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Crickets #2
Crickets 2
The insectoid Prax landed on Earth approximately 12,000 years ago and immediately went into hiding.
Now that it seems safe to do so, the ravenous carnivores have awoken from their long slumber to feast on what they call "The Meats"—meaning humans.
Humans are good at war. But so are the Prax. And, as book two begins, the situation is dire. Approximately 2.8 billion humans have been killed. Russia has gone dark. Central America has been overrun. India is a "farm" from which the aliens harvest roughly 65,000 people a day, a number equal to India's birthrate. And that, according to the CIA, is what the so-called Crickets have in mind for the U.S.
That's the situation when something completely unforeseen occurs, shocking both the Prax and the humans and putting both on the defensive.
Marine Corps Captain Lester Evans will fight the menace while FEMA manager Cassie Lang will save as many lives as she can. Will their efforts, and those of many others, be enough to save mankind?
Now that it seems safe to do so, the ravenous carnivores have awoken from their long slumber to feast on what they call "The Meats"—meaning humans.
Humans are good at war. But so are the Prax. And, as book two begins, the situation is dire. Approximately 2.8 billion humans have been killed. Russia has gone dark. Central America has been overrun. India is a "farm" from which the aliens harvest roughly 65,000 people a day, a number equal to India's birthrate. And that, according to the CIA, is what the so-called Crickets have in mind for the U.S.
That's the situation when something completely unforeseen occurs, shocking both the Prax and the humans and putting both on the defensive.
Marine Corps Captain Lester Evans will fight the menace while FEMA manager Cassie Lang will save as many lives as she can. Will their efforts, and those of many others, be enough to save mankind?
264 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 5, 2023
28 people are currently reading
16 people want to read
About the author
William C. Dietz
124 books452 followersNew York Times bestselling author William C. Dietz has published more than fifty novels, some of which have been translated into German, Russian, and Japanese. He grew up in the Seattle area, served as a medic with the Navy and Marine Corps, graduated from the University of Washington, and has been employed as a surgical technician, college instructor, and television news writer, director and producer. Before becoming a full-time writer Dietz was director of public relations and marketing for an international telephone company. He and his wife live near Gig Harbor, Washington.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
August 12, 2023
Review of both volume one and two.
Both are free via Kindle Unlimited and worth every penny.
Ok, I don't see any point in noting every bobble, error and inconsistency in the books. I'll just cite two examples:
The crickets have such hard and thick chitin that ordinary small arms ammunition won't stop them. Soldiers and others use rifles with armor piercing ammunition except when they use 00 buck shot which slaughters crickets. For those who don't know, ordinary 2 3/4 inch, 12 gauge 00 buckshot has nine LEAD pellets of about .32 caliber each. Nothing armor piercing about it. Sometimes the characters use ordinary 9mm handguns which in this book work just as well as armor piercing rifle ammo. At one point the book states that the special team is armed with a Russian 9mm pistol which uses special armor piercing rounds. Only the special team had these and despite that, some of them use ordinary 9mm submachine guns and Glocks just like everyone else. If I remember correctly, a baseball bat also kills a cricket. I don't really care what kills a cricket so long as it's consistent
About two thousand or so crickets have been somehow changed into "cores" which are swirling blue globes. The crickets are ruled by a single prime who is chosen from the cores. The problem? The cores are blue globes but the prime has a body without chitin. No explanation even hinted at.
If you read carefully you will find more nonsense than these two examples. The writing itself is okay but not comparable to Dietz' early work such as his LEGION series which is similar in concept to Keith Laumer's BOLOS. I wonder if Dietz really wrote this mess or hired a ghost writer
Both are free via Kindle Unlimited and worth every penny.
Ok, I don't see any point in noting every bobble, error and inconsistency in the books. I'll just cite two examples:
The crickets have such hard and thick chitin that ordinary small arms ammunition won't stop them. Soldiers and others use rifles with armor piercing ammunition except when they use 00 buck shot which slaughters crickets. For those who don't know, ordinary 2 3/4 inch, 12 gauge 00 buckshot has nine LEAD pellets of about .32 caliber each. Nothing armor piercing about it. Sometimes the characters use ordinary 9mm handguns which in this book work just as well as armor piercing rifle ammo. At one point the book states that the special team is armed with a Russian 9mm pistol which uses special armor piercing rounds. Only the special team had these and despite that, some of them use ordinary 9mm submachine guns and Glocks just like everyone else. If I remember correctly, a baseball bat also kills a cricket. I don't really care what kills a cricket so long as it's consistent
About two thousand or so crickets have been somehow changed into "cores" which are swirling blue globes. The crickets are ruled by a single prime who is chosen from the cores. The problem? The cores are blue globes but the prime has a body without chitin. No explanation even hinted at.
If you read carefully you will find more nonsense than these two examples. The writing itself is okay but not comparable to Dietz' early work such as his LEGION series which is similar in concept to Keith Laumer's BOLOS. I wonder if Dietz really wrote this mess or hired a ghost writer
August 31, 2023
A satisfying end to the tale
The Crickets novels are an easy read, thanks to a writer who is good at composing sentences that aren't clunky (unlike many authors today), and I'm guessing also a good editor who kept grammar and spelling errors to a minimum (unlike MANY books being released these days). The narrative flows well and is easy to follow. The plot is fairly simple but I don't consider that to be a negative in this case. This book doesn't try to be anything it's not; it's just a fun and fast-paced adventure.
I was pleasantly surprised after finishing the first book to discover a sequel had already been written. If you like alien-invasion military/adventure sci-fi, you'll probably enjoy this one.
The Crickets novels are an easy read, thanks to a writer who is good at composing sentences that aren't clunky (unlike many authors today), and I'm guessing also a good editor who kept grammar and spelling errors to a minimum (unlike MANY books being released these days). The narrative flows well and is easy to follow. The plot is fairly simple but I don't consider that to be a negative in this case. This book doesn't try to be anything it's not; it's just a fun and fast-paced adventure.
I was pleasantly surprised after finishing the first book to discover a sequel had already been written. If you like alien-invasion military/adventure sci-fi, you'll probably enjoy this one.
November 22, 2023
GOOD OLD FASHIONED BUG HUNT
Both books were really good. I liked that Marines, naturally, played a huge role. :-) But, I wish the author had looked me up for some technical help with the areas of the book featuring Marines (LOL)
Here’s the deal. Sometimes you need an uncomplicated story where heroes do hero things and bug eyed monsters do BEM things. We got that done.
Thanks Mr Dietz
Phil Gwinn (MSgt of Marines, Retired)
Both books were really good. I liked that Marines, naturally, played a huge role. :-) But, I wish the author had looked me up for some technical help with the areas of the book featuring Marines (LOL)
Here’s the deal. Sometimes you need an uncomplicated story where heroes do hero things and bug eyed monsters do BEM things. We got that done.
Thanks Mr Dietz
Phil Gwinn (MSgt of Marines, Retired)
July 29, 2023
Good military invasion story with unique twists.
Not only hostile aliens but hungry hostile aliens. Guess who’s on the menu. Enjoyed both books. Ended with believable conclusion.
Not only hostile aliens but hungry hostile aliens. Guess who’s on the menu. Enjoyed both books. Ended with believable conclusion.
August 19, 2023
A great read!
Check out volume one first. I enjoyed every word and look forward to reading the rest of his work.If you love military sci-fi you will love this.
Check out volume one first. I enjoyed every word and look forward to reading the rest of his work.If you love military sci-fi you will love this.
July 16, 2023
A welcome return to the Crickets World by one of the OG's of Military SF.
Action packed with the Author's well sketched characters and plenty of suspense.
I hope he comes back for a third...
Action packed with the Author's well sketched characters and plenty of suspense.
I hope he comes back for a third...
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews