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Buzz Kill
An action-packed nightmarish thriller about a deadly wasp invasion threatening to wipe mankind from the face of the planet, by the author of Sleep Tight.
THEY DON’T JUST STING YOU. They lay their eggs in human flesh. They hatch and crawl beneath the skin. Then they grow wings and burst out of the body. A rare species of wasp from the Amazon jungle, they are unusually large, extremely aggressive—and coming to America on the next international flight...
THEY BREED INSIDE OF YOU. On a Florida-bound plane from Honduras, a baby screams in pain. Minutes later, the wasps emerge from their human host. They attack the passengers, sting the crew, and send the plane crashing into the gulf. No one survives. Over three hundred bodies are pulled from the wreckage. Bodies injected with tens of thousands of eggs...
CALL THE EXTERMINATORS. In a Miami morgue, the larvae feast on the dead. Then they erupt from the corpses, attacking every living human in sight. Soon they are swarming across the state, spreading throughout the country, breeding and growing in number, size—and viciousness. Pesticides won’t stop them. But a young entomologist and a motley crew of military convicts are fighting back—using science, smoking grenades, and flamethrowers. They call themselves The Exterminators. And they’ll do whatever it takes to wipe these nasty buggers off the face of the earth—before they kill us all...
THEY DON’T JUST STING YOU. They lay their eggs in human flesh. They hatch and crawl beneath the skin. Then they grow wings and burst out of the body. A rare species of wasp from the Amazon jungle, they are unusually large, extremely aggressive—and coming to America on the next international flight...
THEY BREED INSIDE OF YOU. On a Florida-bound plane from Honduras, a baby screams in pain. Minutes later, the wasps emerge from their human host. They attack the passengers, sting the crew, and send the plane crashing into the gulf. No one survives. Over three hundred bodies are pulled from the wreckage. Bodies injected with tens of thousands of eggs...
CALL THE EXTERMINATORS. In a Miami morgue, the larvae feast on the dead. Then they erupt from the corpses, attacking every living human in sight. Soon they are swarming across the state, spreading throughout the country, breeding and growing in number, size—and viciousness. Pesticides won’t stop them. But a young entomologist and a motley crew of military convicts are fighting back—using science, smoking grenades, and flamethrowers. They call themselves The Exterminators. And they’ll do whatever it takes to wipe these nasty buggers off the face of the earth—before they kill us all...
- GenresHorror
252 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 20, 2022
6 people are currently reading
25 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
August 10, 2022
Buzz Kill by Jeff Jacobson is a brash, over the top, offensive novel about giant wasps killing a bunch of people.
If the Sci-fi channel hired Rob Zombie to make a movie about murder hornets it might be a little like this. A low budget monster movie of a book that somehow captures if-y CGI on a page. I couldn't look away for some reason.
****Spoilers****
In all seriousness though the book seems to relish in being in your face and tasteless.
It starts with an exploding baby and goes from there.
One of my biggest complaints with the book is the fact that it seems to fall back on the old "everyone is a jerk so it's okay if they die" trope. In one scene a main character kneels on the neck of a villain who is suffering severe head trauma, stabs her in the eye with a Giant stinger, and then gouges out her other eye with his thumb, a little later as a group is chatting she is described as still twitching, but no one cares because she is a racist. The President is shot in the head but is able to serve his last two years missing 1/3 of his brain without it changing things much.
****End Spoilers****
Speaking of brains for some reason I feel the need to wash mine now.
Thanks to #NetGalley, #KensingtonBooks and Jeff Jacobson for the ARC of #BuzzKill.
If the Sci-fi channel hired Rob Zombie to make a movie about murder hornets it might be a little like this. A low budget monster movie of a book that somehow captures if-y CGI on a page. I couldn't look away for some reason.
****Spoilers****
In all seriousness though the book seems to relish in being in your face and tasteless.
It starts with an exploding baby and goes from there.
One of my biggest complaints with the book is the fact that it seems to fall back on the old "everyone is a jerk so it's okay if they die" trope. In one scene a main character kneels on the neck of a villain who is suffering severe head trauma, stabs her in the eye with a Giant stinger, and then gouges out her other eye with his thumb, a little later as a group is chatting she is described as still twitching, but no one cares because she is a racist. The President is shot in the head but is able to serve his last two years missing 1/3 of his brain without it changing things much.
****End Spoilers****
Speaking of brains for some reason I feel the need to wash mine now.
Thanks to #NetGalley, #KensingtonBooks and Jeff Jacobson for the ARC of #BuzzKill.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 20, 2022
BUZZ KILL is an action-packed, gore-suffused, enthralling, Creature Feature. These "creatures" have got it all: an evolved ecosystem that puts paid to almost anything human technology and industry can invent. When Nature strikes back, it's with a vengeance....and if these Insects expand their hunting territory farther than overpopulated South Florida, then sooner, not later, Earth will become a mightily empty planet.
You can read this for the Creature Horror, you can revel in the gore. But Author Jeff Jacobson doesn't stop with that. We've got political commentary, human evil, human Bigfoot, social and cultural riffs, and an ongoing thread of wry sarcasm running throughout, gently mocking today's politics, society, Internet culture [and we all need to laugh at it now and then]. Additionally, he builds a Villain so evil my hair stood on end and my heart nearly came to a standstill.
Caution: extreme gore, violence, evil, injury and death involving children, adults, elderly. Deaths of animals. Obscenity.
You can read this for the Creature Horror, you can revel in the gore. But Author Jeff Jacobson doesn't stop with that. We've got political commentary, human evil, human Bigfoot, social and cultural riffs, and an ongoing thread of wry sarcasm running throughout, gently mocking today's politics, society, Internet culture [and we all need to laugh at it now and then]. Additionally, he builds a Villain so evil my hair stood on end and my heart nearly came to a standstill.
Caution: extreme gore, violence, evil, injury and death involving children, adults, elderly. Deaths of animals. Obscenity.
September 20, 2022
If you know me at all, you know that I love books like this! Skin crawling, chompy and with a sense of humor. This is just pure fun!
Yes, the situations are over the top, but so entertaining!
And, yes, some of the characters are a bit silly, but they're a blast to read!
I devoured this one (sorry) so quickly and I was just sorry that it was over.
A blast of an entertaining read!
Yes, the situations are over the top, but so entertaining!
And, yes, some of the characters are a bit silly, but they're a blast to read!
I devoured this one (sorry) so quickly and I was just sorry that it was over.
A blast of an entertaining read!
August 22, 2022
Wasps Kill More People Than Any Other Pest, Yet Are Arrested Only 5% of the Time
Jeff Jacobson is a terrific thriller writer and I loved his new book. The action hits the ground running and his relentless pacing makes it hard to catch a breath. I'm glad I read Buzz Kill as an e-book and not in a physical format because, as quickly as I turned the pages, I surely would have set them on fire.
The title is clever. I shuddered when I thought, “murder hornets,” and immediately snapped it up from NetGalley. If you use fiction to battle the psychological effects of real-life terrors beyond your control like I do, you’ll definitely want to check out what these invaders do to the people of Miami. It’s a cathartic misadventure.
All of Jacobson's characters are vivid. Some disgraced soldiers begin the story as violent, murderous prisoners, but as they fight their way through this catastrophic situation, they evolve. Those who survive find a sense of redemption they perhaps once found when they were in combat, as they save civilians and each other.
Andy, in particular, introduced as a bitter criminal, becomes worthy of compassion, if not forgiveness. These kinds of transformations may seem hackneyed, but I never get tired of characters who’ve really screwed things up yet get a second chance. Punishment, no matter how deserved, is a useless tool without the chance of reformation and the opportunity to make reparations. Whether it will stick is another matter, however.
But in this dire cataclysmic emergency, every available defender is needed against the massed attacks of these horrifying wasps. They are a never-before seen species with atypical size and habits, not murder hornets. The government’s response to the ensuing chaos is dynamic but not very effective. This gives the prisoners usefulness and sets a group of scientists on a dangerous mission.
If any of the desperate characters, the prisoners or the scientists, hadn't been able to think on their feet and outside the box, the story would have quickly ended for the entire state of Florida. The scientists quickly learn that credentials don’t lend any advantage in this kind of emergency. The prisoners' visceral reactions not only save lives but make them heroic figures.
Jen, a graduate student, is a perfect combination of brainy and brave. The way she became love-struck while helping Andy added a humorous sense of serendipity to the story, as did Andy’s rapturous bewitchment by Jen. Both the mysterious prisoner Carver and Dr. Araminta Ross, a scientist, brought attitudes to their roles that made them standouts. Even Dr. Fletcher, lacking traits possessed by heroes and having tendencies that make him just the opposite, performs an essential role.
It's true that this book isn't for everyone. I'm not going to give any spoilers, but there are a plethora of shocking triggers that are offensive and potentially devastating. Terrible, mind-searing action probably ensures that Buzz Kill will become one of Hollywood’s major motion pictures.
Reading the book was an escapist's pleasure and despite the frenzied bloodshed, it was gritty, satisfying thrills. It's terrifying enough for this adrenaline junkie to rave about, plus the science and political scenarios, though only broadly sketched, feel authentic and current. If you have a dark sense of humor and love creature-feature disaster porn, this book is for you.
I'm grateful for the free advance reader's copy I received courtesy of the author, Lyrical Press, and NetGalley. This review is my honest endorsement, given without any obligation.
Jeff Jacobson is a terrific thriller writer and I loved his new book. The action hits the ground running and his relentless pacing makes it hard to catch a breath. I'm glad I read Buzz Kill as an e-book and not in a physical format because, as quickly as I turned the pages, I surely would have set them on fire.
The title is clever. I shuddered when I thought, “murder hornets,” and immediately snapped it up from NetGalley. If you use fiction to battle the psychological effects of real-life terrors beyond your control like I do, you’ll definitely want to check out what these invaders do to the people of Miami. It’s a cathartic misadventure.
All of Jacobson's characters are vivid. Some disgraced soldiers begin the story as violent, murderous prisoners, but as they fight their way through this catastrophic situation, they evolve. Those who survive find a sense of redemption they perhaps once found when they were in combat, as they save civilians and each other.
Andy, in particular, introduced as a bitter criminal, becomes worthy of compassion, if not forgiveness. These kinds of transformations may seem hackneyed, but I never get tired of characters who’ve really screwed things up yet get a second chance. Punishment, no matter how deserved, is a useless tool without the chance of reformation and the opportunity to make reparations. Whether it will stick is another matter, however.
But in this dire cataclysmic emergency, every available defender is needed against the massed attacks of these horrifying wasps. They are a never-before seen species with atypical size and habits, not murder hornets. The government’s response to the ensuing chaos is dynamic but not very effective. This gives the prisoners usefulness and sets a group of scientists on a dangerous mission.
If any of the desperate characters, the prisoners or the scientists, hadn't been able to think on their feet and outside the box, the story would have quickly ended for the entire state of Florida. The scientists quickly learn that credentials don’t lend any advantage in this kind of emergency. The prisoners' visceral reactions not only save lives but make them heroic figures.
Jen, a graduate student, is a perfect combination of brainy and brave. The way she became love-struck while helping Andy added a humorous sense of serendipity to the story, as did Andy’s rapturous bewitchment by Jen. Both the mysterious prisoner Carver and Dr. Araminta Ross, a scientist, brought attitudes to their roles that made them standouts. Even Dr. Fletcher, lacking traits possessed by heroes and having tendencies that make him just the opposite, performs an essential role.
It's true that this book isn't for everyone. I'm not going to give any spoilers, but there are a plethora of shocking triggers that are offensive and potentially devastating. Terrible, mind-searing action probably ensures that Buzz Kill will become one of Hollywood’s major motion pictures.
Reading the book was an escapist's pleasure and despite the frenzied bloodshed, it was gritty, satisfying thrills. It's terrifying enough for this adrenaline junkie to rave about, plus the science and political scenarios, though only broadly sketched, feel authentic and current. If you have a dark sense of humor and love creature-feature disaster porn, this book is for you.
I'm grateful for the free advance reader's copy I received courtesy of the author, Lyrical Press, and NetGalley. This review is my honest endorsement, given without any obligation.
September 5, 2022
WHAT AN OPENING CHAPTER.......
My mouth took about half of this book to actually close because boy oh boy was that one hell of an opening chapter.
Wasps are some of those terrifying creatures. You can just look at their beady little bodies and know they are meant for evil. Jeff Jacobson has done a great job capturing how evil and relentless an insect attack could be. And from the parasitic laying of eggs to relentless swarms this book easily captured a very real fear. Check this out!!
My mouth took about half of this book to actually close because boy oh boy was that one hell of an opening chapter.
Wasps are some of those terrifying creatures. You can just look at their beady little bodies and know they are meant for evil. Jeff Jacobson has done a great job capturing how evil and relentless an insect attack could be. And from the parasitic laying of eggs to relentless swarms this book easily captured a very real fear. Check this out!!
September 8, 2022
This story starts off with a bang right from the beginning. A rare wasp from the Amazon has entered a plane headed for the United States. They lay their eggs in human flesh, killing their host and are multiplying at an alarming rate. Soon, a group of military convicts and a entomologist are fighting to save the human race from this plague. A mash up of genres, science fiction and suspense that is a riveting thrill ride. The story had me engrossed in the plot and I was excited to get to the ending. It was quite the ride.
Disclaimer: Thank you to NetGalley and Lyrical Press for this ARC, I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Disclaimer: Thank you to NetGalley and Lyrical Press for this ARC, I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
September 12, 2022
An entertaining read
For a full review, please go to https://areviewerdarkly.blogspot.com/... and follow me on Twitter @josenher
For a full review, please go to https://areviewerdarkly.blogspot.com/... and follow me on Twitter @josenher
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October 4, 2022DNF
October 23, 2022
Giant killer wasps. What’s not to like?
October 3, 2022
Well I’ve read about killer worms, hordes of spiders, and now murderous wasps (not to be confused with Murder Hornets).
The book starts off strong with exploding abdomens and doesn’t stop.
The gore and violence only amped up as people become more desperate and the wasps became more destructive (and bigger!!)
Thank you to NetGalley, the author, & Kensington Books for a copy of this creature feature!
The book starts off strong with exploding abdomens and doesn’t stop.
The gore and violence only amped up as people become more desperate and the wasps became more destructive (and bigger!!)
Thank you to NetGalley, the author, & Kensington Books for a copy of this creature feature!
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews