Overview
In a secret government lab somewhere in Nevada, a young scientist cowers in darkness–waiting, listening, and calculating his chances of surviving the unspeakable carnage that has left him trapped and alone. Or almost alone.Soon after, a covert military operation “cleanses” all traces of a top-secret project gone horrifically wrong.
Three years later, it begins again–when the quiet of a warm autumn night in a sleepy California town is shattered by a streak of light across the sky, the thunder of impact, and the unleashing of something insidious. Spreading, multiplying, and transforming everything in its path, this diabolical intelligence will not be denied until the townsfolk–and eventually, all living things–are conquered. Until they are all crawling. . . .
Synopsis
In a secret government lab somewhere in Nevada, a young scientist cowers in darkness–waiting, listening, and calculating his chances of surviving the unspeakable carnage that has left him trapped and alone. Or almost alone.
Soon after, a covert military operation “cleanses” all traces of a top-secret project gone horrifically wrong.
Three years later, it begins again–when the quiet of a warm autumn night in a sleepy California town is shattered by a streak of light across the sky, the thunder of impact, and the unleashing of something insidious. Spreading, multiplying, and transforming everything in its path, this diabolical intelligence will not be denied until the townsfolk–and eventually, all living things–are conquered. Until they are all crawling. . . .
Publishers Weekly
In Shirley's frightening new novel, he extends the smart work he did in Demons (2002), investing a fierce genre tale with spiritual import. Here Shirley reaches back to the classic pulp scenario of a small town beset by an alien invasion. In this case, though the townspeople of Quiebra, Calif., initially assume that the capsule that crashes originated in space, it's actually a satellite put into orbit by a hush-hush military research outfit fearful of the out-of-control nanotechnology experiment it contains. The experiment involves nanoparticles that have evolved into a kind of group mind (as in Michael Crichton's Prey), taking over human (and animal) hosts and, by incorporating pieces of hardware, refashioning those hosts into an amalgam of human and machine ("Deputy Sprague's neck was gone, replaced with a metal stalk..."). Humans differ as to their vulnerability to takeover, with some adults more resistant than others, and younger people quite resistant; this allows Shirley to use teenagers-a likely readership for the book-as the novel's heroes, and his understanding of teen ways and patterns of speech is deep and exact. This tack also allows for some profound emotion, as kids-particularly Adair and Waylon Leverton, whose father is the first person taken over in Quiebra-witness the soul-destruction and/or death of their parents. The novel's depiction of humans devolving into group-mind-controlled machines proves an excellent metaphor for Shirley's take here on the human condition, which posits that some of us are already machinelike and others more "awake"; but the narrative does slide slightly into didacticism as it elaborates these understandings. Overall, though, this is an exciting novel of ideas wrapped in red-hot pulp. (Nov.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Editorials
Publishers Weekly
In Shirley's frightening new novel, he extends the smart work he did in Demons (2002), investing a fierce genre tale with spiritual import. Here Shirley reaches back to the classic pulp scenario of a small town beset by an alien invasion. In this case, though the townspeople of Quiebra, Calif., initially assume that the capsule that crashes originated in space, it's actually a satellite put into orbit by a hush-hush military research outfit fearful of the out-of-control nanotechnology experiment it contains. The experiment involves nanoparticles that have evolved into a kind of group mind (as in Michael Crichton's Prey), taking over human (and animal) hosts and, by incorporating pieces of hardware, refashioning those hosts into an amalgam of human and machine ("Deputy Sprague's neck was gone, replaced with a metal stalk..."). Humans differ as to their vulnerability to takeover, with some adults more resistant than others, and younger people quite resistant; this allows Shirley to use teenagers-a likely readership for the book-as the novel's heroes, and his understanding of teen ways and patterns of speech is deep and exact. This tack also allows for some profound emotion, as kids-particularly Adair and Waylon Leverton, whose father is the first person taken over in Quiebra-witness the soul-destruction and/or death of their parents. The novel's depiction of humans devolving into group-mind-controlled machines proves an excellent metaphor for Shirley's take here on the human condition, which posits that some of us are already machinelike and others more "awake"; but the narrative does slide slightly into didacticism as it elaborates these understandings. Overall, though, this is an exciting novel of ideas wrapped in red-hot pulp. (Nov.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.VOYA
This novel is an unimaginative, uninteresting retread of every single horror-thriller novel or movie ever to come along. Some top-secret government project goes awry, and a few years later the residents of a small California town are dealing with the ramifications by turning into zombies. With the exception of one or two scenes where the author forgets himself and is interesting, the whole thing has the reader asking, "Didn't I read something like this in one of the Goosebumps books? Wasn't it much more exciting then?" This novel is what readers get when someone tries to update R. L. Stine's work for older readers, takes out all the parts that made the Goosebumps series fun to read in the first place, and tosses in a dash of Tom Clancy for flavor—a snore. There are no stakes in the book, too many cardboard cut-out characters, and not enough to make it worth sitting down and reading. The best scenes involve a ghoulish description of the undead crawling through a cemetery, and one where a zombie mother comes out of it long enough to tell her son to scram and then gets ripped apart. No one could tell from that description of the scene, probably, but it is oddly emotional and affecting. This kind of a combination would have made the book easier to sit through as a whole. Otherwise, steer any potential readers away, and direct them to the works of Stine, Stephen King, and Peter Benchley. That way, they are more likely to come back. VOYA Codes: 2Q 3P J S A/YA (Better editing or work by the author might have warranted a 3Q; Will appeal with pushing; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12; Adult-marketed book recommended for Young Adults). 2003, DelRey, 400p., Trade pb. Ages 12 to Adult.—Matthew Weaver