The screen door opened and a gigantic six-foot-seven-inch frog-like creature shouldered its way into the house and stood stock-still in front of her, crouching slightly, and staring straight at her face.Īnd this radio that has announced the mysterious escape – and I have always loved that trope which I remember fondly from Tom and Jerry cartoons, oddly! – has not been behaving itself for Dorothy before this. So far, so X-files.īut the prose thus far has been languid and calm, unruffled and it continues when

On the one hand, this could be read as a typical B-movie feature – and that is in no way a criticism! I love those old 1950s B-movies! Dorothy hears an announcement on the radio: a creature has escaped from a local facility it is vicious and dangerous, having murdered its keepers. It was like books recommending people! She had cited the film The Shape of Water when trying to describe it, and used the word ‘ethereal’… Beyond that, I had no expectation. This is one of those books that I came to totally without expectations: a new colleague at work had suggested it to me, after our first proper conversation, and then brought it in for me the next day… and instantly, said colleague became friends.

Mrs caliban ingalls