The Hatching

February 15, 2016
Monsters, mad science, and meat-munching mayhem propel a B movie plot reinforced by plausible characters behaving logically in crises. A swarming black mass devours tourists in Peru; divorced U.S. Special Agent Mike Rich discovers a nasty secret in a crashed plane; China inexplicably nukes an isolated region of its land; and an ancient Nazca sack hatches in Prof. Melanie Guyer’s laboratory, releasing hordes of deadly spiders. Mike, Melanie, and the American president prepare for a terrifying arachnid invasion, wondering how they can succeed against an enemy “designed to feed.” Boone weaves believable dialogue and characterizations into an apocalyptic extravaganza of doom and heroism. Pulp theatrics and vicious spider attacks are lent surprising credibility by social context. Though it doesn’t reinvent the pulp formula, this addictive literary assault certainly reinvigorates it.

March 1, 2016

A nuclear weapon explodes in China. A possible earthquake is detected in India. A guided tour of a national park goes horribly wrong. A billionaire tech genius is killed in a plane crash. Are these seemingly unrelated events connected in some way? An entomologist in Washington, DC, receives an unusual package from an archaeological dig in Peru; it is a calcified egg sac that's thousands of years old; it is also moving. At the same time, an FBI agent investigating the Minneapolis plane crash discovers an unusual type of spider, predatory and carnivorous. Boone carefully builds up the suspense as his plot moves swiftly along to a nail-biting climax in this apocalyptic tale, but the tension and the novel's momentum are occasionally broken by the characters' ill-placed, improbable, and distracting musings. VERDICT Readers of John Saul (The Homing) or Arthur Herzog (The Swarm) will be intrigued by this debut effort, as will fans of general horror fiction. For arachnophobes, it is the stuff of nightmares.--Elizabeth Masterson, Mecklenburg Cty. Jail Lib., Charlotte, NC

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