet food crises, this is a plot ripe for the telling. Bravo!
(reviewed within a month of purchase)

Review by: Margaret Lake on Jan. 19, 2011 :
I'm pretty squeamish, but every once in a while, I'll push myself way out of my comfort zone and try something like Claws. I'm glad I did.

Claws is an edge of your seat thriller without going overboard on the gore, even though there are a number of pretty horrific deaths. Ricky Sides is like James Patterson in that he can write a horrifying scene so matter-of-factly that I can read it without having nightmares for a week.

This book is a cracking good story and an absolute page turner.
(reviewed within a month of purchase)

Review by: Bob Lee on Jan. 07, 2011 :
Not only is this story different from Ricky Side's other works, I think this one is his best novel so far. Some of the story had the feel of Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds", only with cats. Big cats. Ferocious cats. Come at you in bunches.

Some people are offed in different gory ways, but it's not too bad. There are also a couple of S&M murders, so this book is more for mature audiences.

For me, the best scene of the book is the one where one young lady is trapped in the bathroom trying everything she finds at hand to fend off some particularly large and persistent felines, while her boyfriend is outside battling a few others who haven't made it into the house yet. Will he get there in time to save her? You'll have to read the book to find out.
(reviewed within a month of purchase)

Review by: Sharon Mc Govern on Dec. 29, 2010 :
Wow! I have read nearly all of the works of Ricky Sides and this most recent novel is totally different than anything he has previously produced. It is a horror story that will keep you turning the pages until you come to the end. Be sure to read it. You will be surprised if you have read his other books. He may even come to be identified with authors such as: Robin Cook, Steven King, and James Patterson.
(reviewed the day of purchase)

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