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The Hatching #1
The Hatching
Deep in the jungle of Peru, where so much remains unknown, a black, skittering mass devours an American tourist whole. Thousands of miles away, an FBI agent investigates a fatal plane crash in Minneapolis and makes a gruesome discovery. Unusual seismic patterns register in a Kanpur, India earthquake lab, confounding the scientists there. During the same week, the Chinese government “accidentally” drops a nuclear bomb in an isolated region of its own country. As these incidents begin to sweep the globe, a mysterious package from South America arrives at a Washington, D.C. laboratory. Something wants out.
The world is on the brink of an apocalyptic disaster. An ancient species, long dormant, is now very much awake.
The world is on the brink of an apocalyptic disaster. An ancient species, long dormant, is now very much awake.
334 pages, Hardcover
First published July 5, 2016
About the author
Ezekiel Boone
9 books636 followersI live in upstate New York with my wife and kids. Whenever I travel and say I'm from New York, people think I mean NYC, but we live about three hours north of New York City. Our house is five minutes outside of a university town. We're far enough out of town that, at night, it's dark.
No.
Darker than that.
Dark enough that, if you're not careful, you might fall off the small cliff at the edge of my property. If you're lucky, the water will be up enough to break your fall. If you're not lucky, please sign a waiver before you come to visit.
I've got two unruly dogs who are mostly friendly. Well, that's not true. The part about them being unruly is true, but one of them is the most friendly dog you've ever met, and the other dog ... isn't. They are good writing partners, though they spend a lot of their day curled up in front of the wood burning stove and ignoring me. Unless I'm making lunch. They pay attention to me then.
The Ezekiel Boone website is www.ezekielboone.com, but I've also got a nifty website for THE HATCHING at www.TheHatchingBook.com. It has a cool map and some other bells and whistles.
You can also follow me on Facebook or follow me on Instagram if you are so inclined and like the idea of occasionally seeing photos of my dogs.
If you've read this far, I should mention that THE HATCHING is Ezekiel Boone's first book, but it's not actually *my* first book. I also write under the name Alexi Zentner. Alexi Zentner's books are pretty different from Ezekiel Boone's.
No.
Darker than that.
Dark enough that, if you're not careful, you might fall off the small cliff at the edge of my property. If you're lucky, the water will be up enough to break your fall. If you're not lucky, please sign a waiver before you come to visit.
I've got two unruly dogs who are mostly friendly. Well, that's not true. The part about them being unruly is true, but one of them is the most friendly dog you've ever met, and the other dog ... isn't. They are good writing partners, though they spend a lot of their day curled up in front of the wood burning stove and ignoring me. Unless I'm making lunch. They pay attention to me then.
The Ezekiel Boone website is www.ezekielboone.com, but I've also got a nifty website for THE HATCHING at www.TheHatchingBook.com. It has a cool map and some other bells and whistles.
You can also follow me on Facebook or follow me on Instagram if you are so inclined and like the idea of occasionally seeing photos of my dogs.
If you've read this far, I should mention that THE HATCHING is Ezekiel Boone's first book, but it's not actually *my* first book. I also write under the name Alexi Zentner. Alexi Zentner's books are pretty different from Ezekiel Boone's.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,477 reviews
July 3, 2018
She didn't know how many of them there were, but they were frantic. Dozens of them at least. They'd been packed in the egg, and they came out in a swarm, their bodies unfolding, alien and beautiful. Big and fast, black apricots thundering against the glass. Skittering.
if you're looking to read a book about carnivorous spiders attacking humans and animals, this is one of them!
which is not meant to sound dismissive or deflecting, but this is one of those books that delivers exactly what it promises: spiders coming to get you.
it isn't trying to redefine the horror adventure novel or using the allure of killer spiders to secretly sneak in some social or political agenda or make you think real hard about anything beyond 'WHAT'S THAT CRAWLING ON MY ARM??'
it's simply a book in which nature has stopped respecting the food chain the way humans stopped respecting the food pyramid (although this one is pretty okay in my book):
and is taking back the world, one massive flood of carnivorous spiders at a time.
although the writing here is several rungs above that of your average syfy original movie, it still gives you pretty much all of the guilty pleasures those movies provide: bloodshed, horror, humor, creep factors, etc. however, this isn't trying to replicate or rejuvenate the spirit of those classic pulp 'nature attack' books like the (spectacular) guy n. smith crab series,* so it's considerably less schlocky and crass and offensive and is instead full of progressive social elements like lady-scientists AND a lady-president; competent women who haven't sacrificed their sexuality, as well as people of color in positions of power and gay survivalists. which is to say the complete opposite of those guy n. smith books.
The Hatching is the first book in what will hopefully become a long-running series, and the cast of characters is very large (although somewhat smaller by the end, because spiders.) there are some story-spokes i'm not seeing the significance of yet (scotland, anyone??) but i expect that in the forthcoming books, these will be more prominent and plot-driving.
in any case, it's a fantastically fun. i'm going to risk quoting a longish scene because i think it's the perfect moment of "shit going wrong fast" that makes this book so much fast and skittery fun. and i don't want to hear any grief about spoilers. this is a book about killer spiders. here are some spiders, killing:
this book is just sheer spidery delight and i cannot wait for the follow-up because i'm sure there are more animated gifs of spiders on the internet that need to be used.
*of which, YES, i have only read TWO, but i gotta say - they are amazing. i mean, if you like sexist racist homophobic softporn books where giant crabs kill people. and you do.
**********************************************
okay, so a lot of times i get review requests and they're for things that i know i'm not the right reader for, like romance or certain kinds of fantasy, but every once in a while, i get a request that i'm pretty sure comes directly from angels who are reading my soul.
so thank you, angels.
bring your carnivorous spiders to me.
**********************************************
i got the arc today, and it's pretty rad.
that's my own spider. it is not carnivorous. it is charlotte.
this is the back of the slipcase, all webby
and this is behind the book in the slipcase:
and for good measure, this is maggie "i ain't afraid of no spiders" goose
i love well-designed arcs. i want to read this one SO bad RIGHT NOW, but bossy stack is bossy
but imma let this one cut the line a bit. sorry, H is for Hawk - you've waited this long...
come to my blog!
if you're looking to read a book about carnivorous spiders attacking humans and animals, this is one of them!
which is not meant to sound dismissive or deflecting, but this is one of those books that delivers exactly what it promises: spiders coming to get you.
it isn't trying to redefine the horror adventure novel or using the allure of killer spiders to secretly sneak in some social or political agenda or make you think real hard about anything beyond 'WHAT'S THAT CRAWLING ON MY ARM??'
it's simply a book in which nature has stopped respecting the food chain the way humans stopped respecting the food pyramid (although this one is pretty okay in my book):
and is taking back the world, one massive flood of carnivorous spiders at a time.
although the writing here is several rungs above that of your average syfy original movie, it still gives you pretty much all of the guilty pleasures those movies provide: bloodshed, horror, humor, creep factors, etc. however, this isn't trying to replicate or rejuvenate the spirit of those classic pulp 'nature attack' books like the (spectacular) guy n. smith crab series,* so it's considerably less schlocky and crass and offensive and is instead full of progressive social elements like lady-scientists AND a lady-president; competent women who haven't sacrificed their sexuality, as well as people of color in positions of power and gay survivalists. which is to say the complete opposite of those guy n. smith books.
The Hatching is the first book in what will hopefully become a long-running series, and the cast of characters is very large (although somewhat smaller by the end, because spiders.) there are some story-spokes i'm not seeing the significance of yet (scotland, anyone??) but i expect that in the forthcoming books, these will be more prominent and plot-driving.
in any case, it's a fantastically fun. i'm going to risk quoting a longish scene because i think it's the perfect moment of "shit going wrong fast" that makes this book so much fast and skittery fun. and i don't want to hear any grief about spoilers. this is a book about killer spiders. here are some spiders, killing:
The camera crew finally gave up on the traffic and set up on McCarthy Quad at the University of Southern California. It was the perfect shot for a reporter who couldn't get an angle on the real action. The dichotomy of reporting on fear and chaos from the middle of an ivory tower oasis. Students walked past in the background as if nothing was going on twenty-five miles across town. The reporter blathered excitedly, filling time in the way that only a seasoned pro can fill time when the facts are almost entirely speculation.
And then, the spiders came gliding down from the sky.
At first, there weren't many. The camera caught a few black dots against the cerulean sky, cotton candy trails of silk streamers looking like vapor trails. But then some of them started drifting down. For a few minutes, it was almost comical. The camera recorded one landing near the reporter who promptly squashed it with his shoe. There. What was so scary about that? If you've got a shoe, you're safe. Around the reporter, however, students were pointing and beginning to scream. And then the camera caught one student flailing her alarms, five or six of the large black dots scurrying over her, and then a burst of blood from her face, her shirt staining crimson. And more screaming. And more screaming. And more and more and more and more. And the camera suddenly dropping. All Teddie could see on her screen was pavement and shoes and socks and the alien movement of spiders, and then just the lower body of the reporter, his legs kicking and then kicking more weakly, and then not moving at all. And all of it, Teddie realized, running live because she hadn't ordered it cut away.
That's when she threw up the second time.
this book is just sheer spidery delight and i cannot wait for the follow-up because i'm sure there are more animated gifs of spiders on the internet that need to be used.
*of which, YES, i have only read TWO, but i gotta say - they are amazing. i mean, if you like sexist racist homophobic softporn books where giant crabs kill people. and you do.
**********************************************
okay, so a lot of times i get review requests and they're for things that i know i'm not the right reader for, like romance or certain kinds of fantasy, but every once in a while, i get a request that i'm pretty sure comes directly from angels who are reading my soul.
so thank you, angels.
bring your carnivorous spiders to me.
**********************************************
i got the arc today, and it's pretty rad.
that's my own spider. it is not carnivorous. it is charlotte.
this is the back of the slipcase, all webby
and this is behind the book in the slipcase:
and for good measure, this is maggie "i ain't afraid of no spiders" goose
i love well-designed arcs. i want to read this one SO bad RIGHT NOW, but bossy stack is bossy
but imma let this one cut the line a bit. sorry, H is for Hawk - you've waited this long...
come to my blog!
March 27, 2016
Warning: the last time I did a spider review with gifs someone went tattling on me.
So I'm giving fair warning. This is me. Reviewing a spider book. With gifs. Don't run and tattle..no spider penises are shown.
The book starts off in Peru with a super rich guy wanted to impress his super model girlfriends with a hike through the rainforest. He has eaten somethingTaco Bell the day before and his stomach isn't agreeing with him. He takes a detour into the woods and when he peeks out he sees what he thinks is a river of black.
Then his companions begin to scream.
Now I'm not really afraid of spiders. My boy child however is absolutely terrified of them. So usually I just squish them for him. If you Spider Protection League people don't like that... suck it.
Then China "accidentally" sets of a nuclear bomb..in their own country. Not much is known as to why they did it.
Then there are reports from India, about a river of black. People are dying.
Melanie is a divorced scientist who's life is consumed by her love of her lab. She has never seen anything like these spiders. She gets a package from Fed-Ex from Peru that is pulsating. And is starting to get warm. She just happens to have been married to the President's right hand man. So they enlist her help in coming to know just what they are up against with these super smart, very hungry little spiders.
This is a pretty decent book. It's the first in a series so I have tons of questions that were not answered and it looks like the crap is just starting to hit the fan. After fifty million books featuring zombies as the end of the world this was a different take of it. I did have a hard time visualizing this being the end of the world because some of it was over the top. BUT I do have to admit, during the reading of this book I kept feeling something crawling on me. I kept itching like a dog with fleas. The husband laughed. I hate him sometimes.
I'm going to have a cigarette after this.
3.5 stars
Booksource: I was offered this book to review and when I went to the mailbox it came in a special little slipcover. That was creepy as heck. Well played publishers (Atria books)..well played.
I'm picking this review to highlight this go round..because he does a great review without all the pictures that I used just to try and scare the crap out of you guys with.
So I'm giving fair warning. This is me. Reviewing a spider book. With gifs. Don't run and tattle..no spider penises are shown.
The book starts off in Peru with a super rich guy wanted to impress his super model girlfriends with a hike through the rainforest. He has eaten something
Then his companions begin to scream.
Now I'm not really afraid of spiders. My boy child however is absolutely terrified of them. So usually I just squish them for him. If you Spider Protection League people don't like that... suck it.
Then China "accidentally" sets of a nuclear bomb..in their own country. Not much is known as to why they did it.
Then there are reports from India, about a river of black. People are dying.
Melanie is a divorced scientist who's life is consumed by her love of her lab. She has never seen anything like these spiders. She gets a package from Fed-Ex from Peru that is pulsating. And is starting to get warm. She just happens to have been married to the President's right hand man. So they enlist her help in coming to know just what they are up against with these super smart, very hungry little spiders.
This is a pretty decent book. It's the first in a series so I have tons of questions that were not answered and it looks like the crap is just starting to hit the fan. After fifty million books featuring zombies as the end of the world this was a different take of it. I did have a hard time visualizing this being the end of the world because some of it was over the top. BUT I do have to admit, during the reading of this book I kept feeling something crawling on me. I kept itching like a dog with fleas. The husband laughed. I hate him sometimes.
I'm going to have a cigarette after this.
3.5 stars
Booksource: I was offered this book to review and when I went to the mailbox it came in a special little slipcover. That was creepy as heck. Well played publishers (Atria books)..well played.
I'm picking this review to highlight this go round..because he does a great review without all the pictures that I used just to try and scare the crap out of you guys with.
May 20, 2020
”She didn't know how many of them there were, but they were frantic. Dozens of them at least. They'd been packed in the egg, and they came out in a swarm, their bodies unfolding, alien and beautiful. Big and fast, black apricots thundering against the glass. Skittering.
She put her palm against the glass of the insectarium, and the spiders flew to it."
Professor Melanie Guyer has dreamed about being on the cover of Science or Nature Magazine. When she gets a Fed Ex package from an archaeological dig in Nazca, Peru of an ancient spider egg sac, she has a chance to eclipse anything that has ever been done before.
She can hatch the eggs and bring back a new/old species of spiders.
Why?
Cause it would be cool.
Except these spiders aren’t normal. They are aggressive. They eat flesh. They breed like fleas.
They are an apocalyptic tide of destruction. Good thing they are locked up in the lab.
Nazca spider drawn in the ground by an ancient civilization...maybe as a warning?
In Peru, billionaire Bill Henderson takes his private jet to stretch his legs and see the sights. He has a guide, Miguel, his bodyguard, and three ridiculously beautiful women, thirty years his junior, with him. Without all that money, none of these people would give him five minutes of their time, and he knows it. He steps off the trail to take a piss.
”And then the blackness started streaming toward him, covering the path and moving quickly, almost as fast as a man could run. Miguel knew he should be running, but there was something hypnotic in the quietness of the water. It didn’t roar like a river. If anything, it seemed to absorb sound. All he could hear was a whisper, a skittering, like a small patter of rain. The way the river moved was beautiful in its own way, pulsing and, at certain points, splitting and braiding into separate streams before rejoining itself a few paces later. As it got closer, Miguel took another step back, but by the time he realized it wasn’t actually a river, that it wasn’t water of any kind, it was too late.”
Henderson didn’t wait around. He made a run for the plane. The shrill screams of his entourage only inspired his fat legs to run faster.
Something bit him.
He made the plane and headed back to Minnesota.
Now if you are thinking what a rat bastard, there probably wasn’t anything he could do to save the beautiful trio of muses or poor Miguel, but still... the billionaire... had to make it?
Don’t fret because... well... a spider is going to crawl out of his face. Well, actual do fret because his plane has become the Plague ship Mary.
Bill Henderson is bringing those spiders to YOU.
Meanwhile, a seismic station in India is hearing rumblings beneath the earth that don’t make sense. The Chinese have dropped a nuke on themselves. Of course, being Chinese, they don’t just say we have a HUGE SPIDER PROBLEM. They get all cryptic as if they are too embarrassed to ask for all our RAID MAX SPIDER BLASTER supplies.
So as we start to put all the various reports together, we begin to understand how totally screwed we are. Something has started all these spiders hatching, and it isn’t the brilliance of Professor Guyer because they are hatching everywhere.
I’ve read a few zombie apocalypse books. I’ve read a slew of post-apocalyptic books with everything from nuclear war to the moon exploding to flu destabilizing civilization and sending us back to a more primitive society, but I’ve never had the pleasure of reading about spiders who are capable of stripping the planet of every living thing.
WARNING: there are ramifications and behavior modifications possible after reading this book!
This was nearly me!
I was driving to Woodward, Oklahoma, the other day, listening to Metallica, when a spider the size of a half dollar leaped out of the vent in my dash and landed on the windshield right at eye level. My first thought was that I had to save all of humanity by lighting the molotov cocktail I always keep handy and driving off the road into a deep culvert, grasping a spider leg for what little comfort it could provide (I couldn’t decide if I was Thelma or Louise.), but after my heart rate reduced to normal levels, and I quit screaming like a republican at a presidential rally, I decided that I needed to pull over and commit arachnicide. Now I’m going to blame Ezekiel Boone for the death of that spider, just like I blame Alfred Hitchcock for my natural aversion for flocks of crows or blackbirds or ravens. Those beady eyed black bastards!
I’m also suffering from Eight Legged Freaks (2002) flashbacks.
Boone will convince you to quit worrying about zombies or meteorites or nuclear explosions and start paying better attention to something a little more likely...spiders, a black tide of spiders.
If you wish to see more of my most recent book and movie reviews, visit http://www.jeffreykeeten.com
I also have a Facebook blogger page at:https://www.facebook.com/JeffreyKeeten
She put her palm against the glass of the insectarium, and the spiders flew to it."
Professor Melanie Guyer has dreamed about being on the cover of Science or Nature Magazine. When she gets a Fed Ex package from an archaeological dig in Nazca, Peru of an ancient spider egg sac, she has a chance to eclipse anything that has ever been done before.
She can hatch the eggs and bring back a new/old species of spiders.
Why?
Cause it would be cool.
Except these spiders aren’t normal. They are aggressive. They eat flesh. They breed like fleas.
They are an apocalyptic tide of destruction. Good thing they are locked up in the lab.
Nazca spider drawn in the ground by an ancient civilization...maybe as a warning?
In Peru, billionaire Bill Henderson takes his private jet to stretch his legs and see the sights. He has a guide, Miguel, his bodyguard, and three ridiculously beautiful women, thirty years his junior, with him. Without all that money, none of these people would give him five minutes of their time, and he knows it. He steps off the trail to take a piss.
”And then the blackness started streaming toward him, covering the path and moving quickly, almost as fast as a man could run. Miguel knew he should be running, but there was something hypnotic in the quietness of the water. It didn’t roar like a river. If anything, it seemed to absorb sound. All he could hear was a whisper, a skittering, like a small patter of rain. The way the river moved was beautiful in its own way, pulsing and, at certain points, splitting and braiding into separate streams before rejoining itself a few paces later. As it got closer, Miguel took another step back, but by the time he realized it wasn’t actually a river, that it wasn’t water of any kind, it was too late.”
Henderson didn’t wait around. He made a run for the plane. The shrill screams of his entourage only inspired his fat legs to run faster.
Something bit him.
He made the plane and headed back to Minnesota.
Now if you are thinking what a rat bastard, there probably wasn’t anything he could do to save the beautiful trio of muses or poor Miguel, but still... the billionaire... had to make it?
Don’t fret because... well... a spider is going to crawl out of his face. Well, actual do fret because his plane has become the Plague ship Mary.
Bill Henderson is bringing those spiders to YOU.
Meanwhile, a seismic station in India is hearing rumblings beneath the earth that don’t make sense. The Chinese have dropped a nuke on themselves. Of course, being Chinese, they don’t just say we have a HUGE SPIDER PROBLEM. They get all cryptic as if they are too embarrassed to ask for all our RAID MAX SPIDER BLASTER supplies.
So as we start to put all the various reports together, we begin to understand how totally screwed we are. Something has started all these spiders hatching, and it isn’t the brilliance of Professor Guyer because they are hatching everywhere.
I’ve read a few zombie apocalypse books. I’ve read a slew of post-apocalyptic books with everything from nuclear war to the moon exploding to flu destabilizing civilization and sending us back to a more primitive society, but I’ve never had the pleasure of reading about spiders who are capable of stripping the planet of every living thing.
WARNING: there are ramifications and behavior modifications possible after reading this book!
This was nearly me!
I was driving to Woodward, Oklahoma, the other day, listening to Metallica, when a spider the size of a half dollar leaped out of the vent in my dash and landed on the windshield right at eye level. My first thought was that I had to save all of humanity by lighting the molotov cocktail I always keep handy and driving off the road into a deep culvert, grasping a spider leg for what little comfort it could provide (I couldn’t decide if I was Thelma or Louise.), but after my heart rate reduced to normal levels, and I quit screaming like a republican at a presidential rally, I decided that I needed to pull over and commit arachnicide. Now I’m going to blame Ezekiel Boone for the death of that spider, just like I blame Alfred Hitchcock for my natural aversion for flocks of crows or blackbirds or ravens. Those beady eyed black bastards!
I’m also suffering from Eight Legged Freaks (2002) flashbacks.
Boone will convince you to quit worrying about zombies or meteorites or nuclear explosions and start paying better attention to something a little more likely...spiders, a black tide of spiders.
If you wish to see more of my most recent book and movie reviews, visit http://www.jeffreykeeten.com
I also have a Facebook blogger page at:https://www.facebook.com/JeffreyKeeten
September 25, 2020
This is an unforgettable, scar-you-for-life, end of the world romp via spiders most gnarly. "Boone" (a pseudonym of Alexi Zentner) does a particularly admirable job with characterization. He will often spend dozens of pages breathing life into multi-faceted, recognizable souls before unleashing waves of bone-crunching spiders upon them. This is a rare treat in the horror genre, where most victims would be lucky to earn a name before their brutal deaths.
Not all characters are instant bug food, however. The leads are also fully realized people who remain memorable long after the book is closed. President Pilgrim is the brainy female leader of the free world, who also enjoys her share of extracurricular entertainment. There's a cop who doesn't come across as cliché, a scientist (who also allows herself pleasure beyond books), a gay dooms day prepper and his husband. Among others.
It may be fair to say that this book--and the series overall--suffers from an excess of characters, many of whom will have arcs that never resolve (I can officially say this now that I've read the entire trilogy). This becomes a much bigger issue in the later books, but for this bombastic opener I never had a problem. When you can write characters this good, it would be a shame not to exploit that talent.
I won't spoil any of the important plot elements, but really there's not much more you need to know than spiders taking over the earth. I will say that the cliffhanger ending left me gagging for more. If you give this trilogy a try you might as well get all three books. You won't be able to put it down!
Not all characters are instant bug food, however. The leads are also fully realized people who remain memorable long after the book is closed. President Pilgrim is the brainy female leader of the free world, who also enjoys her share of extracurricular entertainment. There's a cop who doesn't come across as cliché, a scientist (who also allows herself pleasure beyond books), a gay dooms day prepper and his husband. Among others.
It may be fair to say that this book--and the series overall--suffers from an excess of characters, many of whom will have arcs that never resolve (I can officially say this now that I've read the entire trilogy). This becomes a much bigger issue in the later books, but for this bombastic opener I never had a problem. When you can write characters this good, it would be a shame not to exploit that talent.
I won't spoil any of the important plot elements, but really there's not much more you need to know than spiders taking over the earth. I will say that the cliffhanger ending left me gagging for more. If you give this trilogy a try you might as well get all three books. You won't be able to put it down!
June 30, 2021
4.5 "furious, furry, fantastic, frightening" stars !!!
2017 Honorable Mention Read
This was a wild, fun and grotesque ride and I don't want it to stop so I put book 2 on my short list and hope to get to it by the end of the year.
Mr. Boone is a master of intelligent, exciting and tight plot development. Like a spider's web he is able to take a number of strands and weave them into a claustrophobic and horrific web.
Thousands of vicious, carnivorous spiders are wreaking chaos in China, India, California and even Scotland. Characters in all these locations are doing their very best to survive this arachnoid massacre but are failing miserably......
Mr. Boone takes pulp fiction and makes it intelligent, interesting, frightening and strangely possible.
You will never ever feel safe amongst these harmless creatures . Ever ! I mean ever !
2017 Honorable Mention Read
This was a wild, fun and grotesque ride and I don't want it to stop so I put book 2 on my short list and hope to get to it by the end of the year.
Mr. Boone is a master of intelligent, exciting and tight plot development. Like a spider's web he is able to take a number of strands and weave them into a claustrophobic and horrific web.
Thousands of vicious, carnivorous spiders are wreaking chaos in China, India, California and even Scotland. Characters in all these locations are doing their very best to survive this arachnoid massacre but are failing miserably......
Mr. Boone takes pulp fiction and makes it intelligent, interesting, frightening and strangely possible.
You will never ever feel safe amongst these harmless creatures . Ever ! I mean ever !
May 23, 2017
I've always been afraid of spiders. It probably doesn't help that when I was a kid, my older brother would make us sit in the baby pool while he threw daddy long legs on us. Looking back now, not sure why I would obey such a stupid demand. Yet it happened. Daddy long legs are harmless, but you try being a little girl with that happening to you. It is hard not to come out of the situation with a slight irrational fear (because again..totally harmless. The most that happened was they crawled on us) of spiders.
So I see this book and I think end of the world via spiders?! F YEAH! I also love being scared, so that might help explain things. I kept thinking of the movie Eight Legged Freaks starring David Arquette. Of course these spiders aren't giant, they are just carnivorous. JUST carnivorous? Sorry..they eat people and are going to kill us all and take over the world. That is what is happening in this book. And it is so freaking awesome. I couldn't get enough of it.
Filled with a rather large cast of characters, the book sort of reads like a movie. The chapters are from numerous different perspectives but some recur a lot more than others. Each character has a different area of expertise giving each of them a unique perspective in the spider pandemic. They are also from locations all around the world giving us insight into the progress of the invasion. Some characters don't last the entire length of the novel because people have to die in a people-eating spider book.
I really enjoyed Professor Melanie Guyer and her spider expertise, her ex-husband Manny the chief of staff at the White House, President Stephanie Pilgrim, FBI agent Mike Rich (hints of a romance in his future possibly?), But of course there is also: Corporal Kim Bock with her squad in California, survivalists in an underground bunker, a tour guide in South America, a couple in Scotland, Dr. Basu in her earthquake lab in India, Teddie the reporter in Atlanta, and several more. There isn't one perspective I did not appreciate.
The writing style made for a pretty quick read. It works perfectly for this type of novel. Ending on a cliffhanger..I am very excited to read the sequel which is sitting on my nightstand. This book was so thrilling, frightening, and exciting. Definitely a fun read.
So I see this book and I think end of the world via spiders?! F YEAH! I also love being scared, so that might help explain things. I kept thinking of the movie Eight Legged Freaks starring David Arquette. Of course these spiders aren't giant, they are just carnivorous. JUST carnivorous? Sorry..they eat people and are going to kill us all and take over the world. That is what is happening in this book. And it is so freaking awesome. I couldn't get enough of it.
Filled with a rather large cast of characters, the book sort of reads like a movie. The chapters are from numerous different perspectives but some recur a lot more than others. Each character has a different area of expertise giving each of them a unique perspective in the spider pandemic. They are also from locations all around the world giving us insight into the progress of the invasion. Some characters don't last the entire length of the novel because people have to die in a people-eating spider book.
I really enjoyed Professor Melanie Guyer and her spider expertise, her ex-husband Manny the chief of staff at the White House, President Stephanie Pilgrim, FBI agent Mike Rich (hints of a romance in his future possibly?), But of course there is also: Corporal Kim Bock with her squad in California, survivalists in an underground bunker, a tour guide in South America, a couple in Scotland, Dr. Basu in her earthquake lab in India, Teddie the reporter in Atlanta, and several more. There isn't one perspective I did not appreciate.
The writing style made for a pretty quick read. It works perfectly for this type of novel. Ending on a cliffhanger..I am very excited to read the sequel which is sitting on my nightstand. This book was so thrilling, frightening, and exciting. Definitely a fun read.
March 12, 2016
MY BLOG: Melissa Martin's Reading List
****SOME SPOILERS****
FREAKING MAN EATING SPIDERS! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Although, they would make a great aide in the prisons where the pedophiles and what not are, but I digress.
These are an ancient form of spiders from like 10,000 years ago. Someone somewhere did some digging or something and here we have these spiders hatching. I'm not quite sure because they started coming out in all parts of the world and it didn't mention any kind of ancient mining or whatever in those places. All I know is you can't get away if they come swarming after you!
The way the book ends you think it might be over and then someone has that "Oh Shite" moment and you know there is something else coming. And seeing how there is another book coming out, we know there is more coming.
But these spiders are not just the same kind of spider, they all have their own agenda...yeah, agenda. They are smart, they know what their job is and they are getting it done for something else.
I don't have this great big fear of spiders, unless one tries to climb on me, but hoards of spiders coming at you to eat your body is something that gives me the creeps beyond!!!
Overall it was pretty good, I just didn't like that the book was all over the place with all kinds of people, but I mean if this is going on in different types of the world then your going to get that. Now that everything is set up I think it will be more evened out in the next book.
Also, I thought I saw a big creepy spider walking by my leg earlier! Thank you book!
**I would like to thank Netgalley and Atria Books for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.**
****SOME SPOILERS****
FREAKING MAN EATING SPIDERS! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Although, they would make a great aide in the prisons where the pedophiles and what not are, but I digress.
These are an ancient form of spiders from like 10,000 years ago. Someone somewhere did some digging or something and here we have these spiders hatching. I'm not quite sure because they started coming out in all parts of the world and it didn't mention any kind of ancient mining or whatever in those places. All I know is you can't get away if they come swarming after you!
The way the book ends you think it might be over and then someone has that "Oh Shite" moment and you know there is something else coming. And seeing how there is another book coming out, we know there is more coming.
But these spiders are not just the same kind of spider, they all have their own agenda...yeah, agenda. They are smart, they know what their job is and they are getting it done for something else.
I don't have this great big fear of spiders, unless one tries to climb on me, but hoards of spiders coming at you to eat your body is something that gives me the creeps beyond!!!
Overall it was pretty good, I just didn't like that the book was all over the place with all kinds of people, but I mean if this is going on in different types of the world then your going to get that. Now that everything is set up I think it will be more evened out in the next book.
Also, I thought I saw a big creepy spider walking by my leg earlier! Thank you book!
**I would like to thank Netgalley and Atria Books for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.**
November 9, 2017
If you've got Arachnophobia you might want to avoid this book at all costs. Holy freaking scariest spiders doing horrific things Batman!
This book chilled me to the bone and it literally creeps up on you (get it?). All around the world strange unexplained events are occurring and the rest of the world starts to take notice. Sadly it's a bit too late for what is about to engulf the world. En masse.
This novel is just such a great read on so many levels, the plot rolls out gradually and by the time you've grasped the true horror of what is going on its got is grip on you. Unimaginable moments really wowed me reading this book, brilliant yet horribly disturbing at the same time.
If this doesn't get made into a movie I would be very surprised. It would make for a fantastic scary blockbuster! I was excited reading the book and fully engaged all the way. It's hard to share much more without massive spoilers but if you think you know spiders then think again. Even worse, think about spiders who can out-think you. No, don't, you'll have nightmares.
Read this one, read it at night, in the dark, alone, in silence. I dare you not to feel something tickle your toes. 5 awesome stars!
Get your creep on dear readers!
Many thanks to the publisher for my copy of this book via NetGalley.
Thanks for reading my review! If you enjoyed it please leave me a “like” or a comment, I love to interact with other book lovers! For more of my book reviews, plenty of awesome books to win, author interviews and features come over to join me for book fun at: https://www.facebook.com/BookloverCat...
To follow me on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/promotethatbook
To enquire about joining my reviewers team: http://goo.gl/forms/GWMOvlofZg
Finally to enquire about my book publicity services: http://goo.gl/forms/eVwa2HFKnK
This book chilled me to the bone and it literally creeps up on you (get it?). All around the world strange unexplained events are occurring and the rest of the world starts to take notice. Sadly it's a bit too late for what is about to engulf the world. En masse.
This novel is just such a great read on so many levels, the plot rolls out gradually and by the time you've grasped the true horror of what is going on its got is grip on you. Unimaginable moments really wowed me reading this book, brilliant yet horribly disturbing at the same time.
If this doesn't get made into a movie I would be very surprised. It would make for a fantastic scary blockbuster! I was excited reading the book and fully engaged all the way. It's hard to share much more without massive spoilers but if you think you know spiders then think again. Even worse, think about spiders who can out-think you. No, don't, you'll have nightmares.
Read this one, read it at night, in the dark, alone, in silence. I dare you not to feel something tickle your toes. 5 awesome stars!
Get your creep on dear readers!
Many thanks to the publisher for my copy of this book via NetGalley.
Thanks for reading my review! If you enjoyed it please leave me a “like” or a comment, I love to interact with other book lovers! For more of my book reviews, plenty of awesome books to win, author interviews and features come over to join me for book fun at: https://www.facebook.com/BookloverCat...
To follow me on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/promotethatbook
To enquire about joining my reviewers team: http://goo.gl/forms/GWMOvlofZg
Finally to enquire about my book publicity services: http://goo.gl/forms/eVwa2HFKnK
February 9, 2017
Thanks, Netgalley, for satisfying my deep-seated horror needs.
Need Survival? Want Survival? Wanna get in a lot of trouble with a ton of characters and wonder upon the wonders of how they're all gonna die? Nom Nom Nom It's SPIDERS!
And not your normal kind, either. These are a bit special, but not in the B-Movie sense. They're social, like ants, and they're specialized, and they're coming for you... nom nom chitter chitter crackle crackle nom nom.
This isn't just some simple cabin by the lake storytelling, either. This is a global thing with massive reactions. Think about some really good zombie books that take it all over the world. You know the type. Now subtract the epistolary nature and just give us a ton of PoVs, plain character-focused storytelling, rich with relationships, conflicts, desires, and yes, even children to tug on your heartstrings, and let's put them all in deep, deep, peril.
*sigh*
It's not exactly new, but it is done well and done exciting and done *big*. Nom Nom Nom. Great survival fiction, and it looks as if it's only the beginning. Don't worry. You'll get your fix of bad things happening, though, and find that the worst is dropping upon you from above, right now. :)
Need Survival? Want Survival? Wanna get in a lot of trouble with a ton of characters and wonder upon the wonders of how they're all gonna die? Nom Nom Nom It's SPIDERS!
And not your normal kind, either. These are a bit special, but not in the B-Movie sense. They're social, like ants, and they're specialized, and they're coming for you... nom nom chitter chitter crackle crackle nom nom.
This isn't just some simple cabin by the lake storytelling, either. This is a global thing with massive reactions. Think about some really good zombie books that take it all over the world. You know the type. Now subtract the epistolary nature and just give us a ton of PoVs, plain character-focused storytelling, rich with relationships, conflicts, desires, and yes, even children to tug on your heartstrings, and let's put them all in deep, deep, peril.
*sigh*
It's not exactly new, but it is done well and done exciting and done *big*. Nom Nom Nom. Great survival fiction, and it looks as if it's only the beginning. Don't worry. You'll get your fix of bad things happening, though, and find that the worst is dropping upon you from above, right now. :)
October 1, 2016
Hands down!! - this has to be one of the best books I've read this year, if not the best. I rated the book four (instead of five) stars, mainly because I have to wait until May next year to read the sequel (Skitters) - and I'm not happy about it.
The characterization throughout the book was handled brilliantly, so that surprised me, even the people that ended up as spider fodder - so you get to know quite a bit about them. The part where one of the characters (Melanie Guyer), is reminiscing about the time she was in a plane getting a birds-eye view of the Nazca Lines (Southern Peru) - looking at the geoglyphs etched into the desert floor was interesting. The one of the spider looks quite eerie (I looked it up, as I needed a recap), though I think the one of the Nazca Astronaut (Owl-man or Fisherman) was equally disturbing. There are over three hundred geoglyphs of animals, plants, etcetera - that have over ten-thousand lines, which I assume someone painstakingly counted?
Apparently, most of the spiders on the planet are harmless. Only a few can be deadly if you're bitten by one of them; especially if you're bitten by the Funnel Web Spider, which can kill you in minutes if an anti-venom isn't administered. Fast. Well, now there's an even deadlier species of spider that's decided to make an appearance - and these arachnids are displaying behaviour which is uncommon: they are social, coordinated and swarm in an organized way. They truly are a mystery, which Melanie, the spider expert, slowly unravels. There are more than thirty five thousand species of arachnids that have been on the planet for at least three-hundred and eighty million years and Melanie doesn't know if this is a new species or an old one.
Outside Manu National Park, five American tourists and their guide (Miguel); soon become the victims of a black mass that quickly devours a person that is running towards the group. Luckily, one of them (Henderson) keeps having his stomach turned inside out - so he goes into the forest to take another dump. Although, I might be wrong about him being lucky. Elsewhere, in a secluded part of China; the Chinese inadvertently nuke their own country, which the White-House believes was done deliberately, though they don't know why at the time.
Anyway, it is a really good book. I liked the multiple POV - which kept the story interesting. The characters are well fleshed out - and the spiders act more like Piranhas; when they attack - and can move nearly as fast as a human can run. At least they aren't as big as the now extinct Megarachne Servini, which had a leg-span of fifty centimetres (twenty inches), which is bigger than the Male Goliath Bird-eater (Theraphosa Blondi), by about eight inches. One final note: how many unexplained vehicular accidents have occurred? - when someone has been cruising down the freeway, and suddenly goes off road into a field and over a five-hundred foot cliff - possibly because a spider has fallen onto their lap or crawled up their leg; causing that person to freak out. Harmless? I don't think so.
Now hurry up and release the sequel...
The characterization throughout the book was handled brilliantly, so that surprised me, even the people that ended up as spider fodder - so you get to know quite a bit about them. The part where one of the characters (Melanie Guyer), is reminiscing about the time she was in a plane getting a birds-eye view of the Nazca Lines (Southern Peru) - looking at the geoglyphs etched into the desert floor was interesting. The one of the spider looks quite eerie (I looked it up, as I needed a recap), though I think the one of the Nazca Astronaut (Owl-man or Fisherman) was equally disturbing. There are over three hundred geoglyphs of animals, plants, etcetera - that have over ten-thousand lines, which I assume someone painstakingly counted?
Apparently, most of the spiders on the planet are harmless. Only a few can be deadly if you're bitten by one of them; especially if you're bitten by the Funnel Web Spider, which can kill you in minutes if an anti-venom isn't administered. Fast. Well, now there's an even deadlier species of spider that's decided to make an appearance - and these arachnids are displaying behaviour which is uncommon: they are social, coordinated and swarm in an organized way. They truly are a mystery, which Melanie, the spider expert, slowly unravels. There are more than thirty five thousand species of arachnids that have been on the planet for at least three-hundred and eighty million years and Melanie doesn't know if this is a new species or an old one.
Outside Manu National Park, five American tourists and their guide (Miguel); soon become the victims of a black mass that quickly devours a person that is running towards the group. Luckily, one of them (Henderson) keeps having his stomach turned inside out - so he goes into the forest to take another dump. Although, I might be wrong about him being lucky. Elsewhere, in a secluded part of China; the Chinese inadvertently nuke their own country, which the White-House believes was done deliberately, though they don't know why at the time.
Anyway, it is a really good book. I liked the multiple POV - which kept the story interesting. The characters are well fleshed out - and the spiders act more like Piranhas; when they attack - and can move nearly as fast as a human can run. At least they aren't as big as the now extinct Megarachne Servini, which had a leg-span of fifty centimetres (twenty inches), which is bigger than the Male Goliath Bird-eater (Theraphosa Blondi), by about eight inches. One final note: how many unexplained vehicular accidents have occurred? - when someone has been cruising down the freeway, and suddenly goes off road into a field and over a five-hundred foot cliff - possibly because a spider has fallen onto their lap or crawled up their leg; causing that person to freak out. Harmless? I don't think so.
Now hurry up and release the sequel...
June 28, 2016
4.5 stars!
SPIDERS! Lots of them! If the little bit of webbing on the cover didn't register with you the word SPIDERS (!) should.
We've all seen videos of spider nests suddenly exploding with little baby spiders running all over the place. This book is NOTHING like that. Picture a big, pulsing, hot-to-the-touch egg sac erupting volcano-like with big, hairy and fast spiders. Are you shuddering yet? Yeah, me too.
The Hatching tells the story of an invasion of spiders. From the rain forest in Peru to Georgia, from India to China, there is no one and no place that is safe. Despite the international flavor of the story, the important characters here are mostly American and they're well drawn. The main scientist, named Melanie, was a little too sexed up for my tastes, though if she were a male character, that probably wouldn't bother me, so maybe this is a personal thing. The FBI agent, (who of course Melanie wants to get with as soon as this little spider thing is over), Mike Rich, comes across as a great guy. His family interactions -with his daughter, ex-wife and her new husband-rang true to me. He certainly seemed more mature and likable than Scientist Melanie. Lastly, I enjoyed the fact that the American president was a woman.
The telling of the story switches back and forth between the different characters and does it in short chapters, which makes for a quick read. The pacing took a little bit of a hit at first, what with the introductions of all the various characters. Once that was the done, the pacing was excellent and everything flowed naturally towards an end that I should've seen coming, but I really didn't. This book stands a bit above your regular creature feature novel-whereas those don't usually take themselves too seriously, (think Night of the Crabs by Guy N. Smith), this book does. And because it took the spider threat seriously, so did I.
I hope that I don't stay itchy the entire time I'm waiting for the next book to come out. Seriously, I'm hurting myself with all this scratching.
Highly recommended to fans of horror!
The Hatching goes on sale July 5, 2016. But you can pre-order it here: https://www.amazon.com/Hatching-Novel...
*Thank you Net Galley and Atria/Emily Bestler Books for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest review. This is it!*
SPIDERS! Lots of them! If the little bit of webbing on the cover didn't register with you the word SPIDERS (!) should.
We've all seen videos of spider nests suddenly exploding with little baby spiders running all over the place. This book is NOTHING like that. Picture a big, pulsing, hot-to-the-touch egg sac erupting volcano-like with big, hairy and fast spiders. Are you shuddering yet? Yeah, me too.
The Hatching tells the story of an invasion of spiders. From the rain forest in Peru to Georgia, from India to China, there is no one and no place that is safe. Despite the international flavor of the story, the important characters here are mostly American and they're well drawn. The main scientist, named Melanie, was a little too sexed up for my tastes, though if she were a male character, that probably wouldn't bother me, so maybe this is a personal thing. The FBI agent, (who of course Melanie wants to get with as soon as this little spider thing is over), Mike Rich, comes across as a great guy. His family interactions -with his daughter, ex-wife and her new husband-rang true to me. He certainly seemed more mature and likable than Scientist Melanie. Lastly, I enjoyed the fact that the American president was a woman.
The telling of the story switches back and forth between the different characters and does it in short chapters, which makes for a quick read. The pacing took a little bit of a hit at first, what with the introductions of all the various characters. Once that was the done, the pacing was excellent and everything flowed naturally towards an end that I should've seen coming, but I really didn't. This book stands a bit above your regular creature feature novel-whereas those don't usually take themselves too seriously, (think Night of the Crabs by Guy N. Smith), this book does. And because it took the spider threat seriously, so did I.
I hope that I don't stay itchy the entire time I'm waiting for the next book to come out. Seriously, I'm hurting myself with all this scratching.
Highly recommended to fans of horror!
The Hatching goes on sale July 5, 2016. But you can pre-order it here: https://www.amazon.com/Hatching-Novel...
*Thank you Net Galley and Atria/Emily Bestler Books for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest review. This is it!*
Read
April 11, 2017In theory I'd love to read this. Buuuuuuuttttttt . . . . . .
N.O.P.E.
Stellar ratings from all of my fearless friends means it's probably pretty damn good, but this one most likely shall remain on my newly created "I Am A Pussy" bookshelf for eternity. Kudos to the author for writing the one thing that might trigger me into the hospital with apoplexy.
True story: A week or so ago I went to put my shoe on and stepped on a "rock." It was hard, it was the size of a silver dollar and all 724 pounds of me hadn't even smooshed it in the slightest when I shook it out my shoe. Instead, I'm pretty sure it gave me the finger before it attempted to run away. And despite me screaming bloody murder, NEITHER of my half-grown children NOR any of my 4 supposedly "murdery" cats or dogs came to my rescue. I told my husband the next time that shit happens I'm burning the effing house down.
N.O.P.E.
Stellar ratings from all of my fearless friends means it's probably pretty damn good, but this one most likely shall remain on my newly created "I Am A Pussy" bookshelf for eternity. Kudos to the author for writing the one thing that might trigger me into the hospital with apoplexy.
True story: A week or so ago I went to put my shoe on and stepped on a "rock." It was hard, it was the size of a silver dollar and all 724 pounds of me hadn't even smooshed it in the slightest when I shook it out my shoe. Instead, I'm pretty sure it gave me the finger before it attempted to run away. And despite me screaming bloody murder, NEITHER of my half-grown children NOR any of my 4 supposedly "murdery" cats or dogs came to my rescue. I told my husband the next time that shit happens I'm burning the effing house down.
June 26, 2016
My review of The Hatching is now up on Fresh Fiction!
"They are coming..."
This is one of the best horror books I have read this year. However, if you have arachnophobia then you should perhaps not choose this book to read...
Read the whole review here!
"They are coming..."
This is one of the best horror books I have read this year. However, if you have arachnophobia then you should perhaps not choose this book to read...
Read the whole review here!
May 20, 2023
BEST READ BY MISOGYNISTS
"OK this one is difficult. I gave this book one star ONLY because I kept turning pages to see where it went. I found it almost more of a mystery than anything, I did not find it particularly horrific. The star is for engaging me enough to finish it.
However I found the characters to be somewhat bland but worse were the completely sexist stereotypes of the women in this book. At the beginning I was ready to applaud the author's courage in giving commanding roles to female characters, the President of the United States, a well educated tertiary tutor and biologist and a military commander. I was appalled to find that all of these characters were lessened by cheap sex - the President was having some on the side, the military commander drooled over her corps and the tutor was sleeping with one of her students. It really came across to me as a major weakness - while the men are strong and make quick solid decisions, the women were just there to prey on guys to get them into bed. Each of them had sex on the brain, as though that was all they were capable of.
It also became very one dimensional when the majority of the characters were divorced or split from previous partners (usually other characters in the storyline). It really felt as though the author struggled to deal with partners. Afraid I cannot shine a great light on this novel and I was really looking forward to it.
"OK this one is difficult. I gave this book one star ONLY because I kept turning pages to see where it went. I found it almost more of a mystery than anything, I did not find it particularly horrific. The star is for engaging me enough to finish it.
However I found the characters to be somewhat bland but worse were the completely sexist stereotypes of the women in this book. At the beginning I was ready to applaud the author's courage in giving commanding roles to female characters, the President of the United States, a well educated tertiary tutor and biologist and a military commander. I was appalled to find that all of these characters were lessened by cheap sex - the President was having some on the side, the military commander drooled over her corps and the tutor was sleeping with one of her students. It really came across to me as a major weakness - while the men are strong and make quick solid decisions, the women were just there to prey on guys to get them into bed. Each of them had sex on the brain, as though that was all they were capable of.
It also became very one dimensional when the majority of the characters were divorced or split from previous partners (usually other characters in the storyline). It really felt as though the author struggled to deal with partners. Afraid I cannot shine a great light on this novel and I was really looking forward to it.
October 1, 2019
***WARNING SPOILERS AHEAD***
Oh my gods where do I begin? The synopsis of the book is spiders come to kill everyone. Yeah that's pretty much it.
First off, I am really pissed at this book. Nowhere on this book or inside it does it mention the fact that this is a trilogy and this is the first book in that trilogy until you are finished with the book and see that there is a prologue to the next book. But I guess I should have guessed it sooner when the book just kept on going and never got to a resolution point toward the end. Stupid me! 🤦🏼♀️
The constant changing of point of views from character to character are more than annoying. With a small cast, writing like this is doable however, this book has a HUGE cast of characters, all of which run around acting like stupid, horny teenagers (even the female President of the United States). But seriously every chapter reads like a prologue and it's like holy f&$#@ing sh#@$ are you kidding me? Another introduction to this mess?
And on to the cast... these are all non fleshed-out one-dimensional characters whose only background information we get is who they've slept with who they are sleeping with or who they want to sleep with. Nothing else. Not to mention even for a thriller that is borderlined on horror/monster B-movie type genre, these are some of the stupidest characters I have ever come across in a book. At the end of the book someone mentions pouring gasoline on the spider's nest and calling it a f@#$ing day and the other characters just shrug it off. WTF? 🤦🏼♀️ The spiders were the only decent character in the story however, they didn't even get a damn backstory.
Nothing is ever explained in this book at all. Why the hell are there seismic ripples underneath India? What could the spiders have been eating down there in the tunnels under the Earth? Why exactly are they all hatching now? NO ONE KNOWS!!! I would have to assume that things get better fleshed-out and explained in the future sequels of this book, however honestly I'm not going to invest my time in it to find out.
And you know what? I could forgive all of it... ALL OF IT! If only it wasn't such a bore to read. I love B-rate monster movies and books but this one really took the cake on stupidity and poor execution. Sad but true. It's almost as if the author was trying SO HARD to get himself some movie rights but failed miserably.
I don't usually do this and I hope I haven't offended anyone with my crude language but this book really pissed me off.
I will not be recommending this one.
Oh my gods where do I begin? The synopsis of the book is spiders come to kill everyone. Yeah that's pretty much it.
First off, I am really pissed at this book. Nowhere on this book or inside it does it mention the fact that this is a trilogy and this is the first book in that trilogy until you are finished with the book and see that there is a prologue to the next book. But I guess I should have guessed it sooner when the book just kept on going and never got to a resolution point toward the end. Stupid me! 🤦🏼♀️
The constant changing of point of views from character to character are more than annoying. With a small cast, writing like this is doable however, this book has a HUGE cast of characters, all of which run around acting like stupid, horny teenagers (even the female President of the United States). But seriously every chapter reads like a prologue and it's like holy f&$#@ing sh#@$ are you kidding me? Another introduction to this mess?
And on to the cast... these are all non fleshed-out one-dimensional characters whose only background information we get is who they've slept with who they are sleeping with or who they want to sleep with. Nothing else. Not to mention even for a thriller that is borderlined on horror/monster B-movie type genre, these are some of the stupidest characters I have ever come across in a book. At the end of the book someone mentions pouring gasoline on the spider's nest and calling it a f@#$ing day and the other characters just shrug it off. WTF? 🤦🏼♀️ The spiders were the only decent character in the story however, they didn't even get a damn backstory.
Nothing is ever explained in this book at all. Why the hell are there seismic ripples underneath India? What could the spiders have been eating down there in the tunnels under the Earth? Why exactly are they all hatching now? NO ONE KNOWS!!! I would have to assume that things get better fleshed-out and explained in the future sequels of this book, however honestly I'm not going to invest my time in it to find out.
And you know what? I could forgive all of it... ALL OF IT! If only it wasn't such a bore to read. I love B-rate monster movies and books but this one really took the cake on stupidity and poor execution. Sad but true. It's almost as if the author was trying SO HARD to get himself some movie rights but failed miserably.
I don't usually do this and I hope I haven't offended anyone with my crude language but this book really pissed me off.
I will not be recommending this one.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 28, 2021
Deep in the jungle of Peru, a black, skittering mass devours an American tourist party whole. FBI agent Mike Rich investigates a fatal plane crash in Minneapolis and makes a gruesome discovery. Unusual seismic patterns register in a Indian earthquake lab, confounding the scientists there.
The Chinese government "accidentally" drops a nuclear bomb in an isolated region of its own country. The first female president of the United States is summoned to an emergency briefing. And all of these events are connected.
As panic begins to sweep the globe, a mysterious package from South America arrives at Melanie Guyer's Washington laboratory. The unusual egg inside begins to crack. Something is spreading...
The world is on the brink of an apocalyptic disaster. An virulent ancient species, long dormant, is now very much awake. But this is only the beginning of our end...
Plot sounds awesome right?
I thought so too..
I read three quarters of this and thought it was a dud, because nothing much happened and the characters weren't written very well the location around the world kept changing to introduce more characters - I started to get confused about who was who...
But..
Despite the weak characterization, the authors writing style and his creation of a very unique foe makes this one hell of a page turner and that last quarter of the book got sooo good, I'm moving straight onto the second book - 'Skitter' in the hope that the last quarter of sooo good continues...
The Chinese government "accidentally" drops a nuclear bomb in an isolated region of its own country. The first female president of the United States is summoned to an emergency briefing. And all of these events are connected.
As panic begins to sweep the globe, a mysterious package from South America arrives at Melanie Guyer's Washington laboratory. The unusual egg inside begins to crack. Something is spreading...
The world is on the brink of an apocalyptic disaster. An virulent ancient species, long dormant, is now very much awake. But this is only the beginning of our end...
Plot sounds awesome right?
I thought so too..
I read three quarters of this and thought it was a dud, because nothing much happened and the characters weren't written very well the location around the world kept changing to introduce more characters - I started to get confused about who was who...
But..
Despite the weak characterization, the authors writing style and his creation of a very unique foe makes this one hell of a page turner and that last quarter of the book got sooo good, I'm moving straight onto the second book - 'Skitter' in the hope that the last quarter of sooo good continues...
July 21, 2016
3.5 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum https://bibliosanctum.com/2016/07/21/...
I’m not really afraid of spiders. Yes, they’re kinda icky, but unless I find one right in my personal space I tend to just leave the little crawlies be. Like they say, most house spiders are relatively harmless and I actually like to keep them around to take care of other worst insect pests that might be lurking about.
But the spiders in The Hatching, though? NO. Dear God, just…NO. In the reading of this book, I had to fight several urges not to jump into the shower every few minutes, because I was convinced I was feeling hundreds of tiny little skittering legs crawling all over my skin. And like I said, I am not afraid of spiders (or at least I didn’t used to be). If however you’re an arachnophobe, then this is going to go really badly for you.
The Hatching begins in the jungles of Peru, where The Swarm (given the kind of book we’re talking about, I feel it’s only correct to designate the spider horde as a character in its own right) claims its first victim. Before long though, other disturbing reports are emerging all over the world. In China, a nuclear bomb goes off, which their government claims was a “training incident” gone wrong. In Minneapolis, an American billionaire’s private jet suddenly falls out of the sky. In Kanpur, India, a group of scientists receive unusual seismic readings at their earthquake lab. In the middle of the Pacific Ocean, screams suddenly ring out aboard a cargo ship. The commonality between all these events? Give yourself a pat on the back if you guessed eight-legged menaces.
Accordingly, this story follows a large number of characters in a large number of settings, but eventually we get to tease out a handful of perspectives that make up our main cast. At the American University in Washington DC, Dr. Melanie Guyer is a leading spider researcher working with a mysterious calcified egg sac found buried beneath the ancient Nazca Lines. Her ex-husband Manny is conveniently the White House Chief of Staff to President Stephanie Pilgrim, where he gets a front row seat to all decisions made by the top brass during this global disaster. In Minneapolis, FBI Agent Mike Rich is called to the scene of the aforementioned plane crash and makes a gruesome discovery. In Scotland, a couple find themselves stranded when all flights are grounded. In California, Corporal Kim Bock and her squad of Marines are getting ready to mobilize, not knowing where they’ll be going but are nonetheless prepared to follow orders. Not far away in an underground bunker, four survivalists take shelter against what they believe is the end of the world. And with that, the stage is set for some arachnid fueled anarchy.
This isn’t the first time I’ve expressed my love for the “natural horror” subgenre, i.e. stories featuring nature or animals destroying civilization and wreaking total havoc on the human race. And I’m sure it’s not going to be the last. For a novel of its type, The Hatching is actually really decent. It does its job well, kicking things off with a bang. Then after that little tease, it dials back a bit to spend the next quarter of the book or so building up the suspense, taking us globetrotting to show how The Swarm is affecting the entire world.
What I really liked is how the focus is spiders, but the narrative actually reads more like a global epidemic. One of the reasons why I can tolerate spiders is the fact they are usually solitary creatures; I would be an entirely different matter if they always appeared en masse. I’m also not too worried about them because they’re typically more afraid of you than you are of them, and are happy to leave humans alone. However, the spiders in The Hatching are not like normal spiders. They travel in thick groups, moving like a solid river of black, and they have no compunctions about swarming you and eating your face. What made for such a sweet, touching moment at the end of Charlotte’s Web is suddenly transformed into a hellish scene of nightmare proportions as flesh-eating spiders literally start raining out of the sky. They also find the squishy insides of the human body to be the most ideal place to lay their eggs, and you really don’t want to be the poor host when they hatch. These scary quirks in their biology make it virtually impossible to contain the spiders, so very soon The Swarm is out of control—think killer virus outbreak or a zombie plague.
The quality of writing isn’t bad either, though I found it fluctuated from chapter to chapter. Some POVs felt strangely sparse, for instance, while others were fully fleshed out and very well described. My favorite sections were those featuring Gordo and his fellow survivalists out in Desperation, California; I thought the chapter introducing them all could have been a great short story all on its own. None of the other characters really made an impression, however, not even the “main” characters like Melanie, Manny, or Mike. I found even fewer of them to be likeable, though to be fair, I’m sure many of them were solely written in to be spider food. And in the end, with books like The Hatching, what you see is really what you get. The novel delivered exactly what I expected of it, so I hardly have cause to complain. I enjoyed myself, which is the most important thing, and there’s no denying I was thoroughly entertained.
I believe The Hatching is the first part of a planned trilogy, and I’m glad. This was a lot of fun, and the ending sets things up brilliantly for a sequel. I’m really looking forward to seeing how humanity will survive the spider apocalypse…or if we even do.
I’m not really afraid of spiders. Yes, they’re kinda icky, but unless I find one right in my personal space I tend to just leave the little crawlies be. Like they say, most house spiders are relatively harmless and I actually like to keep them around to take care of other worst insect pests that might be lurking about.
But the spiders in The Hatching, though? NO. Dear God, just…NO. In the reading of this book, I had to fight several urges not to jump into the shower every few minutes, because I was convinced I was feeling hundreds of tiny little skittering legs crawling all over my skin. And like I said, I am not afraid of spiders (or at least I didn’t used to be). If however you’re an arachnophobe, then this is going to go really badly for you.
The Hatching begins in the jungles of Peru, where The Swarm (given the kind of book we’re talking about, I feel it’s only correct to designate the spider horde as a character in its own right) claims its first victim. Before long though, other disturbing reports are emerging all over the world. In China, a nuclear bomb goes off, which their government claims was a “training incident” gone wrong. In Minneapolis, an American billionaire’s private jet suddenly falls out of the sky. In Kanpur, India, a group of scientists receive unusual seismic readings at their earthquake lab. In the middle of the Pacific Ocean, screams suddenly ring out aboard a cargo ship. The commonality between all these events? Give yourself a pat on the back if you guessed eight-legged menaces.
Accordingly, this story follows a large number of characters in a large number of settings, but eventually we get to tease out a handful of perspectives that make up our main cast. At the American University in Washington DC, Dr. Melanie Guyer is a leading spider researcher working with a mysterious calcified egg sac found buried beneath the ancient Nazca Lines. Her ex-husband Manny is conveniently the White House Chief of Staff to President Stephanie Pilgrim, where he gets a front row seat to all decisions made by the top brass during this global disaster. In Minneapolis, FBI Agent Mike Rich is called to the scene of the aforementioned plane crash and makes a gruesome discovery. In Scotland, a couple find themselves stranded when all flights are grounded. In California, Corporal Kim Bock and her squad of Marines are getting ready to mobilize, not knowing where they’ll be going but are nonetheless prepared to follow orders. Not far away in an underground bunker, four survivalists take shelter against what they believe is the end of the world. And with that, the stage is set for some arachnid fueled anarchy.
This isn’t the first time I’ve expressed my love for the “natural horror” subgenre, i.e. stories featuring nature or animals destroying civilization and wreaking total havoc on the human race. And I’m sure it’s not going to be the last. For a novel of its type, The Hatching is actually really decent. It does its job well, kicking things off with a bang. Then after that little tease, it dials back a bit to spend the next quarter of the book or so building up the suspense, taking us globetrotting to show how The Swarm is affecting the entire world.
What I really liked is how the focus is spiders, but the narrative actually reads more like a global epidemic. One of the reasons why I can tolerate spiders is the fact they are usually solitary creatures; I would be an entirely different matter if they always appeared en masse. I’m also not too worried about them because they’re typically more afraid of you than you are of them, and are happy to leave humans alone. However, the spiders in The Hatching are not like normal spiders. They travel in thick groups, moving like a solid river of black, and they have no compunctions about swarming you and eating your face. What made for such a sweet, touching moment at the end of Charlotte’s Web is suddenly transformed into a hellish scene of nightmare proportions as flesh-eating spiders literally start raining out of the sky. They also find the squishy insides of the human body to be the most ideal place to lay their eggs, and you really don’t want to be the poor host when they hatch. These scary quirks in their biology make it virtually impossible to contain the spiders, so very soon The Swarm is out of control—think killer virus outbreak or a zombie plague.
The quality of writing isn’t bad either, though I found it fluctuated from chapter to chapter. Some POVs felt strangely sparse, for instance, while others were fully fleshed out and very well described. My favorite sections were those featuring Gordo and his fellow survivalists out in Desperation, California; I thought the chapter introducing them all could have been a great short story all on its own. None of the other characters really made an impression, however, not even the “main” characters like Melanie, Manny, or Mike. I found even fewer of them to be likeable, though to be fair, I’m sure many of them were solely written in to be spider food. And in the end, with books like The Hatching, what you see is really what you get. The novel delivered exactly what I expected of it, so I hardly have cause to complain. I enjoyed myself, which is the most important thing, and there’s no denying I was thoroughly entertained.
I believe The Hatching is the first part of a planned trilogy, and I’m glad. This was a lot of fun, and the ending sets things up brilliantly for a sequel. I’m really looking forward to seeing how humanity will survive the spider apocalypse…or if we even do.
June 21, 2019
See this review and others like it on www.bookbastion.net
_______
What is it about spiders that strikes fear in so many people? Is it the legs, or their hairy bodies, or their ability to attack with a sneaky drop-shot from a hidden web in a corner or on a ceiling? I think it's probably a bit of all of the above for me. Ever since I was a kid and a large wolf spider ended up hitching a ride on my sweater in my parent's woodshed, I've been pretty much terrified of them.
It was with complete trepidation that I even picked this book up at all, but I said I wanted a few scary reads for October, and Ezekiel Boone's novel definitely fits the bill.
Boone builds off of all that we as human beings find so unnerving about spiders in the first place and cranks it up to an eleven in this apocalyptic thriller where the end comes not in meteor strikes or volcanic explosions, but in waves of black-bodied, carnivorous spiders that are hungry for human blood.
One great thing about this novel is the way Boone subverts your expectations when it comes to the spiders. There were a few disturbing revelations about the way these spiders work that left me seriously grossed out and looking over my shoulder while I was reading for any sort of creepy crawlies that might have been trying to invade my bubble. Lord knows I'll be giving any spiders I come across in my house an even wider berth for awhile after reading this book!
Told in short and alternating POV chapters, Boone uses the viewpoints of connected characters across the globe to give his readers a front row seat at the start of the pandemic as things quickly move from bad, to worse, to horrifying. I could easily envision this story being translated into a blockbuster format. The only problem I had with it is that it the ending sort of lands with a thud as Boone implies that the worst is yet to come. It's almost like watching the first 50 minutes of a Michael Bay film or other disaster movie only for the credits to roll before we've even gotten the inevitable scene of the statue of liberty getting toppled to really show the audience how bad things have become.
That being said, there was a hell of a hook for the second book, so I suppose Boone gets the last laugh there!
I had a minor issue with a couple of POV characters being underdeveloped, or underutilized. Shotgun and Gordo, a gay/straight survivalist duo were my favorite characters, and there just aren't enough chapters with them. Meanwhile, Kim and Melanie got a few more chapters afforded to them than I think they necessarily needed and their voices weren't quite as distinct as I would have liked. I have high hopes for book 2 though, because I have a feeling some of these side characters are going to spin into the limelight which would pick things up a bit.
Similarly, don't expect many answers as to the origin of the spider invasion, at least not quite yet. Boone definitely focuses more heavily on fast-paced action and gross-out scenes to advance the plot quickly while leaving the larger explanations for future installments in the series. There were a few scenes in the beginning of the novel that seemed to imply some source thousands of years in the making, but the where, how and why are forgone conclusions in favor of focusing on the action and terror that are man-eating spiders.
If you're looking for a good gross out scare and think you can stomach the feeling of heebie-jeebies that thinking about spiders seems to inspire in me and so many others, I'd say definitely give this book a go! I'm excited to pick up the sequel soon.
4 out of 5 stars!
Also, sorry for all the scary spider gifs! Here's a cute little spider showing his pride with an adorable raindrop hat to cheer you up:
_______
"You think because you kill one spider in your bathroom, that there aren't others hiding somewhere in your house?"
What is it about spiders that strikes fear in so many people? Is it the legs, or their hairy bodies, or their ability to attack with a sneaky drop-shot from a hidden web in a corner or on a ceiling? I think it's probably a bit of all of the above for me. Ever since I was a kid and a large wolf spider ended up hitching a ride on my sweater in my parent's woodshed, I've been pretty much terrified of them.
It was with complete trepidation that I even picked this book up at all, but I said I wanted a few scary reads for October, and Ezekiel Boone's novel definitely fits the bill.
Boone builds off of all that we as human beings find so unnerving about spiders in the first place and cranks it up to an eleven in this apocalyptic thriller where the end comes not in meteor strikes or volcanic explosions, but in waves of black-bodied, carnivorous spiders that are hungry for human blood.
One great thing about this novel is the way Boone subverts your expectations when it comes to the spiders. There were a few disturbing revelations about the way these spiders work that left me seriously grossed out and looking over my shoulder while I was reading for any sort of creepy crawlies that might have been trying to invade my bubble. Lord knows I'll be giving any spiders I come across in my house an even wider berth for awhile after reading this book!
Told in short and alternating POV chapters, Boone uses the viewpoints of connected characters across the globe to give his readers a front row seat at the start of the pandemic as things quickly move from bad, to worse, to horrifying. I could easily envision this story being translated into a blockbuster format. The only problem I had with it is that it the ending sort of lands with a thud as Boone implies that the worst is yet to come. It's almost like watching the first 50 minutes of a Michael Bay film or other disaster movie only for the credits to roll before we've even gotten the inevitable scene of the statue of liberty getting toppled to really show the audience how bad things have become.
That being said, there was a hell of a hook for the second book, so I suppose Boone gets the last laugh there!
I had a minor issue with a couple of POV characters being underdeveloped, or underutilized. Shotgun and Gordo, a gay/straight survivalist duo were my favorite characters, and there just aren't enough chapters with them. Meanwhile, Kim and Melanie got a few more chapters afforded to them than I think they necessarily needed and their voices weren't quite as distinct as I would have liked. I have high hopes for book 2 though, because I have a feeling some of these side characters are going to spin into the limelight which would pick things up a bit.
Similarly, don't expect many answers as to the origin of the spider invasion, at least not quite yet. Boone definitely focuses more heavily on fast-paced action and gross-out scenes to advance the plot quickly while leaving the larger explanations for future installments in the series. There were a few scenes in the beginning of the novel that seemed to imply some source thousands of years in the making, but the where, how and why are forgone conclusions in favor of focusing on the action and terror that are man-eating spiders.
If you're looking for a good gross out scare and think you can stomach the feeling of heebie-jeebies that thinking about spiders seems to inspire in me and so many others, I'd say definitely give this book a go! I'm excited to pick up the sequel soon.
4 out of 5 stars!
Also, sorry for all the scary spider gifs! Here's a cute little spider showing his pride with an adorable raindrop hat to cheer you up:
January 7, 2019
Audio - 5 stars
Story - 5 eater/breeder stars
The story is about deadly spiders. If they're not feeding on people, they're using them as hosts to lay eggs and breed. So. Messed. Up.
I'm so scared of spiders that I scream at just a picture of one. I had to stop scrolling through the other reviews because of all friggin' spider pics. So why did I read/listen to this book? Because I'm one of those people who's also fascinated by the things that freak me out. Not cool. But I can't resist. :-(
It was creepy, gross, disturbing, and I'm going to read/listen to the remaining two books.
I have to give it up to the author, Ezekiel Boone, for the very diverse cast: several people of color, an interracial couple, and a married gay couple...and a couple of strong, kickass women.
Story - 5 eater/breeder stars
The story is about deadly spiders. If they're not feeding on people, they're using them as hosts to lay eggs and breed. So. Messed. Up.
I'm so scared of spiders that I scream at just a picture of one. I had to stop scrolling through the other reviews because of all friggin' spider pics. So why did I read/listen to this book? Because I'm one of those people who's also fascinated by the things that freak me out. Not cool. But I can't resist. :-(
It was creepy, gross, disturbing, and I'm going to read/listen to the remaining two books.
I have to give it up to the author, Ezekiel Boone, for the very diverse cast: several people of color, an interracial couple, and a married gay couple...and a couple of strong, kickass women.
March 1, 2017
The Hatching was everything I love about disaster/end-of-the-world stories! That rush of adrenaline you get when worrying over whether the human race will make it. Asking myself: what would I do? Would I be among the few that would be lucky smart enough to survive? I’m that girl who loves the idea of beating zombies, tsunamis, earthquakes, deadly viruses, asteroids; pretty much anything in which the earth will be doomed unless a small group prevails, and figures out how to save the human race. In this case we’re talking SPIDERS!!!! Swarming spiders! Fast, creepy, crawly, and terrifying! I shiver just thinking about them!
The Hatching is told from multiple POV’s, demonstrating just how widespread the problem is. It begins with isolated instances, the players piecing together events as the situation becomes more dangerous, escalating into a global threat. Most of the time with an action filled plot there is little page time devoted to character development, especially when there are a lot of POV’s, but I have to say with the little page time some of the characters were given, my favorites were fleshed out enough that I cared about them, and hope all will be well! Professor Melanie Guyer, in Washington DC, and Agent Mike Rich in Minneapolis, Minnesota, are each experiencing life outside of these disasters, but becoming connected through them. There is a romance hinted at with these two, and I’m crossing my fingers it turns out! The survivalists in Desperation, California, the couple at the castle on an island in Scotland, and the Marine Corps out of Twin Palms, California are all facing their own trials, and I’m invested in each and every one of their stories!
I got a copy of this story some time ago and let it languish on my shelf and I’m now kicking myself I didn’t pick up it up sooner! The Hatching hooked me from the beginning, and with each chapter had my pulse ticking higher and higher as the stakes notched up! Will the human race prevail in the face of such a fast acting threat? And if they do, will all my beloved characters make it?
I guess I’ll find out in Skitter, which, thankfully, comes out very soon!
A copy was kindly provided by Atria/Emily Bestler Books in exchange for an honest review.
This review is also posted at The Readers Den.
The Hatching is told from multiple POV’s, demonstrating just how widespread the problem is. It begins with isolated instances, the players piecing together events as the situation becomes more dangerous, escalating into a global threat. Most of the time with an action filled plot there is little page time devoted to character development, especially when there are a lot of POV’s, but I have to say with the little page time some of the characters were given, my favorites were fleshed out enough that I cared about them, and hope all will be well! Professor Melanie Guyer, in Washington DC, and Agent Mike Rich in Minneapolis, Minnesota, are each experiencing life outside of these disasters, but becoming connected through them. There is a romance hinted at with these two, and I’m crossing my fingers it turns out! The survivalists in Desperation, California, the couple at the castle on an island in Scotland, and the Marine Corps out of Twin Palms, California are all facing their own trials, and I’m invested in each and every one of their stories!
I got a copy of this story some time ago and let it languish on my shelf and I’m now kicking myself I didn’t pick up it up sooner! The Hatching hooked me from the beginning, and with each chapter had my pulse ticking higher and higher as the stakes notched up! Will the human race prevail in the face of such a fast acting threat? And if they do, will all my beloved characters make it?
I guess I’ll find out in Skitter, which, thankfully, comes out very soon!
A copy was kindly provided by Atria/Emily Bestler Books in exchange for an honest review.
This review is also posted at The Readers Den.
May 5, 2016
This was pretty much everything I was looking for in a man eating spider novel.
Written in a semi World War Z style, but with more depth, it covers a varied yet increasingly interconnected group of people facing the spider hatching. It works because the author keeps the story grounded in reality. That may seem like a strange thing to say, but it has high plausibility, both on the natural side and in human reactions. These are not killer spiders from out of space, they don't build their own ships and fly to earth. They're simply an ancient species with a very long cycle. The people react with surprise, panic, fear-they make mistakes, under react, try to explain it away, then deal with it in various ways with/without success. It's real.
As for the horror... These spiders eat people. They are an unstoppable tide. There is nothing scarier than this. Some of the scenes made me physically shudder with disgust.
The ending is abrupt but I'm letting the author off on the grounds that this is a series (I hope) and will continue at a future (soon?) date.
Many thanks to Ezekiel Boone, Orion Publishing, and Netgalley for this copy in exchange for an honest review.
Written in a semi World War Z style, but with more depth, it covers a varied yet increasingly interconnected group of people facing the spider hatching. It works because the author keeps the story grounded in reality. That may seem like a strange thing to say, but it has high plausibility, both on the natural side and in human reactions. These are not killer spiders from out of space, they don't build their own ships and fly to earth. They're simply an ancient species with a very long cycle. The people react with surprise, panic, fear-they make mistakes, under react, try to explain it away, then deal with it in various ways with/without success. It's real.
As for the horror... These spiders eat people. They are an unstoppable tide. There is nothing scarier than this. Some of the scenes made me physically shudder with disgust.
The ending is abrupt but I'm letting the author off on the grounds that this is a series (I hope) and will continue at a future (soon?) date.
Many thanks to Ezekiel Boone, Orion Publishing, and Netgalley for this copy in exchange for an honest review.
July 9, 2016
3.5 stars
Buddy-read with the SpecFic group
You know, I've never been afraid of spiders. OK, I'd be apprehensive at first depending on which species was walking up and down my arm, but it would be interesting as hell too. I heard that a tarantula's legs feel like tiny suction cups *squeals with delight*. And so many species are not just fascinating but beautiful too - there are some not even birds of paradise and their shiny feathers can compete with. Exhibit A, the Australian peacock spider (yes, they come in different colours):
Aren't they gorgeous?!
*clears throat*
But this is not what this book is about. I wouldn't even have known about this book was it not for my SpecFic buddies deciding to do a buddy-read. And you know, I wanted to see if the author could actually pull it off and make me afraid of spiders (which is just as unfair as all those books about the big bad sharks).
So this book is pretty much a standard global apocalypse, but with spiders instead of zombies or aliens. We have the actual outbreak, some people trying to figure out what the hell is going on, and the race to contain it.
Unfortunately, I wasn't creeped out in the least. The book isn't bad, really, the pacing is pretty good as well, and it's a quick and easy read as thrillers/horror books usually should be. Moreover, I liked that it's structure reminded me of a certain zombie apocalypse novel, with every chapter being a certain POV from somewhere around the globe, resulting in a huge puzzle coming together (although here, there are a limited number of recurring POVs).
However, the characters. *sigh* They really dampened my enjoyment of this novel. There was only one group (one POV) I liked - Gordo, Amy, Fred and Shotgun. They were kind of fun and amiable. The rest? Well, maybe the Scottish bloke and his fiancé and grandfather (that castle must be cool). But that's it. The POV of the Marines was silly (if that is what Marines think like, I wouldn't trust them farther than they can throw me), the Agent's wife would have deserved to get eaten alive just for , the media only thought about promotions and screen time, the scientist about publishing a paper and being renowned, the President's adviser about the next poll and it really pissed me off that despite everything that was happening, almost all characters only thought about how to get laid or who they are going to bang. Seriously. At first, maybe, and even then it was a stretch. But later in the story? Nope. So either the author tried to sell more copies or he himself is too concerned with that question because although people are depraved, survival trumps sex. Every time. Of course, it could also have been by design so we'd all be rooting for the itsy-bitsy spiders in the end, wanting them to kill all humans - that would be a very nice twist! *lol*
The actual "mystery" behind was not too hard to figure out either but I am curious what will happen next (I guess there will be at least one more book, but seeing the current publishing market/strategies, it'll be a trilogy even) and I hope that it will get one hell of a lot bloodier because that was another thing I missed: gruesome deaths. In a "monster novel" I expect gory details but many deaths happened off screen, were only reported about and that was disappointing.
So I keep my hopes up for the sequel and yes, I'll read it.
Buddy-read with the SpecFic group
You know, I've never been afraid of spiders. OK, I'd be apprehensive at first depending on which species was walking up and down my arm, but it would be interesting as hell too. I heard that a tarantula's legs feel like tiny suction cups *squeals with delight*. And so many species are not just fascinating but beautiful too - there are some not even birds of paradise and their shiny feathers can compete with. Exhibit A, the Australian peacock spider (yes, they come in different colours):
Aren't they gorgeous?!
*clears throat*
But this is not what this book is about. I wouldn't even have known about this book was it not for my SpecFic buddies deciding to do a buddy-read. And you know, I wanted to see if the author could actually pull it off and make me afraid of spiders (which is just as unfair as all those books about the big bad sharks).
So this book is pretty much a standard global apocalypse, but with spiders instead of zombies or aliens. We have the actual outbreak, some people trying to figure out what the hell is going on, and the race to contain it.
Unfortunately, I wasn't creeped out in the least. The book isn't bad, really, the pacing is pretty good as well, and it's a quick and easy read as thrillers/horror books usually should be. Moreover, I liked that it's structure reminded me of a certain zombie apocalypse novel, with every chapter being a certain POV from somewhere around the globe, resulting in a huge puzzle coming together (although here, there are a limited number of recurring POVs).
However, the characters. *sigh* They really dampened my enjoyment of this novel. There was only one group (one POV) I liked - Gordo, Amy, Fred and Shotgun. They were kind of fun and amiable. The rest? Well, maybe the Scottish bloke and his fiancé and grandfather (that castle must be cool). But that's it. The POV of the Marines was silly (if that is what Marines think like, I wouldn't trust them farther than they can throw me), the Agent's wife would have deserved to get eaten alive just for , the media only thought about promotions and screen time, the scientist about publishing a paper and being renowned, the President's adviser about the next poll and it really pissed me off that despite everything that was happening, almost all characters only thought about how to get laid or who they are going to bang. Seriously. At first, maybe, and even then it was a stretch. But later in the story? Nope. So either the author tried to sell more copies or he himself is too concerned with that question because although people are depraved, survival trumps sex. Every time. Of course, it could also have been by design so we'd all be rooting for the itsy-bitsy spiders in the end, wanting them to kill all humans - that would be a very nice twist! *lol*
The actual "mystery" behind was not too hard to figure out either but I am curious what will happen next (I guess there will be at least one more book, but seeing the current publishing market/strategies, it'll be a trilogy even) and I hope that it will get one hell of a lot bloodier because that was another thing I missed: gruesome deaths. In a "monster novel" I expect gory details but many deaths happened off screen, were only reported about and that was disappointing.
So I keep my hopes up for the sequel and yes, I'll read it.
April 21, 2017
One of the most horrifying books I've read, I loved it!
Full review to come soon!
Full review to come soon!
June 11, 2016
This book is so creepy and disturbing. The concept chills me to my very core.
I'll never look at spiders the same way again and I can't stop thinking about this book.
It was pretty slow and sometimes boring but I ended up reading this book in one sitting anyway.
I liked the writing style and I thought it was pretty interesting to read from many different characters
perspectives.
January 29, 2018
This review can also be found at Carole's Random Life in Books.
This was an excellent book! I have had this book sitting on my kindle for the past year and a half and have no idea why I am just now reading it. It really is as good as I heard. Maybe better. It was one of those books that I didn't want to set aside because I always wanted to know what was going to happen next. I am just glad that I finally decided to read this book.
This story was told a little differently. Each chapter focuses on a different character or set of characters. Readers do get to see these characters at various parts of the books and sometimes their stories overlap but the focus of this book stays on the spiders. Don't get me wrong, I did feel like I knew the key characters in this story by the end of the book. I really liked how each chapter was like another piece of an overall puzzle.
So this book is about spiders but not your everyday run of the mill spider. This book is about killer spiders, lots of killer spiders. These are spiders unlike anything the world has ever seen. They can kill with remarkable speed and are driven to do so. When a nuclear bomb is detonated in China, officials initially believe it is an accident but they soon wonder if it was really in response to the spiders.
I was amazed by how realistic everything in this book seemed. I am really not too worried about giants waves of man eating spiders but I thought that the reactions to an extreme emergency felt genuine. I thought that the government's response to the situation wasn't outside the realm of possibility if there was a threat on this kind of level. I liked how this book really let the reader into the heads of people on all sides of the situation.
I would highly recommend this book. I think that this was an incredibly entertaining book with a whole lot of excitement. I am really excited to continue on with this series because I need to know what happens next.
Initial Thoughts
Why did I wait so long to read this book? I mean I have had this book for a very long time and am just now reading it. I am mad that I waited so long because I loved this book! It kept me thinking and waiting to see what would happen next. I liked the fact that the focus doesn't stay on any character for very long because the focus stays on the spiders. This was frightening on so many levels.
Book source: Kindle purchase
This was an excellent book! I have had this book sitting on my kindle for the past year and a half and have no idea why I am just now reading it. It really is as good as I heard. Maybe better. It was one of those books that I didn't want to set aside because I always wanted to know what was going to happen next. I am just glad that I finally decided to read this book.
This story was told a little differently. Each chapter focuses on a different character or set of characters. Readers do get to see these characters at various parts of the books and sometimes their stories overlap but the focus of this book stays on the spiders. Don't get me wrong, I did feel like I knew the key characters in this story by the end of the book. I really liked how each chapter was like another piece of an overall puzzle.
So this book is about spiders but not your everyday run of the mill spider. This book is about killer spiders, lots of killer spiders. These are spiders unlike anything the world has ever seen. They can kill with remarkable speed and are driven to do so. When a nuclear bomb is detonated in China, officials initially believe it is an accident but they soon wonder if it was really in response to the spiders.
I was amazed by how realistic everything in this book seemed. I am really not too worried about giants waves of man eating spiders but I thought that the reactions to an extreme emergency felt genuine. I thought that the government's response to the situation wasn't outside the realm of possibility if there was a threat on this kind of level. I liked how this book really let the reader into the heads of people on all sides of the situation.
I would highly recommend this book. I think that this was an incredibly entertaining book with a whole lot of excitement. I am really excited to continue on with this series because I need to know what happens next.
Initial Thoughts
Why did I wait so long to read this book? I mean I have had this book for a very long time and am just now reading it. I am mad that I waited so long because I loved this book! It kept me thinking and waiting to see what would happen next. I liked the fact that the focus doesn't stay on any character for very long because the focus stays on the spiders. This was frightening on so many levels.
Book source: Kindle purchase
March 9, 2017
As always this review can also be found on my blog The Tattooed Book Geek: https://thetattooedbookgeek.wordpress...
I received a free copy of this book courtesy of the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Do you often read books that contain elaborate stories full of interconnecting and interweaving threads, sort of like a spider's web if you will, a veritable tapestry of important goings on and strands to keep up with and follow??
Do you often get bogged down in the layers of characterisation and development as you learn more and more about the characters involved in the book you are reading. Growing to either love them or hate them?? Caring about their fates and wanting those you like to survive and those you don't to suffer a suitably heinous demise??
Do you tire of becoming invested in the book instead of just reading and occasionally think, I could really go for something that is just simple fun??
“Incy wincy spiders,
slept for many an age,
awoke with a hunger,
destroyed the world in days”
I know I do and so I offer to you....The Hatching by Ezekiel Boone, a book that forgoes the majesty of the multifaceted story and detailed character development. Instead replacing it with millions of spiders in a book that is all about the arachnid rampage and the devastation it causes.
Around the globe a long dormant race of archaic arachnids start appearing, hence the book's title 'The Hatching' as an egg is discovered that is 10,000 years old and miraculously hatches. At the same time the latent spiders start appearing in a variety of countries, first Peru, then China, India, a Scottish island and also across America, with America being the books main focus.
The invasion causes havoc and destruction as the spiders food source of choice just so happens to be humans! Yes, those cute and hairy creepy crawlies that you probably have countless amounts of hidden around the house, enjoy nothing more than devouring humans, the little critters obviously like raw sausage!
“Incy wincy spiders,
devoured the human beings,
stripped them to the skin,
then the world did scream”
The story takes place over six days, showing how fast the infestation of death-dealing spiders manifests and the ensuing panic and terror that it causes. With the pandemic spreading the world goes to hell in a handbasket in under a week.
The lack of in-depth characters doesn't detract from the book at all. After being introduced some quickly end up as just fodder and food for the spiders, but there is slight development for a few as Boone fleshes out the main characters, giving them some needed back story and growth even if it's only minor. But this is a tale about the spiders and their rampaging destruction, in The Hatching the arachnids are the star of the book.
The pacing is spot on for the story being told by Boone, with the vast majority of the chapters being short, we flit from location to location and character to character in fairly quick succession keeping the pages turning and the story moving forward.
Creepy in places but not outright scary with a few grisly scenes, Boone does a great job of conveying the threat of the spiders.
“Incy wincy spider,
climbed out the human eye,
scuttled from the corpse,
made the people cry”
The ending felt like the right way to close out the book and this first part of the tale while simultaneously shouting TO BE CONTINUED! And I can't wait for the sequel in Skitter to see where Boone takes his story.
The Hatching isn't a literary masterpiece of a meaningful story written with poetic or even flowery prose. What it is, is just a straightforward but well written and enjoyable read, it's not subtle but it is fun and sometimes, that's all you need.
While I was reading I kept thinking, what a great film or programme it would make, be it a cheesy low-budget creature feature akin to the cult Piranha and Sharknado type movies or a more serious high-budget TV series. I finished The Hatching in just two days, it's only a short read but even for me as a slow reader I devoured it, loving every second of my time spent reading it.
It's a simple premise that Boone executes really well and I found The Hatching to be a frenetic, fast paced and thoroughly entertaining book.
Recommended.
I received a free copy of this book courtesy of the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Do you often read books that contain elaborate stories full of interconnecting and interweaving threads, sort of like a spider's web if you will, a veritable tapestry of important goings on and strands to keep up with and follow??
Do you often get bogged down in the layers of characterisation and development as you learn more and more about the characters involved in the book you are reading. Growing to either love them or hate them?? Caring about their fates and wanting those you like to survive and those you don't to suffer a suitably heinous demise??
Do you tire of becoming invested in the book instead of just reading and occasionally think, I could really go for something that is just simple fun??
“Incy wincy spiders,
slept for many an age,
awoke with a hunger,
destroyed the world in days”
I know I do and so I offer to you....The Hatching by Ezekiel Boone, a book that forgoes the majesty of the multifaceted story and detailed character development. Instead replacing it with millions of spiders in a book that is all about the arachnid rampage and the devastation it causes.
Around the globe a long dormant race of archaic arachnids start appearing, hence the book's title 'The Hatching' as an egg is discovered that is 10,000 years old and miraculously hatches. At the same time the latent spiders start appearing in a variety of countries, first Peru, then China, India, a Scottish island and also across America, with America being the books main focus.
The invasion causes havoc and destruction as the spiders food source of choice just so happens to be humans! Yes, those cute and hairy creepy crawlies that you probably have countless amounts of hidden around the house, enjoy nothing more than devouring humans, the little critters obviously like raw sausage!
“Incy wincy spiders,
devoured the human beings,
stripped them to the skin,
then the world did scream”
The story takes place over six days, showing how fast the infestation of death-dealing spiders manifests and the ensuing panic and terror that it causes. With the pandemic spreading the world goes to hell in a handbasket in under a week.
The lack of in-depth characters doesn't detract from the book at all. After being introduced some quickly end up as just fodder and food for the spiders, but there is slight development for a few as Boone fleshes out the main characters, giving them some needed back story and growth even if it's only minor. But this is a tale about the spiders and their rampaging destruction, in The Hatching the arachnids are the star of the book.
The pacing is spot on for the story being told by Boone, with the vast majority of the chapters being short, we flit from location to location and character to character in fairly quick succession keeping the pages turning and the story moving forward.
Creepy in places but not outright scary with a few grisly scenes, Boone does a great job of conveying the threat of the spiders.
“Incy wincy spider,
climbed out the human eye,
scuttled from the corpse,
made the people cry”
The ending felt like the right way to close out the book and this first part of the tale while simultaneously shouting TO BE CONTINUED! And I can't wait for the sequel in Skitter to see where Boone takes his story.
The Hatching isn't a literary masterpiece of a meaningful story written with poetic or even flowery prose. What it is, is just a straightforward but well written and enjoyable read, it's not subtle but it is fun and sometimes, that's all you need.
While I was reading I kept thinking, what a great film or programme it would make, be it a cheesy low-budget creature feature akin to the cult Piranha and Sharknado type movies or a more serious high-budget TV series. I finished The Hatching in just two days, it's only a short read but even for me as a slow reader I devoured it, loving every second of my time spent reading it.
It's a simple premise that Boone executes really well and I found The Hatching to be a frenetic, fast paced and thoroughly entertaining book.
Recommended.
October 7, 2019
I was quite disappointed with this book if I’m being totally honest. I was expecting to be absolutely terrified but really, I barely even got the shivers. I thought the idea had a lot of potential but where it lost me a bit is that it didn’t focus on the horror factor enough. I wanted to be disgusted and disturbed and terrified but I wasn’t because the book was bogged down with so many details about the scientific investigation aspect. Give me more horror and guts and killing! I did really love the idea, I was just left wanting so much more.
June 3, 2016
THE HATCHING is the first novel I've read from author Ezekiel Boone, and this one had me--quite literally--at the edge of my seat while I read! The story "originates" in Peru, and in India, where Dr. Basu notices irregularities showing up on the readings from her earthquake lab. The first clue that the United States has that anything is amiss in the world, is when China "accidentally" detonates a nuclear bomb on its own soil.
Boone makes use of a large cast of diverse main characters to effectively showcase how this "epidemic" affects people from various locations all over the world. Some of my personal favorite characters were: Melanie Guyer, a professor in Washington DC who specializes in spiders; her ex-husband, Manny, who conveniently is the President's campaign manager; the President, Stephanie Pilgrim; and an FBI agent from Minnesota, Mike Rich, who is among the first on US soil to see the new breed of spider. These were the characters that I felt had the most information in terms of personality, values, and home life in general. Reading what these "people" go through became close to personal as they are so well fleshed out to us throughout the novel.
The action is broken down into chapters of different locations all around the world. Again, I really feel that this tactic helped to emphasize the scope of destruction and the new force that is literally ALL across the planet. The spiders themselves seem altogether "new" as a threat, and stand out even among other books that deal with this topic.
My only minor complaint with the novel is that I felt the author tried to use too many "main characters" on occasion. While I can see introducing some to show how they are effected for a single chapter, there were quite a few that came back multiple times throughout the book, whose lives I just didn't feel were as critical to moving along the plot of the novel, as others were. In those cases, I found myself just wanting to get back to the other, more relevant, locations.
Aside from that, I found Ezekiel Boone to be an exceptional "new" voice in this genre, with a story that I will remember for a long time. The ending alone will leave you thinking about this in wide-eyed horror . . .
"An ancient species, long dormant, is now very much awake."
Highly recommended!
*I received an advance e-copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*
Boone makes use of a large cast of diverse main characters to effectively showcase how this "epidemic" affects people from various locations all over the world. Some of my personal favorite characters were: Melanie Guyer, a professor in Washington DC who specializes in spiders; her ex-husband, Manny, who conveniently is the President's campaign manager; the President, Stephanie Pilgrim; and an FBI agent from Minnesota, Mike Rich, who is among the first on US soil to see the new breed of spider. These were the characters that I felt had the most information in terms of personality, values, and home life in general. Reading what these "people" go through became close to personal as they are so well fleshed out to us throughout the novel.
The action is broken down into chapters of different locations all around the world. Again, I really feel that this tactic helped to emphasize the scope of destruction and the new force that is literally ALL across the planet. The spiders themselves seem altogether "new" as a threat, and stand out even among other books that deal with this topic.
My only minor complaint with the novel is that I felt the author tried to use too many "main characters" on occasion. While I can see introducing some to show how they are effected for a single chapter, there were quite a few that came back multiple times throughout the book, whose lives I just didn't feel were as critical to moving along the plot of the novel, as others were. In those cases, I found myself just wanting to get back to the other, more relevant, locations.
Aside from that, I found Ezekiel Boone to be an exceptional "new" voice in this genre, with a story that I will remember for a long time. The ending alone will leave you thinking about this in wide-eyed horror . . .
"An ancient species, long dormant, is now very much awake."
Highly recommended!
*I received an advance e-copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*
August 28, 2016
I don't like shit crawling on me and this succeeded at the creep factor but the first half was particularly slow moving. Overall, an average read. The last few chapters were fun. I should have just skimmed to that part.
July 21, 2017
Was für ein großer großer Unsinn dieses Buch doch ist. Klar, irgendwo ist es unterhaltsam, temporeich und actiongeladen - aber ich habe trotzdem mehr als einen Monat daran gelesen, weil ich es einfach nicht ernst nehmen konnte.
Trash in Reinform. Sharknado als Buchversion.
Trash in Reinform. Sharknado als Buchversion.
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