Skitter Volume 2

A Novel

De: Ezekiel Boone

Narrado por: George Newbern

"A globe-hopping, seriously creepy read." —Publishers Weekly

Ezekiel Boone follows up his terrifying debut thriller The Hatching with Skitter, where it is revealed that though the first phase of an attack by an ancient species is over, the second phase is about to begin; bigger carnivores are coming and they plan to colonize the earth.

First, there was the black swarm that swallowed a man whole, the suspicious seismic irregularities in India that confounded scientists, the nuclear bomb China dropped on its own territory without any explanation. Then, scientist Melanie Guyer's lab received a package containing a mysterious egg sac; little did Dr. Guyer know that, almost overnight, Earth would be consumed by previously dormant spiders that suddenly wanted out.

Now, 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 Dr. Guyer, the crisis may soon be over.

But in Japan, a giant, glowing egg sac 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 weapon to fight back, but it may be too late, because President Stephanie Pilgrim has been forced to enact the plan of last resort.

America, you are on your own.

It was OKAY...

The first book had me sorta riveted. Though the take on spiders wasn't completely original, the story was suspenseful and the character subplots were decently written and made sense. Mostly.

Then there's this book. Way way more viewpoints. It was a bit scattered but was overall okay. Until chapter 30/31(?). Anyway the one with the guy who says chicken biscuits. You'll know. I mean wtf! That almost, and maybe it did, ruin the book for me. I won't spoil the scene. I guess Boone needed a way to introduce the spiders to that city but it shouldn't have been with this scene or character. Completely illogical and unrealistic human reaction to a bloody dire situation. I could be wrong but I don't think I am. Unless! Unless Boone was writing an example of the dumbest person on planet Earth then he sold me. Besides that it was okay I guess. I hope three is better because this book didn't have that thing the first book did.

Oh chicken biscuits!

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.

great listen

great continuation for a great series so far. can't wait to see how it's going to end

4 Stars right up until that ending....

Is there anything you would change about this book?

The ending. Oh.. that ending...

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

Most interesting: New spiders! New Eggs!
Least interesting: Did I mention the ending?

Which character – as performed by George Newbern – was your favorite?

The Scottish Grandfather.

Was Skitter worth the listening time?

Yes, but I'm not sure I'll be returning for Book 3 with how Book 2 ends.

Any additional comments?

The characters, and thus the author, comes right out and says "We can't hope to get every egg sack"... yet.. that ending STILL happens.

Fantastic

I am loving this series so far. I can't wait to start the 3rd book.