The plot with the monstrous bugs brutally eating people alive is classic gross-out horror, but the true appeal behind the story are the dark secrets of the town itself. It felt like it was being set up to be a cheesy 80's B-movie which is fun in its own right, but the second half really takes a dark and dramatic turn that surprised me and kept me hooked. The first half of this book was fun but struggled to capture my interest. With a slew of clueless tourists soon to arrive, it's up to camp manager Casey and entomologist Phillip Edwards to crack the case of what's driving these creatures mad and who is to blame for their unnatural mutations before the whole population is massacred by savage insects. Swarms of mutated mosquitoes, horseflies, roaches and other deadly insects driven to bloodlust after being contaminated by illegal chemicals haunt the once peaceful Green Swamp Zip-Line Adventure and Campground. This was my first outing with Carol Gore (Love that name!), but something tells me that I’ll be a repeat customer. And the story clocks in at just under a hundred pages, which was just right. The ending felt a little underwhelming, but wasn’t bad. None of the violence was too extreme, but just ooey and gooey enough to make me develop a hankering for s’mores. And the gore and horror that these abominations brought about was pretty damn satisfying, too. I thought this was just going to be giant mosquitoes, but it was a ton more than that. How could I forget those little darlings. Carol Gore took her time and crafted each person with a distinct personality, backstory, set of motives, and intertwined it all together so well. The characters were all interesting and fun to follow, and I loved the swerve with one of our suspected heroes towards the end.

Today was like being caught in a tornado and I really needed a syfy channel level creature feature to perk me up. Oh what fun it is to ride in a…swamp full of mutated, killer bugs! This was just what I needed tonight.

Infested by Carol Gore