Insecticide

by Vérité Ventures

Brandon—a Hemipsphere Corporation scientist—loved insects even Before the world ended. Diana—a NatureAid scout—has been trying to survive insects since the world ended. Brandon and Diana experienced the end differently, find themselves on different sides of a corporate war, and have different secrets, but they share a common destination—the Island. Thrust together in a post-apocalyptic near future, trying to survive cicadas, killer hornets, and scavenging sapiens, they must decide if they can share not just their destination, but their motivations to do more than just survive.

354 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 25, 2022

About the author

Author of the post-apocalyptic, action novel Insecticide. Vérité Ventures has interests in science fiction, dystopian, and disaster fiction and blogs about writing and self-publishing at veriteventures.com.

Reviews

[Sarah B · Rating 3 out of 5]

End of the World

So I just couldn't get into this particular end of the world story. I had thought this would be a scary story about real insects but its actually about drones, little tiny drones that look like insects. Many are cicadas. Which I think what you see on the cover. But the story is not scary or suspenseful or even exciting. I was quite bored through the first one-third of this. The characters have great back stories: the author has done her homework in that regard all right. Tons of details too. But it just wasn't interesting to me.

So throughout this story the characters are hoping to get to this island. But first they need to get to Salt Lake. Which is a big problem because these drones are out looking for people and its not good if they find you. There are these Operators too. Anyway most of the people are gone already so you have these two characters traveling around trying to get somewhere. Brandon and Diana.

I felt the plot moved very slow. There is tons of back info, including huge long flashback scenes with Brandon to show us his history, but I just wasn't into it. I was reading and was wondering "when is something going to happen?" But its mostly little chitchat scenes and they hide on a few drones. I just didn't feel anything big happened. You read a lot but its kind of dull.

And after reaching the end I feel kind of confused? Like what was the point of it all?

I also feel puzzled of how Diana can be tromping around the wilderness areas and yet have that cat at home? Who takes care of the cat? Its weird.

Giving this 3 stars as the characters have very detailed backgrounds and back stories. Its clear the author has worked hard on this.

[Tim Cann · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book builds a world that has gone awry through humanity’s efforts to tame it. The title suggests the source of the troubles, and in the midst of it all are two people who are just trying to survive. One of them, however, is a scientist who that helped bring about the apocalypse while the other is a survivalist trying to help him stop his creations.

Though the world's new miniature troubles make for interesting antagonists, I couldn’t help but think about the geo-engineering experiments going on right now to try to solve climate change while I was reading the book. That might be because the scientist protagonist regularly makes observations on the changes to the natural world since the disaster unfolded. These were fascinating to read and I couldn’t get enough of those. If you're a reader who gets excited by detailed (and plausible) scientific explanations like I am, you're in for a treat.

What I found to be more frightening than the book's namesake troubles were the occasional flashbacks to the scientist’s life before the disaster, where he remembers his dealings with a wealthy monomaniacal tech entrepreneur. Come to "Insecticide" for the marvelous scientific explanations and suspense, but hurry through the sections with the scary billionaire! The creepy-crawlies are scary, but why don’t they make people-sized fly swatters?

[Laurie Bowler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Insecticide takes you on an exciting and enjoyable journey with believable and diversely written characters. The novel touches on various topics found today and then explores the possibilities of their outcome and impact in the years to come. The writing style is creative, imaginative, educational, and knowledgeable regarding the topics explored. I really enjoyed reading this, and I hope there is a sequel.
The author's unique approach to writing will draw you in and fully immerse you in the book.

[Angel Giacomo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cicadas that are tiny drones trying to kill people. Interesting concept in a dystopian thriller set in a post-apocalyptic world. With all the AI and robotic advances, something that could be possible in the near future. Great backstories on the characters of Brandon and Diana. While I do love the concept, the pace of the plot seemed a tad slow with me wanting something to happen. All in all, an excellent outing for this author. Keep up the good work.

[Tim McKay · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought I was reading a Stephen King novel the whole way through. The style and writing were incredibly similar to The Stand, if The Stand had thrown flesh-eating bugs and insect drones at you!

Occasionally preachy, but very smart and well-written. If you enjoy a good dystopian thriller that'll keep you thinking and on the edge of your seat, this one's for you!

[wendi c duncan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good read . Especially if your sick and tired of the same ole apocalypse scenarios. It was a change of pace that i very much appreciated.

[Lisa Towles · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great escape. Good writing, fast paced story, everything you want in fiction. Look forward to reading more by this author.