Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book
Rate this book
Tens of millions of people around the world are dead. Half of China is a nuclear wasteland. Mysterious flesh-eating spiders are marching through Los Angeles, Oslo, Delhi, Rio de Janeiro, and countless other cities. According to scientist Melanie Guyer, however, the spider situation seems to be looking up. Yet in Japan, a giant, truck-sized, glowing egg sack gives a shocking preview of what is to come, even as survivors in Los Angeles panic and break the quarantine zone. Out in the desert, survivalists Gordo and Shotgun are trying to invent a spider super weapon, but it’s not clear if it’s too late, because President Stephanie Pilgrim has been forced to enact the plan of last resort: The Spanish Protocol. America, you are on your own.

328 pages, Hardcover

First published April 25, 2017

Loading interface...
Loading interface...

About the author

Ezekiel Boone

9 books636 followers
I 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.

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
735 (21%)
4 stars
1,486 (44%)
3 stars
911 (27%)
2 stars
191 (5%)
1 star
45 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 565 reviews
Profile Image for Jaidee.
644 reviews1,319 followers
August 23, 2023
4.5 "creepy crawly terrifying " stars !!!

2019 Honorable Mention Read

Mr. Boone has done it again ! I read The Hatching in 2017 and was spine tingingly surprised as how this spider acopalypse drew me in and scared the bejezus out of me. That book was a 4.5 star read for me.

This takes the story further and deeper and darker and even more terrifying. Mr. Boone is able to write superb pulp fiction that is well-written, exciting and keeps you on the edge of your seat. We are taken to many parts of the world to see how the main characters in the first book are faring and how they are trying to understand how this occurred and why. The US president has to make some very difficult decisions while millions have died in LA, China, India and other parts of the world. Interspersed between the main characters are a whole host of minor characters and how they too understand the spider apocalypse and some die a very frightening and painful death.

I had three nightmares about hordes of snakes during my reading of this segment and so I had to finish this book and make those nightmares end ! Despite my fears however, I must read the final segment and find out the answers to many questions and whether the world will survive.

This series fucking rocks !!

Profile Image for karen.
3,994 reviews171k followers
July 5, 2018
the calm before the swarm…



the driving force of this book is more about what has happened and what is going to happen rather than what is happening now. this is a world united in one specific concern, specifically that of:

…one of these egg sacs opening up and a torrent of spiders devouring him or laying eggs inside his body so that at some undetermined future date he'd suddenly split open so that spiders could go ahead and eat some other people.



that's not to say that nothing happens in this book, because A LOT happens, but the bulk of it is concerned with addressing the aftermath of all the spidery mayhem - how do you get people out of a destroyed city, what do you do to prevent further infestations, how much information should be shared with the public to avoid mass panic, what to do about suddenly limited resources, and what the hell WERE those things, anyway?

which means that a lot of the book is spent in tactical strategy meetings, where decisions will be made that will determine the fate of the survivors. government, military, media, scientific specialists all weigh in throughout the course of the novel, as new spidery developments suggest that this is only the beginning, and the worst is still to come.

never fear, this one is just as good as the last, and it's important to have a little downtime to make the story more than just SPIDERS KILLING EVERYTHING ALL THE TIME, as fun as that can be.





everyone who made it out of the last one is back, and there are a few new characters, as well as many that are introduced just to become spider-food, so don't get too attached. and while i still don't understand what those folks in scotland are adding to the overall story (nor do i understand the purpose of the hawaii segment introduced on this one), i'm still charmed by them, particularly since i can relate to an elderly crank mystified by technology:

…he started poking at the phone. It looked like a chicken pecking for corn. Not surprisingly, since he hadn't actually unlocked the home screen, nothing happened. "How in the devil's name do you operate this thing?" Padruig said. "This infernal contraption is cursed."

"It's just a phone, Padruig, not an instrument of Satan."

Padruig harrumphed. "It might as well be. You can trace the decline of modern civilization to these things."


i'm with you, buddy. forget the spiders, it's the damn cellphones that are rooning the world.

like any good aftermath novel, there's a sprawling cast of characters from across the globe, and while we are provided with some very specific background on them:

She had the name and voice of a lifelong Brooklyn Jew, but her parents were both Cambodian, and she had, apparently, been born and raised in a small town in Georgia, before going to Princeton and then getting scooped up by the military.

critics of the book might point out that the voices of the characters might not sound super-authentic or varied and the japanese scientist comes across as a less-cussy mark watney with his american cadence and tone, but critics should be reminded that it's not that kind of book.

so what kind of a book is it?

I like to blow shit up, sir. Tanks are good for that."



it's that kind of book.

it's the kind of book where characters can say:

…while the horror was pretty horrible in a horrible sort of way, it was also a generic sort of horrible.

and only the most joyless readers will complain.

it's the kind of book where preppers are king:

It was, undeniably, the coolest end of the world hideout Gordo had ever seen. But it was so well thought out they were basically just killing time. There wasn't much to do. Other than invent a homemade flamethrower.



and they are living it up.

"I was a little afraid it would be anticlimactic, but nope. Shooting a flamethrower is exactly as cool as I thought it would be.

it's a michael bay kind of book, and it even gives a little shout-out to my favorite m.b. film, which i feel no shame in loving:

He knew there was a reason for him to be here. The hero wasn't going to die in vain. If he couldn't be Bruce Willis in Die Hard, he could be Bruce Willis in Armageddon, staying on that asteroid to save the human race, a worthwhile sacrifice.

it's better written than many of its kind - it's more pulp-adjacent than true pulp, owing in part to the rich ethnic and sexual diversity of its cast of characters, and in part to its more thoughtful examination of the crisis this time out.

it ends with several loose ends, so i am confident that part three will come our way, and judging by what's been percolating throughout this middle book, it is going to be spectacular.



unimportant but of interest to me - i read the arc, and recent events have pretty much screwed up one character's stoic resignation to being a cubs fan, and i wonder if that will get edited out in the final copy. i hope not, because i liked the observations that were made about "new" red sox fans who haven't had to go through the same experience as sox fans of yore.

***********************************************

oh my god, when did that cover go up?? i can't WAIT!!!



GIVE TO ME THE SPIDERS!!!!

come to my blog!
Profile Image for Bradley.
Author 4 books4,345 followers
November 6, 2017
I'm probably going to make certain people very mad I say I think I like this better than WWZ. It has the same feel even if it's not as cosmopolitan and it's not written in epistolary format. But most importantly, it has the vast character support and the feel of a world gone very wrong.

Because it's SPIDERS! Waves and waves of all kinds of spiders, quick eggs, exploding people, feeding frenzy, and many many cities are lost. It's total chaos! And here's book two. The fast feeding is almost done. Now we've got the second wave of spiders and all the survivors plodding on or deciding to end it all.

And then there's the Spanish Solution. Not having a good time? Let's blow up the infrastructure and fracture the population and cross our fingers!

These poor people are not having a good day. And the best part is... It's epic! And easy read! And it's not quite as long as all those doorstopper SF dystopian catastrophe novels I used to read from the seventies and eighties, but it certainly has the *feel* down to a science.

I honestly liked this one better than the first book. It may be due to the fact I've finally grown to like the survivors and maybe it's because I've gotten to enjoy the ebb and flow of the action and events and maybe I just like where we are in the overall story. Things are bad and getting worse and now we're deep in the new religious fanaticism and we can expect the really bad consequences of that in the third book.

I can't wait. This is great horror-SF. :) Total popcorn, even.

If I was a bit cynical, I might like to point out that this could have been written for an epic disaster SF tv show, assuming it had a decent budget. :) It feels RIGHT.
Profile Image for Mlpmom (Book Reviewer).
3,059 reviews390 followers
August 5, 2017
I've read a lot of post-apocalyptic and dystopian novels in my time because quite honestly, they fascinate me. They fascinate me with the what ifs and oh my gosh I can see that happenings and while those things, those ideas have freaked me out at times, none of them have horrified me the way this series has.

This series is captivating, engaging and completely terrifying.

I've never read a book that has had me both enthralled with the horribleness of it and also jumping and itching at every little flash of light I see out of the corner of my eye. Nor has one ever made em afraid to enter a dark room at night with the possibility of what if there is a spider on the floor or what if one falls from the shower wall onto me when I least expect it. I swear I have looked into every dark crook and cranky, on the lookout for the little buggers because oh my heck, this book is one of my very worst nightmares re imagined and brought to life.

I've always been squeamish of spiders, I mean the suckers have eight legs and move super fast and can pretty much squeeze into impossibly tight spaces but even though I didn't like them, even though I kill them on sight most days, I've never been terrified of them...until now, thank you very much.

I can't even begin to tell you how hooked I am on this series. How real it could very well be. I mean come on people, spiders are unassuming and clever and in some cases deadly. I mean, why not?

This series truly is in my top ten not just reads of the year, but all time series, it was that well written, imagined, and plotted out.

Told in multiple point of views, all throughout the world, this truly was mesmerizing, addictive, and like a train wreck all rolled into one. It was hard to resist, hard to put down, and one of those reads you both don't want to read further because you are so bloody scared but also can't even begin to have enough will power to resist. I am forever both happy I read this and more than likely scared for life because of it.

I will never look at a simple house spider, or any spider, the same way again and I can't wait for more!


*ARC copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.*
Profile Image for Laura.
425 reviews1,295 followers
July 17, 2017
The question they should have been asking was how much worse could it get?

I loved The Hatching with it's awesome concept that both thrills and frightens, so I was more than ready to dive into the sequel. For those who haven't read the first book, it is basically the end of the world as carnivorous spiders invade the world. Does this catch your interest? Stop reading this review and go pick up the first book now.

The series (at least so far) does an excellent job at both addicting, fast-paced thrills (seriously..I could not stop reading) and cannot stand the sight of a spider for the life of me scares. For real. Unfortunately for me, I finished reading the book and an upstairs plumbing issue arises. To shower, I needed to go to the basement. And not even exaggerating, I counted 8 different spiders in the tiny bathroom and was frozen in fear. Never has my fear of spiders been this bad. I can usually take action and do what I need to do around the little dudes. But nope..not happening. This series has forever changed the way I think of spiders. It takes that fear to a whole other level.

Anyway, back to this specific sequel. The story picks up right where The Hatching left off - 10 days after the egg sac was shipped to Melanie. Once again told through multiple perspectives, several recurring but also some characters we only visit for a chapter, "one & done" if you will. I really love the way the story starts with Win's chapter. It's a unique, fun way to start this type of post-apocalyptic story with someone who isn't yet aware of what happened. You'll see what I mean.

And of course, multiple locations throughout the world are covered. I counted at least 23 different cities covered among the chapters. There honestly might have been more. It sounds overwhelming, but Ezekiel Boone does an amazing job at writing in this style, keeping each storyline distinct and interesting. Certain storylines are beginning to connect to one another, making a bit more sense why they are included.

The book ends with several cliffhangers, an apparent specialty for this series or Boone particularly (it's hard to tell until he gives us more books). Now I'm very excited (and nervously) awaiting the final book in the series. Cannot wait to see what else Boone writes!

Also.. can I just note my love of Claymore, the dog in the series. I wonder if others are feeling the same. My heart will break if he doesn't survive the last book.
Profile Image for Michael || TheNeverendingTBR.
485 reviews267 followers
March 3, 2021
My review of this one is basically the exact same as for the previous book.

I'm at the point where I'm desperate for something different to read because I've gotten bored of this trilogy now, I've lost interest.


I've read loads of similar books which are masterpieces and the bar is too high I guess lol.

Still gets a moderate rating because it certainly does have it's moments, I just prefer books with good, memorable characters and these books don't offer this.
Profile Image for Magdalena aka A Bookaholic Swede.
1,953 reviews830 followers
March 16, 2020
So, would Skitter be as good as The Hatching? That was what I hoped for when I started to read the book and after finishing it the same day as I started it can I only say that oh yes! It's just as creepy as the previous book and just as hard to put down.

The story takes place after the first book ended (with an annoying cliffhanger gah!) and the world thinks the worst is over, the spiders are dead. The world is in ruin, but at least the danger is over, or is it? Now it seems that what happened in the first book was just the start, and now the fight for the survival of the whole human race starts all over again. And in North America the president faces a dilemma, to enact The Spanish Protocol or not...

I love the structure of the book with several POV's and short chapters. It makes the book nearly impossible to put down. Around 85% did I realize that the book would not be able to finish without some things unresolved and that I was looking forward to another cliffhanger. I suspected at the beginning of the book that this was the case and I was right.

Skitter is a great horror book, perhaps not as gruesome as the first book. However, it has some nasty parts and I recommend this book and the previous. However, you should read The Hatching before you read Skitter.

I want to thank the publisher for providing me with a free copy through NetGalley for an honest review!
Profile Image for Erin Dunn.
Author 3 books88 followers
November 29, 2016
http://angelerin.blogspot.com/2016/11...

Thank you to NetGalley for providing a free ebook copy of Skitter By: Ezekiel Boone in exchange for an honest review.

Short Review Summary:
I still have the heebie jeebies.

When I read The Hatching (Click to read my review.) back in June I couldn't wait to get my hands on the sequel, Skitter. Even though the first one made me want to set my house on fire when I saw a spider I knew I had to read the next one. Skitter definitely gave me the heebie jeebies as well. Damn spiders are creepy!
#SpidersAreCreepy

Skitter has the same style and writing as the first one and it's done just as well. The writing flows wonderfully and I was able to get right back into it easily. Also, Boone does a great job of reminding you what happened in The Hatching without dragging it out or being boring. I had no issues getting back into the story and that's not always the case for me with sequels.
#EasyToGetBackInto

I like that Skitter has a lot about dealing with the aftermath and some tough choices that need to be made. Everyone is trying to figure out, what do we do now?? I really enjoyed seeing that and I can't wait to see what all will happen in the next book. Especially since this one leaves a few loose ends.
#WhatNow?

Overall Skitter is very well done and a bit creepy. Spiders terrify me, but I absolutely loved this book just as much as I did the first. Now I just have one issue. Since this one isn't out yet, how will I wait so long for book three???
#WaitingIsTorture

I recommend Skitter for fans of the Arachnophobia movie and to fans of apocalyptic novels. Also, if you read The Hatching and loved it, you definitely need to see what happens in book two!
#CallingAllHorrorFans!
#ScareYourselfWithSPIDERS!
#ThenCallPestControl!

Profile Image for Char.
1,755 reviews1,627 followers
May 15, 2017
SPIDERS! HELL YEAH!

Even though I loathe the things in real life, I find them so entertaining to read about when done well. Skitter is done very well!

We start right where The Hatching left off, (which was with a cliffhanger), and I found it quite easy to slip right back into this world-well, what's left of it, anyway. I keep expecting some kind of weird Star Trek time anomaly or something, because I just can't believe what's happened with the United States and the planet. Ezekiel Boone does not shy away from death, or what I think would be the ultimate response to such an invasion. That surprised and delighted me.

The main characters here are still interesting while the creature feature portions are entertaining. Perhaps all the things happening are not quite realistic, but who cares? Skitter is fun for those who like their spiders fast and hungry.

These 300+ pages flew by and I had a blast reading them. If you enjoy creature features, with a little bit of scientific and military action thrown in, and with character viewpoints from around the world, The Hatching and Skitter should work well for you. Skitter is a fast, fun, chittering thrill ride and I enthusiastically recommend it! Bring on the next!

*Thank you to NetGalley and Atria for the e-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review. This is it.*

Profile Image for Julie.
1,910 reviews565 followers
March 11, 2018
I am afraid of spiders....or anything that even looks like it might be an 8-legged creepy crawly. When I was little, I was bitten by a poisonous spider. The bite required a trip to the ER and a nice chunk of tissue removed from my leg. Needless to say, arachnids moved to the top of my Ahhhhhhhhhhhh! list.

So, for me to read and absolutely love a book series about flesh-eating spiders....the books have to be good! Skitter is the second book in The Hatching trilogy by Ezekiel Boone. In the first book, ancient spiders that have been dormant for a very long time suddenly begin decimating the world. With the ease of worldwide transportation in the modern world, the spiders soon spread to every continent. They can also lay eggs inside the bodies of living humans who spread them without knowing they are carriers.

In this second book, the original wave of spiders has died, but egg sacs are everywhere. In the United States, the military is trying to contain a possible second wave. The president is faced with some very tough decisions. Her advisors recommend using nuclear weapons as China did to destroy areas with heavy infestations of egg sacs, but others come up with other ideas, such as a weapon using sound waves to kill the spiders. With the discovery of mysterious giant egg sacs in scattered places around the world and changes in behavior of the living spiders, scientists aren't sure what is going to happen next....but they know it won't be good. The spider infestation is far from over as some thought when the first wave died off....it's changing. Can the human race fight back and survive?

This book is definitely the middle novel in a trilogy. It has some great action in it, and shows the responses to the catastrophe around the world. Plus there is some great character and plot development. But, it's definitely a bridge between the exciting first book in this series, The Hatching, to the final book, Zero Day. Skitter brings into focus the aftermath of the first wave of spiders and the decisions that were made to protect people and destroy the spiders. It's quite apparent that those efforts failed....I mean how do you effectively stop the movement of millions of flesh-eating spiders who lay millions of eggs in any hidden dark space they crawl through? There is no way to kill every spider or destroy every egg. An unwinnable scenario creates desperation....a situation that requires making horrific choices.

I enjoyed this book. It has lots of action, suspense and creepy crawly spiders! I'm definitely ready to find out what happens in the final book. Luckily, Zero Day awaits on my e-reader!

Ezekiel Boone has a new book coming out in December 2018, The Mansion, about a family who moves into a house equipped with the most intuitive and advanced computer ever designed. Bad things happen, of course. I already have the book on my wishlist. I enjoyed the first two books in The Hatching series so much that I'm definitely on-board for Boone's new book.

On to Zero Day! I can't wait to find out how this series ends! Do your worst, Boone! I'm ready!
Profile Image for Erin Clemence.
1,198 reviews361 followers
August 8, 2017
“Skitter” is the second novel in Ezekiel Boone’s super creepy spider series, “The Hatching”. In “Skitter”, the first wave of spiders have been abolished but soon, egg sacs are found and spiders start hatching. However, now there are two different kinds of spiders with different objectives. Humans are being used as breeding grounds and as food and the United States is in pieces. Other parts of the world are also discovering these egg sacs, and researchers are scrambling to find out their origin and more importantly- how to get rid of them.
This novel, like Boone’s first, has scores of characters, many of whom appeared in the first novel and even some we are meeting for the first time. His plethora of characters really complement the novel, adding to the horror of how far spread the infestation really is and how far-reaching its effects are. It was nice to see the return of some of my favourite characters from “The Hatching” as well, Mike and his family as well as President Stephanie and her entourage and the scientist Melanie and her crew, and be able to catch up where we left off with them.
This novel is downright creepy- it is written beautifully (if such a thing is possible) with a well-developed plot and characters who are honest and real.
I thought this novel was the last in the series but as I neared the end I realized that another novel was imminent (and indeed a third is being released in the spring), as this novel wrapped up with as much tension and suspense as its predecessor. This novel reads like a movie and it definitely has the chops to be developed into one if the author chooses to, but Hollywood could not do this story justice- there is just something creepy about the pulsing, sticky egg sacs tucked into small corners of the population that could not be brought forth to the big screen.
This novel does not have a lot of blood, guts and gore ( although there is a little bit, of course) but it surpasses any horror story I have read in a long time. The realism and possibility of this novel make it so much more believable and all the more haunting. A creepy good read for those who really want to be scared by monsters far scarier than zombies or vampires. Skitter, skitter, skitter…..
Profile Image for Emma.
988 reviews1,065 followers
October 31, 2016
This was the blockbuster sequel I was waiting for: bigger, bolder, freakier.

Not only was the style much tighter, the content was more explosive. While inevitably you are left wanting because Ezekiel Boone can't help himself with these damn cliffhanger endings, the rest of the book was tense as hell. I've spent the whole read feeling itchy and I keep noticing cobwebs everywhere... I'd honestly rather deal with zombies; if we can choose our End of the World theme, it's not going to be the spiderpocalypse (yes, it's awful but you can blame him, not me).

The implications for the last book are somewhat severe. Anyone who hasn't seen Eight Legged Freaks perhaps needs to use it as a form of research and preparation for the serious escalation that's coming. I'm going to need a heart monitor and some kind of resuscitation unit.


Thanks to Ezekiel Boone, Atria Books, and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this review copy. All opinions are my own.

Profile Image for Trish.
2,098 reviews3,645 followers
November 3, 2017
As I already mentioned in my review for the first book, I'm not really afraid of spiders. Sure, some jumping ones can startle you but I don't suffer from arachnophobia although there sure are some freakish species out there. Still, spiders do seem uniquely qualified to be the stars of a horror/monster story.

This is the second book about some mysterious spiders hatching after their discovery in Nasca and taking over the world. By now, millions of people have died in the first wave of attack, many others are infested so more spiders are hatching from the bodies. People therefore kill people, politicians scramble to control the situation, some people come up with pretty creative ways of defending their homes (from spiders but also from some idiots trying to take advantage of the situation), and scientists are still trying to figure out what the heck is going on and how to stop the spiders. All in all, it's chaos.

This chaotic environment manifests itself (amongst other things) in the continuous multiple POVs from around the world. It's not a bad idea, actually, but like in the first book I'm just not really invested. Except for the two survivalist couples, nobody stood out to me.

What really irked me was that although this is a horror/monster book, there is by far not enough the spiders DO. Don't get me wrong: they do attack and breed and stuff, but we get to experience little of it first-hand because whenever someone dies for example (not only from a spider attack but also by human interaction) it's like the screen fades to black or we hear about it in conversations or reports after the fact. Very dissatisfying.

I hope the story will not veer into the humans-are-the-actual-problem direction as that would be a disappointment after the huge set-up of the crawly enemies and the mystery around their origin/hibernation.
Profile Image for Steven.
1,122 reviews420 followers
December 6, 2016
Ezekiel Boone, why are you doing this to me? You can't leave me hanging like this!!!! How long will I have to wait, unable to move or scream or even blink, for the third book?

If you weren't terrified of spiders before this series... if book one didn't increase that fear tenfold... then this book HAD to have seriously upped the scary level enough to produce some semblance of a reaction. Like man-eating swarms of spiders wasn't enough... like spiders that cut a hole and slip into your body unnoticed and lay eggs that burst forth like the movie alien couldn't be sufficient, Boone succeeds in kicking the fear up a notch. The spiders from the first book? Yeah, they're just the first wave... and wait until you see the second...

Awesome books. Fast and easy to read -- very movie-like quality to them. I'm super excited for book three. Too bad book two's actual release (this was an ARC) is months away, meaning book three is probably a year away at least. Oh well, it's not like I'm going anywhere, wrapped in silky threads and unable to scream... I'll be here... waiting for what's coming.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Profile Image for Cynnamon.
627 reviews119 followers
October 2, 2022
English version below

***************

Der zweite Band der Hatching-Trilogie erscheint sogar noch stärker wie ein literaturgewordener 80er Jahre Horrorfilm als der erste Band

Die Storyline aus dem ersten Band wird fortgesetzt. Ihr kennt ja sicher diese typischen Horrorfilme, bei der das Böse am Ende besiegt scheint, aber in der letzten Szene sieht man dass doch noch ein Rest des Übels vorhanden ist und wartet….
Einfach perfekt für eine Fortsetzung. Und so ist das auch bei dieser Reihe.

Es geht immer noch um Spinnen, die Zerstörung wird größer und weiter verbreitet und wir lernen die diversen Protagonisten ein bisschen kennen. Am Ende des Bandes ist ganz klar, dass wir erst noch auf den Höhepunkt zusteuern und der dritte Band noch gelesen werden muss, um zu wissen, wie es ausgeht.

Mir hat dieser zweite Band etwas weniger gut gefallen als der erste. Ob das an der typischen Mittelbandschwäche liegt oder daran, dass man das Thema schon halbwegs kennt, kann ich nicht sagen.

Trotzdem wurde ich gut unterhalten und bewerte mit 3 Sternen.

-------------------

The second volume of the Hatching trilogy feels even more like a 80's horror film turned novel than the first volume

The storyline from the first volume is continued. You certainly know those typical horror films where evil seems to be defeated at the end, but in the last scene you can see that there is still a bit of evil left and waiting....
Just perfect for a sequel. And so it is with this series.

It's still about spiders, the destruction is getting bigger and more widespread and we get to know the various protagonists a bit better. At the end of the book it is very clear that we are still heading towards the climax and that the third volume still has to be read in order to know how it will end.

I liked this second volume a little less than the first. I can't say whether this is due to the typical weakness of middle volumes or due to the fact that you already know the subject to some extent.

Nevertheless, I was well entertained and I award 3 stars.
Profile Image for Carole (Carole's Random Life).
1,887 reviews542 followers
February 26, 2018
This review can also be found at Carole's Random Life in Books.

I am really enjoying this series. I have had a copy of this book for a long time. I had planned to read it around the publication date but for some reason it didn't happen. I am glad that I was able to get to it now because it really is a great story. This is the second book in the Hatching series which is a series that really does need to be read in order since this is a continuation of the story from the first book. I ended up enjoying this book just as much as the first book.

I really like the way that this story is told. I don't think it would work for every book but it does work well with this story. We get to see the outbreak from a lot of different points of view instead of following only a handful of characters. Sometimes we get a point of view and never encounter that character again. Other times, we get to see a point of view at various points in the story. All of these points of view helps to really paint a picture of the outbreak across the globe.

The spider outbreak in the first book was bad and many had hoped that would get better. It looks like it might be getting better. The spiders seem to have died off a bit and the pods are being taken care of. Unfortunately, things can get worse. Much worse. The spider outbreak takes a turn that is truly frightening and it was really interesting to see how things were developing and how the key characters would deal with it.

This was a really exciting story. I couldn't wait to see what would happen next with the spider outbreak and was also eager to find out what the authorities would decide to do to handle things. I couldn't imagine being responsible or having people look to you for answers during a time like this. Whenever I had a guess about how things would go, I would quickly find out that I was wrong so I just kept turning pages to enjoy the story.

I would recommend this series to others. This creepy crawly story was very original and entertaining. I ended up most of the book in a single evening because I had to see how things would work out. I am really excited to start the next book, Zero Day, very soon.

I received an advance reader edition of this book from Atria/Emily Bestler Books via NetGalley.

Initial Thoughts
I love the way this story is laid out. We learn what is going on in the world piece by piece. Some of the characters from the first book play important roles in this book and we meet some new characters. Lots of creepy crawly goodness here.
Profile Image for donna backshall.
724 reviews204 followers
April 26, 2021
OH CHICKEN BISCUITS, this sequel was great!

The second in Boone's Hatching (spiderpocalypse?) series is just as darkly humorous and terrifying as the first installment. Humor is so hard to write, but Ezekiel Boone sets the perfect tone with his absurd descriptors, jabs, sarcasm and perfectly outrageous banter.

The spider outbreak which began in The Hatching is proving impossible to contain, so in Skitter we watch the bigwigs in Washington deliberate and finally decide to go with the drastic Spanish Protocol, designed to be "a last-ditch way of stopping the spread of something that is inherently unstoppable". In other words, "Operation Bomb the Crap out of Everything and Leave People to Fend for Themselves". Will it work? Perhaps, but in the meantime those skittering little monsters are going to wreak some serious havoc and leave a lot of scientists scratching their heads.

The perfect balance of horror and humor is what keeps me coming back to this series. Every paragraph offers something newly absurd or ridiculous to enjoy. I was especially entertained by the narrator having to read the entire name of The Interstate 80 High Times Truck Stop and Family Fun Zone Restaurant and Gas Station Taco Bell Pizza Hut Starbucks KFC Burrito Barn 42 Flavors Ice Cream Extravaganza Coast-to-Coast Emporium over and over. On paper it's not nearly as interesting, but read aloud it's way better than any limerick.

As well, I really love how we don't focus exclusively on just a handful of heroes in these novels. We move around the globe to see how the spider infestation affects everyone, from Marines in America's ground zero of LA, to some guy exploring a temple in India, to a bored-to-tears group in the nicest out-of-the-way shelter I've ever heard of, to a family in a remote island in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. We follow a few main groups of people, for consistency, but we also get an up close and personal view from a variety of "redshirts (a Star Trek reference, if you are wondering) as they come face to face with egg sacs and hatching, skittering, biting arachnids.
Profile Image for Petra.
815 reviews88 followers
May 23, 2017
Skitter continues right where The Hatching ended. The first wave of spiders has died but the second wave is coming...
Just like the first book, this reads like a gripping action movie that you can't help but stare at incredulously whilst wishing you weren't seeing/feeling half of what you are. I'm surprised at how well all the different perspectives worked. It never became confusing at all. I liked that there was more emphasis on the human stories this time around. A great blend of horror, adventure, thriller, drama, mystery and apocalyptic fiction. I really enjoyed the humor, too. While I've learnt from the previous book not to get too attached to any of the characters - some characters' purpose seems to be simply as spider food - I'm still particularly fond of the characters up in Scotland. But I still can't work out how they fit into the bigger picture. The ending leaves room for the final installment. Not quite as scary as the first book, but great fun and pure escapism. I'm looking forward to the third book (and the movie?!).
I received an ARC via NetGalley.
Profile Image for Greg.
1,120 reviews1,966 followers
December 11, 2017
This isn’t any sort of brilliant observation. There is this guy who is famous in copywriting circles, and I don’t know what it says about people that his observation is considered insightful or that people paid him a bunch of money to teach them this basic idea. But his thing is when you’re writing an ad, or I guess any piece of persuasive writing, the job of the headline is to get someone’s attention. Or to put it in the way that is supposed to make his observation unique, it’s to get someone to read the first sentence.

And then the job of the first sentence is to get them to read the second sentence. And so on until you get to where you want to get the person to do whatever it is you are trying to persuade them to do.

That’s pretty obvious, right?

I was thinking of this when I finished Skitter, the second in Ezekiel Boone’s trilogy about human-eating spiders.

This book is the first sentence in the nonsense I was talking about above.

The headline in this strained example would be the first book. It’s big and over the top. It’s got a great hook… apocalypse via bad ass spiders.

The third book will (I assume, I haven’t read it yet, so this isn’t a spoiler, just a guess) will the pay-off. How the spiders are beaten (or maybe how they win, but my money would be on the spiders lose).

And the second book? It’s moving the reader from the possibly impossible to survive from the set up in book one to the resolution in book three.

Its job is to guide/pull/convince/lure the reader from the first book to the third book.

And it does a good job at that. I definitely enjoyed it.

But I was left wondering if I didn’t have an ARC of the third book sitting on top of my to-read pile would I have liked it as much?

As a stand-alone book there isn’t a lot of payoff here. And maybe there rarely is in the second book of a planned trilogy, although I’m thinking of a few that are able to be a set-up story and have it’s own satisfying action or conclusion.

The cynical, or maybe it’s just cheap, part of me was wondering what I would have thought of the book if I’d bought the first one, and then purchased this one while it was still in hardcover. What would I have thought if I’d paid 26 bucks to read this set-up novel for the inevitable big finale? And then it got me thinking about would I even consider the idea of paying $78 to read a story (in hardcover) about total disaster via spiders?

(similar thinking has occurred in the past. After reading the first Terry Pratchett Discworld novel I remember thinking, that was ok, but if I continue reading do I really want to spend over $200 to read this series? Or more recently deciding to pass on being interested at all in the very ambitious but also expensive Mark Z. Danielewski 27 book series (which if you don't buy the books at any sort of discount will be about $750) he’s churning out)

On the flip side, if you grouped all of those together and just released a thousand page spider novel would anyone buy it? That would be a hard sell, people aren’t all that excited to buy giant wrist straining books…and it would probably be a harder initial sale because the cover price would have to be bumped up to closer to thirty or thirty-five dollars.

Anyway, I enjoyed it though, and I’m very thankful to my best friend, Karen, for lending me her copies of all three novels in the series!

Dumb unprofound thought two.

I’m worried about where this series is going to go. I imagine it’s very difficult to be a writer who comes up with wonderfully catastrophic plots. It must be a lot of fun to think them up and then write the destruction and cool shit. What’s the worst most fucked up things I can throw at people!

The problem then becomes how do I make a satisfying conclusion to what I’ve created? Especially if you follow any sort of traditional story structure and have a hero who overcomes adversity. There is no story if Skynet just kills all the people when it goes online, or if it’s able to just erase the past. It might be momentarily given an interesting reaction to the reader/viewer/whatever, but for most people, it’s not all that satisfying in terms of being a story.

I imagine it’s easy for writers treading down this path to make it too difficult for themselves to give a satisfying ending. If you make the villain too powerful, the situation just too dire, how do you get out of the corner you painted yourself in to?

With the exception of maybe Buffy the Vampire Slayer, where for some reason it was totally accepted that usually didn’t feel cheap at all that some magical amulet or some shit like that would turn up right at the brink of disaster (of course Giles has the stone of reversing just sitting around the high school library, why wouldn’t he), these magical dei ex machina usually feel as cheap and contrived as the Bat Shark Repellant hanging off of Adam West’s utility belt.

And my fear probably just comes from the traumatizing effects of investing any mental energy into the show Lost. “Shit, you mean people like this show and now we need to come up with answers to all the mysteries and questions we threw out there. Oh fuck, let’s just have them turn a big wheel and see if the viewers will just go away”.

I’m very curious to see how this will all wind up, and hopefully, my fears of it being an unsatisfying conclusion won’t be true.
Profile Image for Spencer.
1,435 reviews37 followers
April 6, 2017
This book left me feeling ambivalent, as I did enjoy the book and I recognise that Ezekiel Boone is a good writer but the story didn't have the punch of the first and seemed to mainly tread water before the next book. The story starts off well and kept my attention, but by the end I felt like very little progress was made and wondered what had happened to the exciting story of the first book in the series. Despite the issues I have, I will definitely read the next instalment as I would really like to see where the story goes and hopefully get some answers to the many questions that are raised!
I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley in return for a fair and unbiased review.
Profile Image for Empress Reece (Hooked on Books).
915 reviews80 followers
March 31, 2019
The Hatching was absolutely fantastic so my expectations were quite high for this book. Unfortunately this book suffers a little bit from second book syndrome. There were just too many unnecessary characters and storylines that kind of slowed the story down and detracted from the main plot. It was still good though and definitely worth reading.

*I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!
Profile Image for Laura.
1,434 reviews239 followers
February 22, 2019

Welcome to book 2 in Ezekiel Boone’s spider kingdom. The SPIDERPOCALYPSE! continues...

After attacking and killing people from Paris to China to Los Angeles, the flesh eating spiders seemed to have just died out. But have they really? Terror lives and breathes in quiet little suburban homes, attics, stadiums, and dark, dark corners. Egg sacs of all makes and sizes are popping up around the globe. Some are cold and chalky. Some are warm and pulsing. But the gist of it is….this spider infested nightmare is far from over.

Once again, Mr. Boone moves the action all over the map. Well I wouldn’t say action really. Most of this book was waiting for something to happen, but we still jump all over. Some places and characters we already know:

Dr. Melanie Guyer, the resident spider expert in the bunch and all around spider queen.

FBI Agent Mike Rich, also known as badass dad in my book.

President Stephanie Pilgrim, who has to make some tough, no-win decisions in this leg of the fight.

and two of my favorites scratch that the whole gang in Desperation, California made my favorite list!—Fred, Amy, Gordo, Shotgun, and Claymore.

But so many new voices and faces joined the party too. I think that’s what impresses me the most in this series—the way Boone weaves so many different characters together from so many different walks of life. They all stand out and on their own with humor, intelligence, sadness, bravery, and just day to day living. There’s nothing like a good ‘ole fashion end of the world as we know it scenario to bring people together. :D Every single character adds something new to the pot in memorable, fun, and sometimes gross ways. For example, Perry “chicken biscuits” Pozloski , in Chicago made me laugh out loud. His “swearing” was hysterical! He’s new to the action, but boy-o-boy did he make an impression with his basement search and excuse to smoke up.

“Chicken biscuits,” Pozloski said. Jenny wasn’t a fan of swearing either, so he’s worked hard to get out of the habit. His go-to phrase, “chicken biscuits,” was, he had to admit, a deeply satisfying substitute epithet. Just listen to the way it sounded: “chicken biscuits.” It had its own sort of rhythm that could hang with any curse word on the market. “Chicken biscuits,” he said again. Oh, man. Chicken biscuits. He could go for some chicken biscuits.”

Haha….Actually the “chicken biscuits” scene had it all! That basement was straight out of a classic horror movie setting—right down to the blown light bulb! Perry pulls out a lighter! to search the dark, cobwebby basement. You have to see what he finds. And how he reacts! The scene is pretty much hold up to the heavens perfect. Filled with humor and tension! One of my favorite combos.

Oops. Sorry I got sidetracked “ooh”-ing and “ahh”-ing. This was a long way of saying that the people shined in this installment. In book one, the spiders stole the show. But the characters really pushed this madness into something special here. I care about these characters now. I’m rooting for them. Soooo…it’s really going to hurt when or if they get eaten alive. Here’s hoping some make it out to tell the tale. I can’t wait to find out.

On to book 3….
Profile Image for The Captain.
1,138 reviews452 followers
October 18, 2017
Ahoy there me mateys! I know that I just reviewed the first novel of this series, the hatching, yesterday. But I just couldn’t help but need more of the swarm of massive creepy flesh eating spiders. I had to know what happened next! This review won’t contain spoilers but well it does talk about a sequel so if ye keep reading this log then ye have been forewarned and continue at yer own peril . . .

So first of all, this is a series where ye should definitely read book one first. Secondly I did not know this series was a trilogy. I thought it was a duology. So yes this book does have a middle book feel but not in a bad way – not at all.

The first book was action packed and the spiders were nasty. That book would be what I call the first wave. This book is what I would call the calm before the storm at high seas. Ye know that hurricane is coming but all ye can do is batten down the hatches, hunker down, and prepare fer the worst that mother nature has to offer. And the glimpse of the skittering that mother nature may have to offer in the next book is terrifying indeed.

Book two had a completely different feel as the first but was just as awesome. It has action, politics, revisiting old acquaintances (hello spider scientist!), some new characters, some new characters that become spider food, and above all – a building of tension. The fear in the air is thickening, the skies are growing dark, and the hurricane headed yer way might not just be a solitary storm on the horizon. Prepare to die and meet Davy Jones!

Of course despite the odds, I want to always go down fighting. I cannot wait to see if the world is going to survive day zero with the spiders. It’s looking grim. Sadly I will have to wait until book three comes out on February 27, 2018 to watch it all unfold. Good news is that ye can catch-up on the story in the meantime. Arrr!

Check out me other reviews at https://thecaptainsquartersblog.wordp...
Profile Image for KC.
2,475 reviews
December 24, 2016
I would like to thank Edelweiss, Atria Books, and Ezekiel Boone for the advanced digital copy in exchange for an honest review. This is Boone's second installment in The Hatching trilogy and it certainly did not disappoint. The race for mankind is still underway against the terrible infestation of flesh-eating spiders. This story is certainly not for the feint of heart. I am looking forward to the next chapter of this heart pounding tale.
Profile Image for AziaMinor.
515 reviews62 followers
February 13, 2024
Overall Rating : B+

"The Apocalypse? No, the Spiderpocalypse!"

description

Horror? Check.

Funny, badass Characters? Double Check.

Disgusting insects? *shudder* Check.

Ending the book feeling like a million spiders were about to crawl on me? Horrific Check.

Props to Ezekiel Boone for creating one of the most disgusting and nauseating ways to end the world.
I swear I would prefer zombies to spiders.

The end of the world continues in the second book in The Hatching series. The spiders are coming back from the dead more dangerous than ever getting reading for the final attack. From characters ranging from the president of the United States to a lowly night manager, you see what humanity is capable of when faced with word-wide destruction. With life-changing decisions effecting the whole country you see how society can collapse and band together one day at a time.

Read - if you dare (please dare, its amazing)
Profile Image for Bandit.
4,707 reviews519 followers
April 6, 2017
Skitter. It's what comes next. A rare sequel to outshine its predecessor. Marginally, but enough to make a difference. Or maybe I was more in the mood for it. Either way, arachnopocalypse continues with this story that takes up right where the first one leaves off. More creepy crawly terror, all star cast returns and this time it seems less overwhelming to juggle the plotlines, but what I really enjoyed about this one is the author's use of vignette storytelling...chapters of nonrecurring onetime characters struggling to survive in this world gone mad. It gives Boone a chance to showcase his actual writing skills, since the rest of the book more often than not reads like a pure bombastic action movie. For all that, I wouldn't go as far as to describe it as literary horror, but it's tons of fun. If only the third one was out already, because this mostly mindless sort of fun doesn't exactly stick to memory for a year or so it takes to publish an entry into series. Very entertaining quick read for all the horror fans out there. Thanks Netgalley.
Profile Image for Laura  Wonderchick.
1,367 reviews156 followers
December 9, 2016
Ezekiel Boone has the talent to write a story that makes you squirm in your seat with discomfort but never stop READING! The Hatching was probably my favorite read of 2016 & this one is going to go over huge with 2017 readers!
Profile Image for Gatorman.
640 reviews80 followers
June 25, 2017
Disappointing second entry in the Hatching series. Too much time spent on non-important, throwaway characters and too little time spent on the protagonists of The Hatching. The book doesn't develop much of anything new since the first one and spends most of its time just middling around with silly ideas that don't seem to be advancing the story in an interesting direction. The story loses momentum and Boone seems unsure of where he wants it to ultimately go. A quick read so that was a plus but not all that noteworthy. 2.5 stars.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 565 reviews

Can't find what you're looking for?

Get help and learn more about the design.