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Book Review: Fauna by David Benton

Fauna  by David Benton

CreateSpace, 2018

ISBN-13: 978-1983765049

Available: Paperback, Kindle edition

 

“Nature fights back” is a familiar theme. Making it special takes some tinkering and imagination, not to mention strong storytelling. David Benton succeeds on all fronts, keeping the teeth gnashing and adrenaline pumping until the final page. He combines the visceral brutality of Edward Lee or Richard Laymon with the globe-trotting skills of James Rollins, resulting in an exciting romp that evokes James Patterson’s The Zoo, albeit with a message.

In the Amazon, a shaman warns photojournalist Michael Keller that a big change is coming in nature. What Michael doesn’t know is that it will be a concerted, global effect, an attack on mankind everywhere. Dr. Andrea “Andy” Keller working in a lab back in Milwaukee, is struggling to find an answer for the sudden aggression in both wild and domestic animals. Officer Devon Coleman just wants to keep his family safe in the city, a tough task as the family dog fights off the change.

Benton strings together scenes that display both the savagery and grace of the animal kingdom, suggesting that maybe the world would be a better place without people. As the story unfolds and blood splatters, he brings the stories’ threads together at a rapid fire pace. The story doesn’t slow down to explain the catastrophe occurring across the globe– but it doesn’t need to. This rollercoaster of a novel hits its message home with a powerful punch.

Recommended for fans of old-fashioned fast-paced horror, especially killer animal books.

 

Reviewed by Dave Simms

 

Posted on September 4, 2018 by , Reply

Book Review: The Hatching by Ezekiel Boone

 The Hatching by Ezekiel Boone

ISBN: 9781501125041

Available: Kindle ebook, print

Release date: July 2016

 

Spiders. Man-eating spiders. Highly cooperative man-eating spiders. I’m relatively certain that I twitched my way through this book.

The Hatching begins in the jungles of Peru, with a guide leading  Minnesota businessman Henderson and three women on a path, when their seemingly quiet walk through the jungle is disturbed by a man screaming and making his way toward them. Their way is further blocked by what appears to be black liquid. The black substance washes over the poor man, sending the group running through the jungle.

The story then focuses on FBI Agent Rich in Minneapolis, who is investigating a fatal plane crash. He makes a gruesome discovery after a large spider crawls out of the face of one of the unfortunate passengers, who turns out to be Henderson. We learn that other countries are facing a similar problem, but no one is communicating, and things continue to unravel around the world.

In Washington, D.C., Professor Melanie Guyer receives a mysterious package from a dig site in Nazca, Peru. Inside is an ancient egg sac that contains a never-before-discovered spider that breeds at an alarming rate and has a taste for flesh.  The rest is the stuff of nightmares.

What unfolds are stories of different people all over the world trying to make sense of everything. The lives of the characters touch each other briefly or are more intimately entwined. The chapters jump from one location to another, but the way the story is told, it makes sense for them to do so. It actually adds to the confusion the characters feel, and also provides the reader at times with what is going on in multiple regions.

There are a few characters I really enjoyed. United States President Stephanie Pilgrim is a no-nonsense, strong, female character. She’s able to make quick decisions, but knows when she need to consult outside resources before making decisions like grounding worldwide travel. The survivalists of Desperation, California, including husband and wife Gordo and Amy and their friends, Shotgun and Fred (the town’s only gay survivalist couple), are an enjoyable crew.  Their characters are well-developed, and I enjoyed the dynamics and friendship between them.

I found the pacing to be a bit slow going at the beginning , but once the story picks up, it keeps a fast pace. It is also a frightening book. The way Boone describes the movement of the groups of spiders and how they act in a confined space within Dr. Guyer’s laboratory is disturbing. I read it in a relatively short time. I can’t tell if that was pure enjoyment or if I just wanted to see what happened with the spiders…ugh. This is a very good read. Fair warning, though: if you don’t like spiders, it would probably be best for you to stay away from this one. Recommended.

Note: The Hatching ends on a cliffhanger. Based on the author’s Goodreads page, he’s working on the next one, Skitter. Recommended.

Contains: a lot of spiders, some gore

Reviewed by Lizzy Walker


Posted on July 20, 2016 by , Reply

Gasp…The “H-Word” Appears in the Wall Street Journal!

What can I say? It wasn’t in the title, and maybe it was accidental, but in Friday’s Wall Street Journal, Alexandra Alter, in her article “A Crime Wave in Publishing”, used… the “H-word”. You know the one I mean.

While Ms. Alter’s focus was on crime fiction, apparently that’s too narrow a focus for most publishers, who now throw a whole bucket full of genres under the heading “suspense”. Ms. Alter specifically mentioned Mullholland Press, a new imprint at Little, Brown. Mullholland’s lineup includes a horror novel (gasp!) by the writers of Saw, and is looking for books in a variety of genres, including…

…supernatural thrillers, hardboiled detective fiction, espionage, horror, dystopian thrillers, and high concept adventure fiction.

They’re looking for the next James Patterson, but who knows, maybe they’ll find the next Stephen King. Kudos to Little, Brown and Mulholland Press’ editor John Schoenfelder for having the vision to notice that  “those books” (as an editor from Knopf referred to them in an earlier WSJ article– see my response here) have a hungry audience. And to Ms. Alter, who distinguished horror fiction from other genres, including supernatural fiction.

One day maybe she’ll write a whole article.

Posted on July 9, 2011 by , Reply