Invasive

June 27, 2016
Wendig (the Miriam Black series) pits a government agent with a survivalist background against killer ants in Hawaii in his latest novel, expanding the setting of his previous thriller, Zer0es. Futurist Hannah Stander is an FBI consultant whose job is to identify security threats likely to rise from new technology. After her boss summons her to investigate a mysterious death caused by a genetically modified species of ant in a cabin in central New York State, the investigation swiftly switches to a laboratory in Hawaii run by a charismatic yet mysterious billionaire. Hannah and the lab’s staff are soon fighting for their lives, caught up in an ecoterrorist plot to save Earth by destroying humankind with the voracious ants. Given the entomological focus, it’s surprising that Hawaii’s numerous insects—and their natural predators—don’t play more of a role. With this cinematic thriller’s unusual setting, cinematic horror imagery, twisty plot, and grittily determined protagonist, fans of Michael Crichton will feel right at home. Agent: Stacia Decker, Dunow, Carlson & Lerner.

Starred review from June 15, 2016
The world teeters on the brink of destruction once more in this spiritual sequel set in the same world as Wendig's wetwork horror story Zer0es (2015).After the events of the last novel, FBI Agent Hollis Copper is understandably spooked by a world that's becoming increasingly threatened by expanding technology. To help him push back against the things going bump in the night, he's seconded futurist Hannah Stander to his department to help shine a light on bleeding-edge tech gone awry. She's suitably intrigued when he calls her with a dilemma: "I've got a cabin on the lake with more than a thousand dead bodies in it....Think of it like a riddle." What she finds in rural New York is a dead man with no skin, surrounded by hundreds of dead ants. Hannah's investigation leads her to Ez Choi, a punk-rock Asian-American entomologist. Ez discovers that the ants weren't just unleashed, but engineered, and they bear the same genetic markers employed by biotech billionaire Einar Geirsson, a reclusive Icelandic billionaire operating a secret biotech lab off the coast of Hawaii. If the setup sounds very Crichton-esque, it is, but Wendig puts his own stamp on this propulsive techno-thriller with his signature action set pieces, a deeply damaged heroine, and a pervasive threat that will give all but the most hardened readers the creepy-crawlies. The book makes some very salient points about the ethics of genetic engineering but doesn't forego action as the book culminates in a biological catastrophe, not to mention a deadly cat-and-mouse chase on the treacherous Kalalau Trail on the North Shore of Kauai. Hannah Stander is a standout heroine--raised by survivalists and gifted with an unparalleled ability for predictive analysis. Think Thomas Harris' Will Graham and Clarice Starling rolled into one and pitched on the knife's edge of a scenario that makes Jurassic Park look like a carnival ride. Another rip-roaring, deeply paranoid thriller about the reasons to fear the future.

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August 1, 2016
The eerie crawling sensation that comes with Wendig's newest thriller will delight horror fans. Hannah Stander, a futurist consultant, is an expert in predicting how technology might be used for terrorists' attacks. FBI agent Hollis Cooper, last seen in Zer0es (2015), calls Hannah in to examine a cabin containing thousands of dead bodies. Bodies consisting of one human stripped of his skin and a multitude of particularly aggressive and venomous ants that may have been genetically engineered. Hannah's investigation leads to an altruistic billionaire known for innovative ideas and a remote island facility whose employees resent her presence and the implication their research has been used to commit murder. The isolated location, limited access to outside communication, and lack of trust make for a perilous situation when someone deliberately puts them all in mortal danger. Clever graphics placed throughout the text enhance the growing sense of terror in this tale of technology taken to a deadly extreme. This roller-coaster survival tale with copious amounts of creepy insects will appeal to fans of Michael Crichton.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)