Aftershock by Robert W Walker

St. Martin’s Press 1987

(Don't feel like reading? There is a video review at the bottom of the post.)

Author Robert W Walker was born in 1948, has published 44 novels and is still kicking with a brand-new mystery-thriller series released in 2024 titled Blue Vegas. Aftershock is his third published novel. While scanning his output it seems he mostly wrote horror, followed by mystery and then some other random genres like Viking and military. He wrote under the pseudonyms of Geoffrey Caine, Glenn Hale, Evan Kingsbury and Stephen Robertson.

The basic premise: LA is hit by an enormous earthquake. Underground in a secret lab a scientist couple are working on a biochemical weapon. In the middle of an experiment the earthquake topples the ceiling, they are exposed, die horrible deaths and a mutant creature is born of their robot… and the virus (???). Up top, two doctors help the survivors of the quake. A newscaster investigates. The mutant monster crawls to the surface and eats brains.

Sounds like crazy fun, right?

Well, unfortunately a lot of time is spent on the after-disaster. And normally I love disaster stories. People from different backgrounds banding together despite their differences. The cliché character that sacrifices themselves to save others. The connection we feel as our fellow humans fight for survival. When you put aside your petty differences, your political affiliations, your religion, your race and you grab that person’s hand to pull them up out of the wreckage. It touches the heart. It re-human’s humanity. We’re in this together!!

But man was this slow. The earthquake happens right at the beginning and it’s over in a blink. What we’re left with is rubble. A true disaster novel would have built up to the earthquake. You would have learned the characters and cared what happened to them as the earthquake was happening. Maybe different wild scenarios of building falling terror and struggles to survive. But nope. Just a bunch of body bags filling up Dodger Stadium.

The monster! It’s what we’re here for. The gore dripping physical description, and its hulking and stalking would fit right in with a 60s B horror movie. Bonus: The monster on the cover is pretty damn close to the description in the book. That was definitely enjoyable. Its creation is crazy convoluted but yeah, who cares, I’m not looking for literature here. It’s part machine as its the scientist’s robot that helped with the biochemical weapon experiment and then somehow it becomes a sentient organic mutant when it’s exposed to the virus. I think. From there it slowly makes its way through the miles of rubble searching for food. What it craves is human brains, of course. Why? Why not?!

And as cool as that monster premise is I feel a misstep was taken in trying to give it more depth than the story needed. Along with huntin’ for brains, it has thoughts of killing itself. It has an inner monologue, and it just whines and whines. This monster is literally sitting in its basement, crying and listening to Elliot Smith records. Ok, maybe not the Elliot Smith part but everything else, yes. It wallows in self-pity constantly. The perspective jumps around from the survivors to the monster and as soon as the narrative switched over to the monster, I would give a sigh and muscle through it. About three quarters of the way through the monster does comes to life and starts ripping out people’s spinal cords but it’s a trek to get there.

The human characters aren’t much better. There is a cheesy romance subplot between the two cardboard doctors. When they are in the story, they are either instantly falling in love and having tepid sex scenes or going on in ultra detail about medical and scientific jargon. I mean, it all sounded impressive if it’s factual but once again, audible groan when it would start up.

There is a pushy half-Japanese reporter. He’s borderline cliché but they do give him a little depth. He is completely about breaking the big story, but it does come across that he actually cares about people. He has a Hispanic sidekick who is pretty much relegated to picking up corpses and taking them to Dodger Stadium.

There are a couple characters I enjoyed. One from Mexico and the other from Sweden who are now a team of super tunnelers that travel around to get people out from the rubble of earthquakes. Two survivors from different backgrounds where huge earthquakes decimated their homes. I can’t remember if it’s their business or they just happened to be in town, survived yet another earthquake and then stuck around to help or what but either way, they were definitely the most interesting characters. Unfortunately, they are side characters and don’t last too long in the story.

It wasn’t all bad though. It was pretty gory. When that monster started ripping heads off it was incredibly descriptive and gooey. It has mad 80s flavor. It name drops Dungeons and Dragons and Tony Danza. Before the doctors become disaster doctors they are working on a cure for AIDS. Basically, the first two chapters were entertaining and then the last six were good. In full disclosure, I started skimming around the 60% mark. Between the extensive medical and science terminology and the whining mutant, I just couldn’t take it. BUT if you are a fan of virus outbreak or a depressed teenage mutant robot unsure of your place in the world, this book is for you.