Booklist: Marino is mostly known for his books for young readers (the Plot to Kill Hitler trilogy, for example), but he’s written a few solid novels for adults, the most recent being It Rides a Pale Horse (2022). His new novel is creepily good, a story of an apocalypse triggered by an unexpected swarm of insects. Why have they suddenly appeared, in the millions, without warning? Why are they behaving in such an uncharacteristic—even murderous—way? Who’s controlling them, and why? Marino juggles a great cast of characters (including a cop, an entomologist, and an ex-husband-and-wife combo who rescue people from cults) and does a superlative job of creating an atmosphere of fear, paranoia, and claustrophobia. His approach is rigorously logical; the story might be on the fantastic side, but it develops in a carefully structured, entirely plausible way. We really believe this could happen, which makes it altogether more frightening (and, it must be said, icky).
Sep 042024