Insects: A Novel

First let me say that despite only a 3-star rating, I enjoyed the book. There was a lot of good stuff in describing the rain forest, the growing fear of insects, and in the action between the insects and the characters in the book. I did expect action before it finally came and probably would have liked a bit more of it therefore, but it was great when it happened. I did find that a number of the characters really were not given any personality and could easily have been substituted for eachother. Then the characters that we were given more about - well, I didn't really like them! They weren't likable except for maybe a couple of them. All that took one star off my rating. The second star departs for the ending. It lacked something, it felt anit-climatic, and the story felt a little unfinished. I was disappointed. I understand a 2nd book will be released and chances are I'll end up reading it despite the points I was not happy about in the book simply because I love man vs predator or natural disaster stories.

Living in South Georgia you see a lot of these bugs but the small German roach is no big deal, unless there is an infestation of course, but what I really hate is the palmmeto bug. It's much larger than American or German roaches growing to about 2 1/2 to 3 inches and about as thick as your index finger....and they have wings and they can glide. Now.....about the story. Think palmetto bugs that are predators...they eat everything and they are slightly larger than 4 inches and now there's tons of them. A group of scientists and students along with local guides prepare a trip to the Amazon basin to.."study"..these beasties. Question is...who comes out alive? The story reminds me of an old movie called Elephant Walk where a group of Hollywood's finest including Liz Taylor have to fight off army ants in deepest darkest Africa. Same basic idea here ....Man against bug, who's gonna win. Scary adventure with a horrific premise and a good read

I must be a glutton for punishment. I just can't resist when someone mentions man eating creatures. Especially the creepy crawling ones.Imagine a bug that kind of looks like a cockroach. One of the big Palmetto ones. It is longer than your middle finger. Now imagine it's not like any known insect. And it's adapted. Changed. And we are now on it's menu.Then imagine you don't know all this. Just that it's a new species. You gather a team, go into the rain forest. And you find the insect.And that's where it gets ugly. Relentless. Kind of gory.The forest works against you. The weather works against you. Your own fear works against you. And the bugs just keep on coming.I had a scary good read with this book. And I've learned there are a couple more books in the series. Going to have to go see what happens next.

I've been a fan of horror for many years and so when I saw this book on Kindle I was expecting a good old fashion horror yarn. That's what I got....sorta. The basic plot is tried and true; killer insects and frightened humans. However, the author never seems to get the plot moving with any consistency. It takes half the book to get the story moving. When the floundering humans finally encounter the insects it's sorta anticlimactic. The characters and not well developed and I didn't care for any of them. Plus, the characters were all cookie cutter....one whiner, one drunk, one with blind loyalty to the cause, etc. .... and none of whom seemed prepared to be on the expedition. Finally, the book simply ends. Everything is tired up in a few sentences. All that building up to have it end so quickly was disappointing and leaves one feeling cheated. Like buying a filled candy only to find no filling inside. But wait. Didn't like the ending? No problem. The author gives readers several endings. Pick the one you like and go with it.The bottom line is I always felt like I was reading a nearly finished final draft of what could have been a really fun read.Better luck next tIme, Mr. Koloen.

A group of students and a semi-retired entomology professor embark on an expedition into the Brazilian jungle to study an insect that appears to have quickly evolved from docile beetles into savage killers. The expedition becomes a trial of survival as the entire area is flooded. Now the group must attempt to return to civilization through roiling waters infested with thousands of murderous bugs and other terrors.If I have any problems with this book it is that I wish it had included more interaction with the insects and a bit less of the escape from the jungle, as compelling as that was.One must read the sequel to find out how the story ultimately ends. I probably will do that. This is a good series.

I honestly thought I was going to enjoy this book the moment I read the blurb. Who doesn’t like a horror story about those creepy little things with antennae? There are a lot of horror movies about killer spiders, ants, roaches, snakes, scorpions, and other little crawling baddies, and very often I enjoy them for what they are. Of course I turn away from the screen whenever those little bastards attack an unfortunate character. With books it’s a bit harder, but I admit to skipping a few lines when the insects began their deadly march. The book read like one of those horror movies, with short chapters and a bunch of characters, many of whom, for obvious reasons, weren’t going to make it to the end. The story started well, but after a while it began dragging. I am always determined to finish a book once I start it, however by the 51% point I deleted the book from my kindle. It’s a real shame, considering how fun the story had seemed to me. To be honest I don’t really know what went wrong. Maybe there were just too many characters, and I had a hard time telling one from the other. None of the characters was interesting or charismatic enough to make me care for their destiny. Maybe there were too many conversations between small groups of characters, and not enough action. Maybe it was just not my type of book. Or maybe it was because I had reached half of the book and still didn’t care if anyone from the group would survive. Sadly, by the time I reached the middle I had lost total interest.

While this may not have the best writing, the most flowing story or the most lovable characters, I loved it. There is something about the idea of man-killing insects that just appeals to me, especially when it comes with a massive dose of ecology based science geekery. Seriously my inner geek loved this book (as did my outer geek and my long lost inner cool) as Duncan and co found themselves in well well well over their heads, which you could see coming a mile off, and they are stuck at the mercy of nature in every sense of the word. The stories beyond the main one, particularly the slightly awkward fling between Duncan and Maggie, are not the greatest but they mostly work and I enjoyed the main story too much to really worry about these bits. A winner for me and I can't wait to go back and play with those little critters some more.

I gave this book four stars because I enjoyed reading it and it left me wanting more. A man living in an isolated jungle hut is eaten alive by bugs that had previously been harmless and rarely seen. This captures the attention of an elderly professor who studied entomology, and he gathers a group of interested people and they travel to the jungle to find these bugs. They encounter dangerous and deadly conditions and eventually more bugs that they have to battle to save being eaten alive. At times while reading this book, I found myself cringing and having to stop reading, ( I can't stand creepy spiders, bugs or anything with eight legs or more!) But, I would recommend this book and would love to find out if the bugs eventual emerged from the jungle , and took over the world!

I really liked this book. I found it griping and interesting. It's written as a very matter of fact way which means you do not get too bonded to any one character.It lost a couple of stars for me because of: (spoiler alert)1- how pathetic some of the girl characters were portrayed. I mean really - It's 2016.2 - the ending. Eh??? What happened there???? Seems like the author got a bit bored of writing. And would u really go back two days later just to find some data? Surely if there was as many bugs as it was made out they would show up at their door step soon enough!Being a scientist myself with a fascination for insects, I do wish it had a little more scientific information, especially the ending (or is this leading into book 2....?). Despite these issues, I would recommend this book.

This book was well written and had me hooked really quickly. The plot and the people in the story are all believable characters. I don't think I would like to see the film version of this book! I probably would watch it tho! Well worth the read.

Sorry my fault, thought it was about insects rather than a fiction novel