Insecta

by Sylvester Murray

“Tom!” Oliver shouted, running after the cat. He stopped short in the living room, as a horrified shriek tore through the air. It sounded almost human, he thought. His heart was pounding against his ribs as he moved towards the door. Now, the sounds grew clearer. More like an animal in agony. Then he remembered Chester. Oh dear God, his pet billy goat, Chester. The Pitiful sobs gave way to blood-curdling moans. Snatching his pellet riffle from beside the fireplace, Oliver ran out of the house and onto the front lawn. A scrawny Billy goat, its soft furry body completely engulfed in a blanket of insects, wobbled frantically inside the pin. Blood oozed from the raw flesh of its eyes and nostrils and the grunting sobs broke the boy’s heart. With a scream of rage Oliver ran to the fence and scrambled over it. Swinging the gun back and forth, he beat at the huge insects that feasted ravenously on the goat. With a final groan, the goat fell to the ground and rolled onto its side. All around him, animals lay dead or dying in the pasture, bodies drained of blood. Tears poured from the child’s eyes. “Chester! Chester! Don’t die, you can’t die!” The boy’s sobs soon turned to terror, because the insects had turned on him now, they settled on his face, his arms, his entire body. A swarming mass of insect’s with bloodsucking proboscises. Pain shot though Oliver’s body as the sharp pincers drove deep into the lacerated tissue of his lips. He screamed in horror as they sucked at the fluids around his eyes and crawled into his nostrils. Death was a slow agony. Now the younger child, roused by the noise, stood on the porch, tears of fright streaming down his face. The insects swarmed his body as he ran towards his older brother. It was over in a matter of moments. A jet plane from the Godfry County air force base roared overhead; it banked and was about to make its decent. The stillness of the sweltering heat returned, and the only sound was that of a cat whimpering as it trembled near the bloody remains of the children’s bodies.

198 pages, Paperback

Published August 27, 2016

About the author

A few minutes from the ocean, in a quaint small seaport town, is where the author calls home. He has made his mark as a professional cook, a poet, and a songwriter. He has also written 29 published books in various genres, including Non-fiction, Cooking, Science fiction, Romance, Drama, Mystery, audiobooks, and Horror. He has written quite a lot of songs as well. They include hip-hop, R&B, and contemporary Christian music. His hobbies include fishing, hiking, and walking along the beach in his leisure time. He keeps himself busy writing when life unwinds from its hectic pace.

Reviews

[Ateefah Sana Ur Rab · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was interesting and got me curious about many things from the start. It felt like reading a good plot of horror with just the right amount of mystery, thriller and suspense. The book wasn’t a drag and I did not feel bored at any moment. The very first incident got me hooked and curiosity kept accelerating as I read further and went deeper into the plot. There was always something going on and that was what kept me intrigued till the very end. This book was a good read.
As a fan of horror, I would say that this book did just what horror books are supposed to do; creep out the reader. I am scared of insects, especially flying cockroaches, and this did not help at all as I got super-sensitive and looked about again and again to see if an insect had wriggled near me in my oblivion. It kept me somewhat at the edge, and this made me like the book more. That’s what horror books are supposed to do!
Good mystery books have a great amount of thriller and suspense. No one knows what might happen next and the clues are let loose, once in a while. This is essential, for, it keeps the readers hooked and focused. As a fan of mystery and crime thrillers, there’s no need to deny that I really liked reading this book.
This book was a bit short though. I would have liked it more if I had been told what happened after the whole ordeal was over. The ending was unexpected in this way, as I wanted to know what happened next and what did the characters do after their mission completed. There were a few typos but overall, this book was good, interesting and without unnecessary details that only drag the plot for unidentified reasons. And yes, I liked the concept of this book. ‘Insecta’; how they came into being, their mutation, attacks and all; proved to be something of much interest for me.
I would recommend it to people who are looking for a book that’s a mixture of horror, mystery, thriller, suspense and sci-fi. I hope they enjoy the book as much as I did.

[Carlos · Rating 2 out of 5]

So bad

You would think an author would use spell check every now and again. Misspellings, different sized fonts, irregular formatting all added to the chore of slogging through this crap. Not recommended.