Stinger by Robert R. McCammon

An alien spaceship crashes near a small Texas border town, its occupant a bounty hunter on the trail of another alien of a different species who has recently escaped from a prison planet.  That certainly sounds more like science fiction than horror but the way Robert McCammon unfolds this plot is pure horror.  Trust me.  The nature of the bounty-hunter alien (nicknamed “Stinger”) is a scorpion-like, mucus producing, monster with the ability to rapidly replicate allies using spare machine parts and captured human bodies.  In effect it can build its own army in its effort to capture its quarry.  Awesome!

Most of the novel is devoted to developing the many characters of the small town of Inferno.  It’s a town that is on its last legs due to the local copper mine being played out so all of the citizens are being forced to close up shop, finish their last few days of the school year, and prepare to move elsewhere.   There is a wide variety of characters in this town, from all walks of life.  The town also suffers from a racial divide due to its proximity to Mexico and a perception that illegals are taking local jobs.  But a common enemy can bring even the most viral enemies to work together and begin to understand one another a little better.  My only quibble with this novel is that there may have been too many characters.  That served to lengthen the novel a bit and slow down the build-up to the action sequences.

A UFO/alien/horror story can be pretty standard fare but in the hands of this author, it truly shines.  I first discovered Robert McCammon through his historical mystery novel, "Speaks the Nightbird", a novel that was so impressive that it made my all-time favorite list.  Subsequent novels in that series did not disappoint.  But I also knew his roots lay in the horror genre so I sampled his masterpiece, "Swan Song" and was, once again blown away by the quality of his writing.  So now he is on my list of must-read-everything-he-has-ever-written-including-his-grocery-list authors.