"The first in a horror trilogy about an ancient race of carnivorous spiders who emerge from the center of the earth after being dormant for over ten thousand years"--

"Ezekiel Boone follows up his terrifying "apocalyptic extravaganza of doom and heroism" (Publishers Weekly) The Hatching with Skitter, the horrifying sequel in which the carnivorous spiders are running rampant--but for what's left of humanity, the worst is yet to come. Tens of millions of people around the world are dead. Half of China is a nuclear wasteland. Mysterious flesh-eating spiders are marching through Los Angeles, Oslo, Delhi, Rio de Janeiro, and countless other cities. According to scientist Melanie Gruyer, however, the spider situation seems to be looking up. Yet in Japan, a giant, truck-sized, glowing egg sack gives a shocking preview of what is to come, even as survivors in Los Angeles panic and break the quarantine zone. Out in the desert, survivalists Gordo and Shotgun are trying to invent a spider super weapon, but it's not clear if it's too late, because President Stephanie Pilgrim has been forced to enact the plan of last resort: The Spanish Protocol. America, you are on your own"-- "The second installment in The Hatching series, in which it is revealed that though the first phase of a terrifying attack by an ancient species is over, the second phase is about to begin; bigger carnivores are coming and they plan to colonize the earth"--

Following the events of THE HATCHING and SKITTER, millions of spiders are poised to take over the Earth. Meanwhile, the remaining humans are divided on how to face the arachnid menace. Millions of spiders are poised to take over the Earth, and it's become obvious that they work as one. Among the government, there is dissent: do we try to kill all of the spiders, or do we gamble on Professor Guyer's theory that we need to kill only the queens? President Stephanie Pilgrim has gone as far as she can: more than two dozen American cities hit with tactical nukes, the country torn asunder. She believes in Professor Guyer... but Ben Broussard and the military men who follow him don't. What's more dangerous, the spiders or ourselves?