In October, I decided I was going to read a bunch of horror novels. So I bought a bunch and downloaded others which I found on the Interwebs for free (*looks around innocently*). And then Halloween came and went, and I promptly forgot about all my horror novels.

So, nothing says “Happy Thanksgiving” like a book about a killer worm parasite that makes people HUNGRY. HANGRY, even. Oh, and batshit crazy.

A deserted island. A troop of boy scouts and their scoutmaster. One weirdo in a rowboat. This sets the stage for a horrifying scenario – a super contagious, super deadly worm that grows inside a person and gorges itself on their innards until the person wastes away. And then the worms burst out, looking for another host. Grody to the max.

It’s apparent immediately that some of the characters in this book, if not all of them, are going to die. As the story moves along, and we as readers travel from perspective to perspective of the five boys and the Scoutmaster, as well as transcripts from a scientific trial, a court case (or maybe a deposition), and newspaper clippings, we learn that people outside of the island know about the threat of the worm, and are doing nothing to stop it, but rather to let it run its course.

Sounds completely creepy, right? It is. We watch helplessly as the infected become physically and mentally ravaged by the parasite within them. And we can do nothing to stop it from taking its next victim. All we can hope for, as the boys do, is that they make it off the island alive.

Highly recommended for major creep factor and ability to make one’s skin crawl. If you don’t have any aversion to worms before you read this, you can bet that you will afterward. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.