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Paranormal Pest Control
Who knew bugs could become demonic?
A year ago, a series of earthquakes hit around the world. The damage and loss of life were devastating, and the world became weird but no more in the quake zone known as Broken Brooklyn. Bugs became demonic, demons invaded, and people with psychic abilities grew stronger.
Frank Carver and Hector Ramirez, two exterminators, and Jenny Blake, a woman who can talk to ghosts, have created a business to take out these new pests. And business is booming.
When Frank, Jenny, and Hector come across a giant bug, things get even friends go missing, a single female bedbug becomes a prized possession, and Jenny keeps finding bug-possessed people. Frank’s daughter, Angela, an unwilling participant, hears of the coming of the bug king.
As Jenny, Frank, and Hector keep hunting for the female bug and missing friends, they wonder if they are getting closer to what or who caused the earthquake.
A year ago, a series of earthquakes hit around the world. The damage and loss of life were devastating, and the world became weird but no more in the quake zone known as Broken Brooklyn. Bugs became demonic, demons invaded, and people with psychic abilities grew stronger.
Frank Carver and Hector Ramirez, two exterminators, and Jenny Blake, a woman who can talk to ghosts, have created a business to take out these new pests. And business is booming.
When Frank, Jenny, and Hector come across a giant bug, things get even friends go missing, a single female bedbug becomes a prized possession, and Jenny keeps finding bug-possessed people. Frank’s daughter, Angela, an unwilling participant, hears of the coming of the bug king.
As Jenny, Frank, and Hector keep hunting for the female bug and missing friends, they wonder if they are getting closer to what or who caused the earthquake.
- GenresFantasy
259 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 12, 2023
1 person is currently reading
10 people want to read
About the author
Lara Frater
17 books23 followersLook upon my squid hat! Look upon it!
I’m your atypical fat gamer girl who loves to write: Horror, non-fiction, poems, paranormal suspense, non-fiction, and sci-fi.
Although I prefer to write fiction, my first book was the non-fiction Fat Chicks Rule! A guidebook on being a big girl in a thin world and included information on how to find fat positive books, movies, and TV, where to find fashion, comfortable seating, and how to deal with fat hatred. Writing this book changed my life and perspective on dieting and fat bodies. I also wrote the essay "Fat Heroines in Chick Lit" for the Fat Studies Reader. (This essay from mentioned in the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, so woohoo!)
But my first love was fiction, which I returned to with the End of the Line series. Three zombie novels that take place in a world almost dead of the flu and having to deal with the zombies who rose from the ashes. End of the Line was followed by Stuck in the Middle and Full Circle (Coming 2024). And maybe more books to come.
Changing gears I moved on to a more lighthearted paranormal suspense/ horror series Paranormal Pest Control. Where exterminators and paranormal investigators fight demonic bugs. The first book is out. The second book “Dark Thing in the Cemetery” is expected April 2024.
I have also appeared in Tales from the Canyon of the Damned and Necrotic Tissues, and have essays about library science (my fun day job).
I'm heavily influenced by Joe R. Lansdale, Stephen King, Toni Morrison, Octavia Butler and Richard Matheson.
I live in New York City, married to fellow author Jon Frater and have lots of animals and people in my house. I’m in need of an exterminator or an obedient Dalek.
I’m your atypical fat gamer girl who loves to write: Horror, non-fiction, poems, paranormal suspense, non-fiction, and sci-fi.
Although I prefer to write fiction, my first book was the non-fiction Fat Chicks Rule! A guidebook on being a big girl in a thin world and included information on how to find fat positive books, movies, and TV, where to find fashion, comfortable seating, and how to deal with fat hatred. Writing this book changed my life and perspective on dieting and fat bodies. I also wrote the essay "Fat Heroines in Chick Lit" for the Fat Studies Reader. (This essay from mentioned in the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, so woohoo!)
But my first love was fiction, which I returned to with the End of the Line series. Three zombie novels that take place in a world almost dead of the flu and having to deal with the zombies who rose from the ashes. End of the Line was followed by Stuck in the Middle and Full Circle (Coming 2024). And maybe more books to come.
Changing gears I moved on to a more lighthearted paranormal suspense/ horror series Paranormal Pest Control. Where exterminators and paranormal investigators fight demonic bugs. The first book is out. The second book “Dark Thing in the Cemetery” is expected April 2024.
I have also appeared in Tales from the Canyon of the Damned and Necrotic Tissues, and have essays about library science (my fun day job).
I'm heavily influenced by Joe R. Lansdale, Stephen King, Toni Morrison, Octavia Butler and Richard Matheson.
I live in New York City, married to fellow author Jon Frater and have lots of animals and people in my house. I’m in need of an exterminator or an obedient Dalek.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
September 16, 2025
Frater absolutely ups the ick factor for people who already have a distaste for the creepy crawly. This was a fun romp through New York with a cast of characters that really grows on you, the type of cast you start to really hope makes it through the end of the world.
May 3, 2023
Clever
A unique story about a mini apocalypse in Brooklyn. The lot is excellent and the characters are interesting and compelling.
A unique story about a mini apocalypse in Brooklyn. The lot is excellent and the characters are interesting and compelling.
November 18, 2023
THE KING IS COMING FOR YOU ALL
Lara Frater's "Paranormal Pest Control" is a very unique story told with a very unique voice. I think if you gave me a list of creepies and crawlies and all things in between, I would have never come up with this combination! I don't know, maybe it would make for a pretty cool home version of "Cryptid Cards Against Humanity" or something! Sure, I guess you could argue that the story takes place in New York City and in the Big Apple anything goes but… Oh and if you're curious, we find ourselves in of all places Broken Brooklyn, described as being "almost two miles of rubble and filled with demons." So yeah, not all that hard to imagine maybe in terms of locale, though probably still not as loud as the AirBnB I stayed in on the edge of Harlem.
Almost a year ago, an earthquake destroyed a small part of Brooklyn, and demons and demon-possessed bugs had come out of the rubble.
Still, I was struck by how - what's a good word? - universal this story felt. Yes, I appreciate that it takes place in an area where Atlantic Avenue cuts right through and that the ruins of the Barclay Center are still visible. And yes, despite the typical late October weather during our visit, I have walked along and through a good portion of this borough. But the feeling is that this could have been Anywhere, USA. Yes, Frater tells us that these "incursions" have happened in other parts of the world, but we learn quickly that Brooklyn is where the main action is taking place. Which is ok because no one really pulls that hard for the Nets now, do they?
…almost a quarter of Americans don’t believe the supernatural exists…
I also liked how our cornucopia of interesting characters were equally very universal in nature. Needless to say, but we get to know those that can talk to ghosts as well as those that can fight demons and naturally those that know the best way to get rid of a REALLY SERIOUS bug infestation quite well. Heck, it's all so serious, the local government has even gone so far as to - hold on to your hats kids, this will surprise you - form a Task Force! I know, right? But if it makes you feel any better, the group is per tradition underpaid, underfunded, and somewhat underwhelmed about the sheer mayhem happening right under… hee hee… their noses!
Something’s in that house that’s worse than a normal infestation. Something in the air feels wrong, like something is coming.
So the story itself was a lot of fun and one of those you find yourself wishing had been longer so that we could delve into given aspects more. There's a lot of character details and development to unpack - and that's before all the possessions and coercions start. Frater does a pretty darn good job of keeping us abreast of who most of the players are, but the reader could have definitely been told more - and I think would have naturally enjoyed that, too. And that would also include some folks that could be considered either the bad guys or even the not-quite-good guys, too!
Why the fuck should I be happy? I’m inside a giant disgusting bedbug about to give birth to a monster.
Again then, my lasting impression is that the sheer inventiveness of this story will stay with me for quite a while. Sure, there's some stretches where the formatting and editing get a bit off rail, including the surprise appearance (creation?) of Sean. He gets no real introduction; he's just there with a 'poof', noting he's a part of it all with a pretty complex back story, too! But stuff like that happens sometimes and we do our best to keep up! Nothing catastrophic for sure - there are a lot of folks to keep track of after all - and certainly nothing to keep me from waiting anxiously for the next chapter. It should be a blast!
Lara Frater's "Paranormal Pest Control" is a very unique story told with a very unique voice. I think if you gave me a list of creepies and crawlies and all things in between, I would have never come up with this combination! I don't know, maybe it would make for a pretty cool home version of "Cryptid Cards Against Humanity" or something! Sure, I guess you could argue that the story takes place in New York City and in the Big Apple anything goes but… Oh and if you're curious, we find ourselves in of all places Broken Brooklyn, described as being "almost two miles of rubble and filled with demons." So yeah, not all that hard to imagine maybe in terms of locale, though probably still not as loud as the AirBnB I stayed in on the edge of Harlem.
Almost a year ago, an earthquake destroyed a small part of Brooklyn, and demons and demon-possessed bugs had come out of the rubble.
Still, I was struck by how - what's a good word? - universal this story felt. Yes, I appreciate that it takes place in an area where Atlantic Avenue cuts right through and that the ruins of the Barclay Center are still visible. And yes, despite the typical late October weather during our visit, I have walked along and through a good portion of this borough. But the feeling is that this could have been Anywhere, USA. Yes, Frater tells us that these "incursions" have happened in other parts of the world, but we learn quickly that Brooklyn is where the main action is taking place. Which is ok because no one really pulls that hard for the Nets now, do they?
…almost a quarter of Americans don’t believe the supernatural exists…
I also liked how our cornucopia of interesting characters were equally very universal in nature. Needless to say, but we get to know those that can talk to ghosts as well as those that can fight demons and naturally those that know the best way to get rid of a REALLY SERIOUS bug infestation quite well. Heck, it's all so serious, the local government has even gone so far as to - hold on to your hats kids, this will surprise you - form a Task Force! I know, right? But if it makes you feel any better, the group is per tradition underpaid, underfunded, and somewhat underwhelmed about the sheer mayhem happening right under… hee hee… their noses!
Something’s in that house that’s worse than a normal infestation. Something in the air feels wrong, like something is coming.
So the story itself was a lot of fun and one of those you find yourself wishing had been longer so that we could delve into given aspects more. There's a lot of character details and development to unpack - and that's before all the possessions and coercions start. Frater does a pretty darn good job of keeping us abreast of who most of the players are, but the reader could have definitely been told more - and I think would have naturally enjoyed that, too. And that would also include some folks that could be considered either the bad guys or even the not-quite-good guys, too!
Why the fuck should I be happy? I’m inside a giant disgusting bedbug about to give birth to a monster.
Again then, my lasting impression is that the sheer inventiveness of this story will stay with me for quite a while. Sure, there's some stretches where the formatting and editing get a bit off rail, including the surprise appearance (creation?) of Sean. He gets no real introduction; he's just there with a 'poof', noting he's a part of it all with a pretty complex back story, too! But stuff like that happens sometimes and we do our best to keep up! Nothing catastrophic for sure - there are a lot of folks to keep track of after all - and certainly nothing to keep me from waiting anxiously for the next chapter. It should be a blast!
October 14, 2025
This fast read is fun, with a great concept, interesting characters, original stakes, and a satisfying payoff. I suspect this is the beginning of an engaging series that fans will enjoy for years to come.
Recommended
Recommended
October 23, 2025
I just finished Paranormal Pest Control by Lara Faekitty Frater and loved it! It was a fast-paced, fun read that kept my eyes glued to the pages. If you want a really fun story to read, this is your book!!
March 27, 2024
A thrilling dark fantasy novel. A real page turner!
June 17, 2025
A fun tale of a mini-apocalypse, ghosts and the paranormal, and demon-possessed bedbugs. The book is littered with great characters that'll put a smile on your face. Even the bugs are fun!
October 28, 2023
I love my own book. Booga booga Bugs!
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews