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Vacation
- Author
- Matthew Costello
- Narrator
- Peter Macon
- Publisher
- Blackstone Publishing
- Publish Date
- 27 September 2011
- Run Time
- 7 hours 30 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
What to expect
Jack Murphy and his family need a vacation. This one might just kill them.
After a global crisis causes crops to fail and species to disappear, something even more deadly happens. Masses around the world suddenly become predators, feeding off their own kind. These “Can Heads” grow to such a threat that fences, gated compounds, and SWAT-style police protection become absolutely necessary to live.
After one attack leaves NYPD cop Jack Murphy wounded and his partner dead, Jack takes his wife and kids on a vacation far up north, to the Paterville Family Camp, a fortress-like compound in the mountains where families can still swim and take boats out on a lake.
At first, it’s idyllic. There’s plenty of food, fun stuff for their children, and another nice young couple with kids of their own. And when the camp suffers a Can Head attack, Jack even helps defend it. He’s immediately offered a job in security. His family wants to stay.
But Jack slowly comes to realize that there’s something else going on at Paterville Family Camp, and when he makes a gruesome discovery, he will be forced to get his family out, no matter who—or what—stands in his way.
Critics Review
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“I absolutely devoured Vacation by Matthew Costello. It’s dark, subversive, deeply disturbing, and absolutely compelling.”
Jonathan Maberry, Stoker Award–winning author
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“Costello takes a typical family and throws them headfirst into a situation that’s anything but. What would you do to protect those you love at the end of the world? A thrilling, fast-paced story of priorities, secrets, and survival.”
David Moody, author of Hater
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“Costello is a master at lean, swift pacing. I read this book in three big gulps. And had life not intruded I’d have swallowed it whole.”
Jack Ketchum, award-winning horror author
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“Unstoppable…undeniable…un-put-down-able…Matthew Costello’s Vacation is a hybrid horror/action/SF classic! Working at the height of his powers, Costello crafts a lean, terse, terrifying juggernaut of a book, which blends the minimalist punch of James Ellroy with the ravenous blitzkrieg of Danny Boyle’s fleet-footed zombies in 28 Days Later. Set aside several uninterrupted hours, because once you crack this open you’re going to be sprinting breathlessly to the last page. Highest recommendation!”
Jay Bonansinga, national bestselling coauthor of The Walking Dead: Rise of the Governor
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“Matt Costello’s work has always been impressive, but Vacation is just flat-out amazing. Truly epic in scope, this astounding science fiction / horror hybrid has ‘soon to be a major motion picture’ written all over it.”
Bentley Little, Stoker Award–winning author
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“Costello sets up a world simultaneously threatened with constant surveillance and complete societal breakdowns, foreshadowing the camp scenes nicely with a suspenseful and frightening ‘rest’ stop on an electric fence–enclosed highway.”
Publishers Weekly
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Details
- Author
- Matthew Costello
- Narrator
- Peter Macon
- Duration
- 7 hours 30 minutes
- Release Date
- 27 September 2011
- ISBN
- 9781481572453
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Blackstone Publishing
- Genre
- Horror and supernatural fiction
Synopsis
Jack Murphy and his family need a vacation. This one might just kill them.After a global crisis causes crops to fail and species to disappear, something even more deadly happens. Masses around the world suddenly become predators, feeding off their own kind. These “Can Heads” grow to such a threat that fences, gated compounds, and SWAT-style police protection become absolutely necessary to live.After one attack leaves NYPD cop Jack Murphy wounded and his partner dead, Jack takes his wife and kids on a vacation far up north, to the Paterville Family Camp, a fortress-like compound in the mountains where families can still swim and take boats out on a lake.At first, it’s idyllic. There’s plenty of food, fun stuff for their children, and another nice young couple with kids of their own. And when the camp suffers a Can Head attack, Jack even helps defend it. He’s immediately offered a job in security. His family wants to stay.But Jack slowly comes to realize that there’s something else going on at Paterville Family Camp, and when he makes a gruesome discovery, he will be forced to get his family out, no matter who—or what—stands in his way.
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