Skitter by Ezekial Boone

Near the end of The Hatching (which was maybe 1-2 weeks ago in 'book time'), the conclusion of the scientists was that the rapid growth and metabolism of the spiders set on

devouring humanity was responsible for them dying out en masse. Looked like humans were saved simply because the spiders were living hard and dying young.

But it almost looks like those spiders were just the recon force ahead of the true invasion. Thousands of cocoons, some big enough to hold a semi, are humming and warm. Ready to hatch. Unlike so many other cocoons that are vibrating, but are cool. A new strain of spiders is showing up. This one has a red stripe on its back.

The President had essentially quarantined LA. No one in or out. But plenty have managed to escape going off road through the surrounding deserts. And plenty of them already have been bitten and are growing the next generation of spiders in their bodies, ready to erupt. Remember that in the last book, China dropped a nuke on the center where the spiders first appeared. Among the remaining options, the President is compelled to institute The Spanish Option (so named on how Spain tackled a plague a few hundred years ago).

Science is feverously trying to find out what makes this strain so lethal. Where they started, how they reproduce, how they communicate when they swarm and kill, why the first strain died out. Each clue seems to point back to Peru. Why is the big question? And more importantly, why now?

The military is tasked with cutting off all travel east with the initial line in the sand being the Mississippi River. Bomb all interstate bridges, every bridge across a body of water, and make as many roads as possible entirely impassible. Then set up a defensive line of with one order: kill anyone who tries to cross. If needed, more segments of the eastern US could be isolated in the hopes that either science or nature will provide a solution. Boone focuses the story on survivalists in the California desert, a blended family in rural northern Minnesota, a young couple on an private island off the coast of Scotland, the high plains of Peru, spider specialists in DC, and the President’s inner circle.

This is obviously #2 of a trilogy. As with most trilogies, the middle book is sort of how the bad guys strike back. This could be subtitled, ‘The Empire Strikes Back.’ An exceedingly fast read that can’t be put down, even knowing that the spiders are going to successfully strike back and back human beings into a corner.

Sleep well for the next year while we wait to see just how Boone brings this threat to the human race to a close.

Thanks to the good folks at Simon & Schuster's Emily Bestler Books for the advance copy for review. As I've said on a number of occasions, if it's published by Emily Bestler Books, it's going to be good. Every one I've read has been a winner.  Publication date is May 2017.

East Coast Don