THE NIGHT THEY GOT OUT (2022) Book Review

• Author: Patrick James Ryan
• Publisher: Black Bed Sheet Books
• Originally published: July 28, 2022
• Page count: 326 pages
• Reviewed by Michael Juvinall – Horror Patch

The brand-new, highly-anticipated novel The Night They Got Out is a direct sequel to author Patrick James Ryan’s 2015 book, The Night It Got Out. I really enjoyed the original novel and was hoping the new book would be just as good. What did I think of the new book? Keep reading to find out!

Don Girard has spent five years in captivity since the terrifying day a monstrous creature unleashed hell, butchering hundreds, and turning his life upside down. Consumed with grief, bitterness, and hatred he will experience a gauntlet of new emotions, as the people behind the beast are far from finished with their nefarious plans.

Deep in a military complex, experiments continue with eight of the powerful creatures, but not all goes according to plan.

Don discovers that not all humanity is wicked. As the body count explodes, Don and some new friends face horrifying danger around every corner. His life will be forever changed the night they got out. This is the stunning sequel to Patrick James Ryan’s first runaway hit novel of Sci-fi horror, “The Night It Got Out.”

Back cover blurb

To begin, there is a lot to like about Ryan’s TNTGO. The menacing creature from the first book was a nearly unstoppable killing machine. I didn’t think the amount of carnage and bloodshed from the first book could ever be replicated, but it has been – in spades! In his sequel, Ryan has upped the number of creatures from one to eight of the most cunning, brutal, and savage creatures to ever have been created. The body count and the amount of gore are also shockingly expanded in this new book. These ungodly creatures were created to combat the Mexican and Columbian drug cartels, in order to wipe them out, but things rarely go as planned.

It was really good to see the Don Girard character back in action again. If I recall correctly, Girard is the only recurring character back in the new novel, but he is joined by a mostly likable new group of cohorts to fight the creatures after their unlikely escape. They include Psychologist Molly Walker, University Professor Andy Simmons, and Park Ranger Bill Parker.

Also on tap are some really nasty and unsavory antagonists in the form of some military personnel responsible for creating and training these new creatures that are a perversion of God and science. These people will stop at nothing to ensure the success and advancement of the highly classified government program at any cost. At the top of the list of these unsavory characters is Major Charles Cronin, followed by Major Lisa Harmon, and Jeff Young.

As the main protagonist in the novel, the Don Girard character is the charismatic and affable former police chief who has been wrongly imprisoned for five years since the events of the first book. Girard has been incarcerated in the highly secure government facility, NORAD in Colorado. The facility is located deep inside Cheyenne Mountain. The government has locked Girard away on trumped-up charges to keep him quiet in their quest to squash rumors of their involvement in the events of Mangas Pass, Colorado that resulted in the deaths of scores of innocent civilians by the escape of the lone creature. 

I thoroughly enjoyed The Night They Got Out. It turned out to be a very worthy successor to his fabulous first book. It was everything I hoped it would be and more. Ryan has taken much of what was great in the first book and given us even more. More creatures, more sex, more violence, more gore, and a bigger story. 

Almost the entire story is contained deep inside NORAD,  a government facility that is embedded deep within a Colorado mountain. The facility is meant to be so secure that it can withstand a nuclear blast, but it can’t contain these cunning and murderous scientifically created creatures. 

TNTGO was a really fun, Summer read. I had a blast finishing it. I’m a huge fan of creature feature books. They are primarily all that I read and TNTGO checked all my boxes for a great book. Most of the characters are likable and believable, but not all though. 

The Molly Walker character seemed to be one-dimensional and not well thought out. Her dialog is pretty bad and her actions aren’t much better. I just found her to be a not believable character. She seems to be written only as a love interest and not much beyond that. She is a military psychologist but immediately breaks the doctor-patient barrier and falls in love with Girard, a patient. There is also a scene in the book after an important event where Girard asks Molly where the armory is. She answers, “Is that where they keep weapons and guns?” Really! I don’t know too many people who don’t know what an armory is and especially someone in the military and a psychologist would entirely know. To me, that’s unbelievable. 

I also had a problem with the editing of the book as well. I find this problem all too often with independent books. There were so many instances of typos, missing words or letters, and transposed letters that I couldn’t count the numerous errors. 

In the end, The Night They Got Out has everything a horror fan could want – sex, violence, a shit-ton of gore, and some of the most horrific creatures ever encountered! Highly recommended.

4 ½ out of 5 Pentagrams!