Thomcat
11/15/2017
Fairly quick read, this is Chuck Grossart's first published novel and winner of a 2014 Amazon breakthrough award. More horror than science fiction, this novel combines a genetic horror story with a political thriller, but not really excelling at either.
The author was originally a strategic analyst for the U.S. Air Force, and that experience shows as the US military tries to deal with a genetic horror derived from Soviet chemical experiments. While the mutations of the little beasties are fairly unrealistic, the response vectors and chain of command are very believable. One could easily class this with giant ants (Them!) and other matinee horrors to make for an enjoyable story. I do wonder why nobody tried fire (or napalm) to deal with this problem.
Halfway through the book, things take a political thriller turn, and this author is no Tom Clancy. Also unrealistic, a shadow organization uses this internal threat to turn the world on its ear, launching revolutions and coups in governments around the globe. US allies (and supported governments such as Taiwan and South Korea) are attacked in a complete sideshow that in the end means nothing.
So, what to make of this chimera, this twin plot novel? It was mostly just okay, slightly more enjoyable than irritating. It was also a very quick read. If the author had just stuck to the monster story, I would have rated it a high 3 or low 4.