Zero Day

November 27, 2017
The fate of the world hangs in the balance in Boone’s explosive conclusion to his Hatching trilogy (The Hatching, Skitter), which features some of the scariest spiders in recent horror. Tactical nuclear strikes have killed many of the hell spiders, and roads and bridges have been destroyed to halt their spread, but the terror is far from over. On the USS Elsie Downs, professor Melanie Guyer feverishly works to find the secret to destroying the spider menace, with President Stephanie Pilgrim’s help. The military is helping survivalist Shotgun tweak his spider weapon, and a false prophet gathers his followers. Adding to the horror, the spiders begin hitching rides inside of people, and the queens are gathering strength. Boone supplies plenty of his trademark big-screen-ready, rip-roaring action and leavens the outright terror with humor, expertly gathering all the strands of his diabolical web together in a truly exciting showdown.

January 1, 2018

Giant man-eating spiders have harvested large portions of the human race across the globe. Governments have bombed their own territories with nuclear weapons attempting to eradicate the arachnids. Even the United States has laid waste to 31 of its own cities. Still, more spiders are coming. Is it a new breed, or an ancient one that has lain dormant for millennia? Entomologist Melanie Guyer may have an answer, but will President Pilgrim be able to hold off the military and their scorched-earth schemes long enough for her to put the plan into motion? And how will the remaining pockets of humanity survive? The final installment in Boone's trilogy continues all of the nightmare qualities of the first two books (The Hatching and Skitter) and brings more while neatly spinning the loose ends from those titles into the conclusion. VERDICT Apocalyptic novels usually follow a pattern, and this one is no exception. All the elements are here. There are enough twists to keep it interesting, and fans of the genre and followers of the trilogy will love it. [See Prepub Alert, 8/28/17.]--Elizabeth Masterson, Mecklenburg Cty. Jail Lib., Charlotte, NC

Copyright 2018 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from December 1, 2017
Following directly on the heels of Skitter (2017), Boone brings his excellent spider-apocalypse thriller to an exciting conclusion. Back is the same realistic, fast-paced, edge-of-your-seat action from the first two books. The story follows the cast of well-developed and diverse characters as they inch closer to the key to defeating the spiders, which are systematically destroying humanity. This final installment has everything readers crave in a solid thriller series, speculative or realistic, but it is the spidersthe inherent fear they invoke, their ability to reproduce efficiently, and their evolution as actors in this dramathat raise the stakes and the enjoyment here. Unlike most adventure stories, this one is not fueled by testosterone; in fact, quite the opposite, as it is the women here who posit that the key to saving the world might be in understanding the spider queens. The entire series is one to hand to fans of all high-action thrillers, especially for those with a speculative frame by Mira Grant, Jonathan Maberry, and Ben H. Winters. In a landscape where the adventure thriller seems to be dragging, it is clear all we needed were some spiders to revive it.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)