I enjoyed Inside the Mirrors by Jason Davis, so I was looking forward to another novel by the author. What I found was a new series about invisible spiders. Davis maintains his classic style of horror (mystery & suspense, etc.), which works really well with supernatural spiders, but I thought he spent too much time describing the sensations of the spiders invading the unsuspecting victims in Book 1. After so many people become infected, it became a bit redundant. I also felt a disconnect with the characters - I didn't care who lived or died, at all. Despite my criticisms, I do find the series very entertaining & thoroughly creepy.
Having one's body invaded/infected by invisible spiders would be bad enough, but Davis steps up the fear factor by using the spiders to cause an undead outbreak. However, the "zombie" element played a small role in the storyline, and the real scene stealer was the SPIDER POV!! I was bit surprised that Davis would include the POV of these tiny creatures, but he managed to pull it off without being too over-the-top.
There is more action and more horror in the sequel than in the first book. Book 1 relied heavily on suspense, functioning as the setup for the series. Book 2 provides all the terrifying details of the nightmare once known as Hammond. The town has been quarantined, but how can the military hope to contain invisible spiders? The aggressiveness of the infected is also making it impossible for the trapped survivors to find sanctuary. The biggest problem continues to be the actual source of the spiders. Perhaps Book 3 will reveal more about the dark man who reeks of death.
Jason Davis has successfully taken a common phobia and turned it into an apocalyptic tsunami of pain, suffering and death. If you are hoping for a happy ending, don't.
Watch out for the spiders...
As always,
AstraDaemon
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