The Hatching by Ezekiel Boone

The Hatching by Ezekiel Boone

I was going to Ikea just before Christmas 2016 to purchase some bits and pieces but I arrived at their shop in Richmond (Melbourne) at 8:30AM, only to find that I had to wait until 10AM for the shop to open. With a long wait, I checked out the Dymocks book shop and bought the book The Hatching on spec. I had not heard of it and it was obviously a new release (copywrite 2016).

How's this for an eyecatching story line

Deep in the jungle of Peru, a black, skittering mass devours an American tourist party whole. FBI agent Mike Rich investigates a fatal plane crash in Minneapolis and makes a gruesome discovery. Unusual seismic patterns register in a Indian earthquake lab, confounding the scientists there. The Chinese government "accidentally" drops a nuclear bomb in an isolated region of its own country. The first female president of the United States is summoned to an emergency briefing. And all of these events are connected. As panic begins to sweep the globe, a mysterious package from South America arrives at Melanie Guyer's Washington laboratory. The unusual egg inside begins to crack. Something is spreading...The world is on the brink of an apocalyptic disaster. An virulent ancient species, long dormant, is now very much awake. But this is only the beginning of our end...

The blurb lived up to expectations. An absolutely fantastic read that I could not put down. I finished the book in 2 days and I was busy doing other things in the leadup to Christmas. A must read - exciting, chilling but above all believable. It is well written as well, focusing on disparate groups of people and how they react/fare. 

In checking out the book on the net, I found it was the first in a two parter, with Skitter also published in 2016. Now that is one I must read to see how it all pans out. It is fair to say that The Hatching finishes mid sentence, with more to come.