Review: Mutation by Roy Hunt

May 1997
Bacteria are earth’s oldest inhabitants. They are all around us and inside us. They help us clean up our planet; they are the reason we can continue to live on this earth. So what happens when we manipulate and abuse them?
What happens when we make them angry?
Driven by grief at the loss of his wife, an old man has gone out onto an Irish midlands lake to end his life. Only the sight of a burning cruiser stops him. He might want to die, but others on board the stricken vessel might not.
The vessel is called Clothra and the crew are engaged in a desperate struggle. There is something very bad in the water, a vile creature that is killing the lake’s users. They have to destroy it.
But not all of them feel the same.
Forced to abandon the vessel for a lifeboat, the crew attempt to lure the creature in the water to follow them, but one false move and they will also die horrible deaths. They are guided by one of their number to a secluded island where a final confrontation takes place.
As forgotten lake spirits, long dormant, are awoken by the modern day monster, myth and legend, empathy, sorrow, grief and sheer horror combine in a maelstrom as unpredictable and dangerous as the ancient lake’s weather and threatens to destroy them all.