Slaughterhouse World — Ardath Mayhar

They came from outer space, these hideous, intelligent monsters, and they wanted our colonies, our goods, even our flesh. They looked like a cross between a spider and a crab, except bigger -- much bigger -- and meaner -- much meaner -- and they never stopped coming! World after world has been devastated, and man has been forced into a continuous defensive retreat.

Joel Karsh is just a grunt slugging it out on Planet 3G 789, a bug factory world, where fresh protein (i.e., human flesh) is being processed for reshipment to enemy ships and depots throughout the Cluster. All he wants to do is make it back to the SpaceForce pick-up point. But as his buddies are killed, one by one, and the Knackers swarm ever closer, he's beginning to wonder if he'll even live through the next day!

A rousing SF military adventure by a master storyteller!