The Coming Race

by J. Boote

Jim Eastwood is an exterminator who takes his job extremely seriously. Wiping out cockroaches makes him a very happy man. His wife, Emily, is pregnant with their first child and things couldn’t be better. Except, one day, while on a job, he falls down the stairs and suffers a serious concussion, requiring him to be hospitalised.
And this is when it all starts to go wrong.
Jim starts seeing cockroaches everywhere. And not only that he becomes convinced they are out to get him, seeking revenge for having killed so many of their species. They mock him, taunt him, always too fast for him to kill them. Then things get progressively worse. In his delusions and paranoias, he thinks everyone is out to get him; his partner, Kevin, then even Emily, all because of the cockroaches that are slowly plotting against him, wanting to ruin his life.
But Jim has a plan. He isn’t going to let a few bugs and his partner and wife destroy his life. If necessary, he’ll destroy theirs first…

100 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 21, 2025

About the author

J. Boote is the alter-ego of Justin Boote, author of horror and dark fiction. J. Boote writes primarily extreme horror, not for the faint-hearted or easily offended.

Reviews

[Peter Topside · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first J. Boote read. I've been looking forward to this for some time. Poor Jim, here, spent a strong majority of the story combatting trauma from job, hallucinations and delusions from a head injury, and a general miserable disposition. Put all of that together and you have the perfect formula for a disaster of a situation. It's a tricky balance when an author is trying to bring the reader into these vivid visions and such, all while finding that right balance to what is real, not disorienting the reader too much. But J. Boote accomplished it well here. I liked Jim as the lead, the story was very different, had a decent pace, and it made me want to crawl out of my skin multiple times. I knew how the ending was going to play out, but that didn't stop me from enjoying it all the same. This was a fantastic introduction to an author that I've had my eye on for a bit.

[Jaiden Harding · Rating 5 out of 5]

Two things in life are certain: I hate cockroaches, and I love J Boote.

A short read from one of my favourite EH authors. Bloody, unreliable, and chitinous.

[Milt Theo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sheer cockroach insanity! Everything you expect to find in a J. Boote tale about cockroaches, it's in there. I wish someone turned this into a graphic novel: the body horror is extremely graphic, plus the cockroach scenes would be terrifying visually. Especially for people like me, who hate roaches!

[Belinda · Rating 5 out of 5]

cockroaches didn't bug me till now

another amazing book by Boote. . . You try not to bring your work home with you but sometimes it sneaks into your nightmares. There's nothing worse than waking up thinking you've already done a job only to find that that's what you have to do that day. . .you only dreamed you finish the job.
this poor bug exterminator was having the same bad day. . . were the nightmares real or not? I don't want to ruin the story but let me just say the end was perfect. . .

[Lesley Camphouse · Rating 5 out of 5]

I still get itchy just thinking about this one. Ugh, the number of cockroaches I dealt with reading this. I'm glad they aren't common where I live because yuck.

This one crawls underneath your skin, and it's not fun. We follow Jim, a cockroach exterminator. Jim has a happy life. He is married to his true love, and they are expecting a baby after finally trying for years. His business is going well, even though Kevin, who works at his company, is not the co-worker Jim envisioned.

After an unfortunate incident, Jim ends up in the hospital. He suffers from a concussion, but since he needs to run his business, he leaves the hospital earlier, not getting the treatment he needs. Jim starts to see things, cockroaches... everywhere... And these cliquing little critters are making him spiral...

This was a fantastic read; it drags you into Jim's spiral and gives you the ick.

[megb · Rating 5 out of 5]

umm… ewwww 🪳but did i still love it? hell yeah. it made you feel like you were spiraling along with the main character. at some points, i was not even sure what was real or not. very fun, fast paced read!

[Susan West · Rating 5 out of 5]

Scary as hell and Super cringeworthy

Justin Boote has again written a story that gave me chills! His talent for description is used to create nightmare fuel that I won’t soon forget!

[SJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Umm... I was a bit paranoid with this book.
Roaches make my skin crawl, but I couldn't stop reading. Boote,pulled me into Jim's spiral, and I went willingly.
Creepy, chaotic, and worth every page.