Review will be posted on the blog during release month.

NUMBER OF HEARTS: 4
This book makes my skin crawl. I despise spiders so much and honestly this would be one of my greatest fears. I am planning on stocking up on duct tape and anything flammable.
Once again Mr. Boone has brought us back to a world that is in pure chaos. Where you are on your own to fight this enemy. As we read we learn some are more prepared than others. But will it be enough? There was a lot that happened in this book. So many people lost. So many people trying to save who and what is left of the world.
Is it ever too late for hope?

I can’t even imagine what will be next in this series. I can’t tell if we are in for a total annihilation of the human race or if they can be saved.

If you are looking for a read that will literally make your skin crawl you need to check out this series!!

Disclaimer:
I received a complimentary copy of this book from Netgalley & Atria Books in exchange for an honest review. This review is my own opinion and not a paid review.

Skitter. It's what comes next. A rare sequel to outshine its predecessor. Marginally, but enough to make a difference. Or maybe I was more in the mood for it. Either way, arachnopocalypse continues with this story that takes up right where the first one leaves off. More creepy crawly terror, all star cast returns and this time it seems less overwhelming to juggle the plotlines, but what I really enjoyed about this one is the author's use of vignette storytelling...chapters of nonrecurring onetime characters struggling to survive in this world gone mad. It gives Boone a chance to showcase his actual writing skills, since the rest of the book more often than not reads like a pure bombastic action movie. For all that, I wouldn't go as far as to describe it as literary horror, but it's tons of fun. If only the third one was out already, because this mostly mindless sort of fun doesn't exactly stick to memory for a year or so it takes to publish an entry into series. Very entertaining quick read for all the horror fans out there. Thanks Netgalley.

Skitter is the sequel to Boone’s monstrous horror novel, The Hatching. Mutant spiders are on the rampage, fulfilling the worst nightmares of every arachnophobe, and president Stephanie Pilgrim has to decide how to save the USA—if it isn’t too late. I received my copy free and in advance from Net Galley and Atria Books in exchange for this honest review; copies will be available to the public May 9, 2017. Don’t miss out.

The first portion of the book is dedicated to bringing the reader up to speed so that those that didn’t read the first book can jump right in. The pacing feels a little slow, and I am thumbing my reader impatiently, wanting to find out what happens next. There is a fair amount of time discovering and discussing cold egg sacks versus warm, throbbing, glowing ones, but the emphasis is there for a reason, and it also makes for a more accessible read to a wider audience. At the 34% mark the ground work is done—so to speak—and the story breaks loose and really flies. The scene in Japan is particularly arresting.

So…imagine a bag of nice, warm spider eggs roughly the size of a bus; think of it as a “giant packet of doom in the corner”. It might hatch at any moment, and although the spiders may kill you, there’s a chance they may not. They spare some people to use as incubators for the next generation to come.

Let me just ask: how is your stomach doing right now? Are you feeling okay?

“Somebody gets bitten and then, what, five hours later they’re opening up and spilling out spiders like a bag of frozen peas?”

After The Hatching came out, I suddenly began noticing the spiders that came into the bedroom at night. It was uncanny how one turned up right after my spouse had fallen asleep, every single night. The spider would start in a far corner of the room—nothing to worry about here, ma’am, just minding my own business—and then gradually either circle to where it was directly overhead, or make its way to a location above the very center of the king sized bed, start a nice web, and commence to rappel doooown. I had never been that aware of them before, but now they seemed ominous. What the hell? Every night? Before he knew it, my spouse, who is nimbler than I, found himself drafted into spider-bombing the attic.

So yes, there is risk in reading this mesmerizing horror tale, but on the other hand, how can you not?

Ultimately, everything that can go wrong on Earth, does. There are mutant spiders from the South Pacific to Scotland, from Asia to Michigan. Quarantine zones fail. Hospitals fail. Other nations have tried everything, including using nuclear weapons on their own soil. And ultimately the president and her advisers wonder whether it is time to break out the Spanish Protocol.

I won’t tell you more than this; you need the book itself, either to take with you on vacation, or to make you feel better about the fact that you can’t go anywhere this year. Afterward, you’ll look at every little spider web in your living space with suspicion, and you’ll know it’s time for spring cleaning…right away!

The second wave is coming…..

This book picks up just as I believe a sequel should, right in the middle of the action. I was hooked instantly. The first waves of spiders are all dead; seemingly perished simultaneously. This book introduces the next wave of spider. As the last novel focused on the outbreak of the spider infestation and the initial fear, this novel dove into the human nature element and how people are reacting to this outbreak. Rebellions breaking out, people turning against on another, the government turning against its people. The waves of man-eating spiders are all good and scary but the human reaction to this type of stressor is the real scary part. This second instalment also focuses largely on how to “deal” with the outbreak and the desperate attempts to figure out what is causing them.

I obsessed with Boone’s writing style. I love how he is able to create multiple characters narrating, in multiple story arcs and yet, they never become confusing. It takes a pretty talented writer to make that work and Boone does so effortlessly. I also loved the imagery in the book was fantastic; the spider egg sacs as “ticking time bombs” and the wording surrounding the spiders and the events gave me chills. Boone makes something so unrealistic- a giant spider invasion- feel like it is completely plausible.

The ending of this one was horrifying. I still cannot believe I’ll have to wait to read the third instalment, but I will be waiting for it!!

Just as the first in the series, I couldn’t help but imagine how this story would play out in a movie or as a television series. I think that would be fantastic. I really hope that someone out there catches on to this and makes it happen!

They’re back and I have been waiting too long to read this sequel! The spider’s infestation has infected the whole world including the U.S. Every country is coming up with their own plan of attack to rid themselves of this deadly crisis. These black-legged creatures are making their way into barns, homes, garages, anyplace which is dark enough for them to lay their egg sacs. It’s staggering the amount of egg sacs these arachnids are producing and it’s staggering the number of arachnids these egg sacs will produce. Their destruction has everyone on edge.

This was a great novel that carried over many of the features from the first novel. I liked that they had many of the same characters. I also enjoyed that it showed many of the main characters relying on others to assist them in their work. The main characters were not handing out commands, it was a team effort, people went to the main character for guidance and support and the main character welcomed input from others. I enjoyed the thoughts and the sights from the other parts of the globe and the community. The stories of their initial reaction to what was occurring, how they tried to prepare for what they thought might occur and their thoughts for their future, all of these changed depending on where that person was located and who that individual was. It was interesting following these stories throughout the novel. I didn’t think this novel was as intense or as creepy as the first novel, it was more of a deeper look into the behavior of the spiders and analyzing it. I am not ready to wait for another sequel though. Seriously, another cliffhanger?
I received a copy of this novel from NetGalley and Atria Books in exchange for an honest review.

The first book in this series, The Hatching, was absolutely amazing. One of my favorite horror books ever. So I was super excited to read this one. Skitter starts up right where The Hatching ends. The spiders have gone dormant, and have laid their egg sacks everywhere. There are so many egg sacks in so many places, that it is impossible for us to find them all. But we are trying. Much of the book concerns hunting for them, and destroying them.

The smaller, black spiders are now being replaced by larger black spiders with a red stripe. And a new type of egg sack is discovered. It is as large as a truck and glows. What new creature could be inside?

This second book felt almost like a place holder, until we can get to book three. The characters we were introduced to in book one are back. The characters spend the book trying to find out more about the spiders. And trying to find ways to destroy them. Some of the characters come together and join forces. We don't see the massive spider attacks anymore. Just a few random attacks, mostly by the new spider with the red stripe. The ending of the book is great, and sets the stage for a big battle in book three.

For me, this book wasn't as exciting as The Hatching. There wasn't quite as much action, or as many scares. I did enjoy reading the book. The spiders are still super creepy, and at this point it is hard to imagine how we will win. I will definitely be reading book three as soon as it comes out. I am totally hooked on this story.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Excellent follow up to The Hatching. Extends the story and gets you ready for the third and final chapter. Skitter has the same pace and tone of The Hatching, making it a thoroughly enjoyable read. If you were afraid of spiders after reading The Hatching, Skitter does nothing to help make you feel better. It takes the creepy from part 1 and keeps it coming. Bottom line: if you enjoyed The Hatching, you will also enjoy Skitter.

You have GOT to read this book!! Mr. Boone has done an amazing job with this series so far. I definitely recommend reading "The Hatching" first. This book picks up directly where it left off. The only downside is it leaves it at a cliffhanger as to how the world will turn out or rather how the end will come. There is a perfect mix of suspense and scary parts to keep you turning pages quickly to see what happens next. I definitely don't recommend reading in a dark room or anywhere near a spider!!

I received an eARC from the publisher through NetGalley.

THE HATCHING by Ezekiel Boone was my pick for favourite fiction book read in all of 2016.

Imagine how incredibly thrilled I was to receive an advanced reader's copy of the second book in this amazing series!

The Hatching explores a very simple idea in an elegant way: What if that innate fear of tiny spiders that can not really hurt you has evolved for a very important reason? What if ancient man truly had a reason to be scared?

Reading The Hatching felt like home. Which is a weird thing to say about a scary book. It took me a while to figure out why, exactly, that would be the case. I think that it had something to do with following a format much like Stephen King's The Stand or Daniel H. Wilson's Robopocalypse or any number of apocalyptic epics. We follow the stories of a number of people, who are scattered across the world, and those individual pieces make up a greater whole. The reader ends up knowing much more than any individual within the story which adds tension to events as they unfold.

Skitter picks up where The Hatching left off, continuing the story of those characters that we know and love, and introduces us to a few new characters - some of whom, it appears, will not become important until the next book in the series.

Middle books in a trilogy (and I don't know that this is a trilogy, exactly) have a hard time not becoming what I refer to as "bridge books." Bridge books are books that exist solely to get the reader from the end of part one to the beginning of part three, which is the start of the thrilling conclusion and where all the "fun" happens. They don't contain any new information, and feel like they keep everything in a holding pattern. Bridge books can turn into books that just set up the thrilling conclusion, but in which nothing much really HAPPENS. Sometimes I feel like those kinds of books can be deleted from a trilogy entirely as their contribution to the story is minimal, at best.

Skitter is not that kind of book. There is certainly a lot of action to go around. And there is much more to learn about the spiders...they have some surprises in store. And don't expect those surprises to be all neatly wrapped up in silk by the end of the book. Nothing feels remotely finished when you turn that last page and read those last lines.

This series is just so much FUN to read. (I worry that that sentence makes me sound like a psychopath.) I just like it when my scares are mixed together with a healthy dose of mirth. It can relieve tension at just the right moment. Although, it can be a difficult balance to achieve: too much and the entire story becomes a parody, not enough and any humor feels to jarring to be effective. However, the narrative voice in this story is perfection and attains that balance with ease.

I just realized that having read an advanced copy I now have that much LONGER to wait until the next one is published. Damn.

*HOLY CRAP, Y'ALL*
This book was INSANE!!

This book was a lot slower than the fast paced insanity of book one (check out my review here); but by NO means was this book boring, or irrelevant. This book was essentially the calm before the storm.

So, at the end of book one all of the spiders died (view spoiler) and now the world is trying to regroup. There is a lot of arguments about whether the spiders are gone for good or if there is a chance for their return.

BUT! The biggest question still being asked is, WHERE THE EFF DID ALL THESE ANCIENT SPIDERS COME FROM?

The bomb ass lady prez in this book is trying desperately to keep America safe, but how does one do that when spiders are literally everywhere; eating their way out of their human hosts!?

----
So much happens in this book but very few questions are answered; but the answers are coming!
Book two is really just setting up what will be an epic showdown in book three: HUMANS vs. SPIDERS!

The writing in this book is still very neat, and the science behind the story is still one of the most interesting parts of the book. I don't think readers will tear through this book as quickly as they did the first one, but I think they will still appreciate this book (I sure did!) because they'll realize how necessary this calm is before the shit storm that is book three occurs.

I can not wait to see where Mr. Boone takes us in this last book, because so far this has been one hell of a ride!

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

*I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*

Review
How do you follow an action packed blockbuster like The Hatching? Where billions of man eating spiders explode into major cities around the world chewing through the population like a wave of death?
It seems to take it back a step, you focus a bit more on the people trying to save the world, you leave the vicious wee beasties slumbering in their cocoons, with the ever present threat of a 2nd hatching. Around the world mankind falls to its usual politics and self aggrandizement with a select few aware that this hasn’t ended, that this is a lull in the cull of mankind.
Once again Ezekiel Boone writes with the power and pace of a Hollywood blockbuster, this isn’t a book that will sit for long on the bed side table, i’m sure like me you will devour it in very few sittings. Its gripping, its horrific, its clever and it has HBO series written all over it. This book two does have a touch of the middle child about it, but that’s par for the course in a series, the author does his best though to create a unique story rather than just a transition to the finale, and achieves this very well. We are however left with that cliff…. what will come next, how will we stop these spiders, how will the mutations manifest? what are the giant sacks? Just what horror has the authors mind conjured next?
I for one cannot wait for the next installment
(Parm)

Scary as hell cant wait for the sequel in this amazing trilogy