title: Strangle Rats
author: Holden, Jack
description: Set in the turbulent years of late medieval Central Europe, Strangle Rats is a surreal fantasy, reminiscent of a Brothers Grimm fairy tale. A poor, mute woodcutter’s son is cruelly banished to a gloomy primeval forest where dangerous wolves and Strangle Rats roam. A fully-grown male Strangle Rat can stand 6’ tall and is stronger than any human. He has long powerful fingers with which he can strangle his victims and sharp rodent teeth to eat their flesh. The woodcutter’s son finds himself in the court of a wicked Prince who rules a castle full of knights, slaves and jesters. The boy’s life is spared, and he grows into a man bold enough to confront the terrible evil behind the Prince’s throne. Will he survive or become fodder for the Strangle Rats? Will he have a future with Hildegard, the servant girl he loves?