This was an exceptionally fun read! Author Hampton’s debut novel has everything – everything that is except romance. So, if you’re looking for that, this isn’t the book for you. The story centers around an abandoned amusement park, Gullywasher’s, located outside of Savannah, GA. A down and out drug addict, Leona, falls into a pile of garbage and comes up with a flyer advertising the park, which is strange since the park has been closed for 15 years. Something about the flyer intrigues her and she is driven to leave the city and travel by bus to the abandoned place. Once there, she discovers an electronic alligator she names Tarantula lying in a muddy, boggy, pit. She also discovers a stash of heroin concealed in the defunct park’s aquarium. Mixing the mud from the bog with the drug, she comes up with a potent substance that she aches to share with other addicts. But there are dark forces that lie beneath the surface of this park and, slowly, Leona becomes their unwitting tool.

The scene then shifts to CDC headquarters in Atlanta where a disgruntled epidemiologist, Gruber, afraid of being passed over for promotion, decides he has to make a splash – solve an epidemic no one else can. That epidemic is one that has hit Savannah – drug addicts are dying and no one can determine the cause. Lying to his boss, the doctor goes rogue and heads to Savannah to discover the etiology beneath the deaths. His crusade, of course, leads him to Gullywasher’s.

Enter YouTube urban explores, Sid and Zeb Barkov (my favorite characters in the novel). They explore abandoned places and Gullywasher’s is next on their list. Also in motion, are Gruber’s boss and her immediate supervisor who travel to Savannah to find the missing epidemiologist. Naturally, they get sidetracked and head to Gullywasher’s too.

There are frights galore in this novel as its characters wander through the park, some eventually becoming its victims. The book is loaded with dark humor, scientific discoveries, and a roller coaster ride of twists, turns, and surprises. I thoroughly enjoyed A COLD NIGHT FOR ALLIGATORS and had a hard time putting it down. Highly recommended for lovers of horror mingled with science and a bit of dark humor.

I want to thank the publisher for providing me with a free copy of A COLD NIGHT FOR ALLIGATORS as a voting member of the Horror Writers Association.