A major theme of the 70s cattle mutilation phenomenon was the frisson of fear/excitement that human beings were next on the operating table. Even the back copy for Kagan and Summers' Mute Evidence positively slavers for human blood, despite the authors' exhaustive investigation uncovering nothing of the sort.
First time novelist Casey acquits himself well threading this tension with his fast paced thriller. His cast of down'n'dirty 1970s Regular Folk are adrift in a sea of possibilities as to the identities and purpose of the Mutilators, leading down rabbit holes to flying saucers, blood cultists and most sinister of all, the United States government. A warning for minor spoilers: the Mutilators use an unmarked helicopter with some kind of gripping device to snatch up their bovine victims, retreating to some unknown sanctuary to do their dirtiest work before returning the desecrated carcasses in situ. It all leads up to a crackerjack finale with some searing imagery. Only the final "Note from the Author" disappoints, with its clunky, obviously bogus news item that only reiterates what we've already told ourselves:
We're next.
3/4
Major Books, 1975
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