THE SWARM by Andy Marino – Review

I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

The Swarm by Andy Marino
Published by Redhook on November 5 2024
Genres: Adult, Horror
Pages: 512
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
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The nitty-gritty: The Birds and Alien but with giant cicadas, The Swarm is not for the faint of heart and should be read indoors with all the windows firmly closed.

If you’re not a bug person, you might want to think twice before picking up The Swarm. On the other hand, if you’re a fan of scary, end-of-the-world stories and you can handle some very graphic, bug/body horror scenarios, then you’re probably the right reader for this book. I’m terrified by most bugs, although since I’ve never encountered a cicada, I wasn’t bothered by the premise of a cicada uprising—at first. But wow, this book ended up scaring me to death! Andy Marino knows how to bring the tension to his bug apocalypse horror story, and I guarantee you’ll think twice about getting anywhere near a swarm of flying insects after reading it.

We follow several groups of characters in alternating chapters. First we meet Detectives Vicky Paterson and Kenny Grimes, who are investigating the odd case of a dead woman with her fingernails, hair and teeth removed. Vicky is puzzled by the lack of insect activity at the crime scene. The body should be crawling with maggots and flies, but there isn’t a single insect anywhere near the body. Although there is a very loud humming sound that seems out of place…

Will and Alicia are private investigators who have been hired to find a young woman named Violet, who supposedly ran off to join a cult. They have tracked her to a secluded warehouse, where Will witnesses a strange scene that appears to be ritualistic. Afterwards, Alicia notices Will is acting strange, muttering things about “the true bug” and “the Order of Hemiptera.”

Anton Hajek owns a company called Lacuna which boasts a revolutionary way of communicating and transferring information, but when his New York City highrise building is attacked by swarms of giant cicadas, he realizes his life is about to change.

Finally, we meet Rebecca Perez, a forensic entomologist who is teaching a college course when her building is attacked by the swarm.

All over the world, swarms of cicadas are emerging from the ground, even in places where they don’t usually live. The cicadas are larger than normal, and they’re attacking humans. As people start to die, panic sets in. Vicky’s daughter was attacked, and Vicky will do anything to save her. Will seems to have a connection to the swarm, but what does that mean for Alicia? Rebecca is a scientist and only believes in facts, but she’s never seen anything like this before. And Anton is afraid he may have set the apocalypse in motion.

The horror in The Swarm is on point. Andy Marino has tapped into a fear that many people have—bugs—and turned it into the worst apocalypse ever. I won’t go into too much detail, but let’s just say there are parts in the story that reminded me of Alien and leave it at that. I loved his descriptions of people being trapped in buildings as the swarms of giant cicadas try to get in. And yes, they do indeed manage to find their way inside through vents and cracks. And heaven forbid you’re outside when the swarm emerges, because there’s nowhere to go that’s safe.

I was also surprised by the way the author developed the lifecycle of this horrible cicada. If I counted right, there were three main stages of growth, and in each one the bugs get bigger. I was especially horrified by the “nymph” stage (and I googled “cicada nymph” and I sort of wish I hadn’t!). Take a look at a photo of a nymph and imagine it the size of cat, and you’ll get an idea of what everyone is up against. Yuck!

This is an ambitious story that mostly works, but I do have a couple of issues. First, it’s just too long. With so many point of view characters, and very long chapters between each one, it was easy to forget what a particular group was doing before the story switched to another POV. Marino spends a lot of time on character development and backstory, which is fine, but some of it could have been trimmed for a more streamlined reading experience.

There are several theories about why the cicadas are acting the way they are, which sort of muddied the waters for me. One storyline involves a cult of worshippers who “become one” with the bugs (icky and gross), and the author goes back eighty years or so to try to explain it. I honestly could have done without the whole cult angle, since the killer cicadas themselves were scary enough. The other idea involves Anton—who had the least page time of any of the characters—and while it was an interesting theory, it didn’t make that much sense.

My favorite character was Rebecca, not only because she is a scientist and sees the swarm from a different perspective, but I loved that her dead sister Mari “talks” to her as she’s trying to figure out how to save herself and her students. I kind of wish the author would write a book about Rebecca and Mari, I really loved their dynamic.

So how does one end a story about a cicada apocalypse? Marino does it perfectly with an epilogue that takes place several months after the explosive conclusion and explains what happened to the cicadas and those characters who survived. I thought it was the perfect ending, with a dash of hope after a rather bloody and (at times) depressing saga.

Big thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy.