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Detest-A-Pest #1

Vermin 2.0: Hunger Pains

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Sam's fear of rats takes him to the verge of terror. When super-sized vermin turn up in his apartment, his phobia pushes him over the edge.

But it isn’t one or two rats. A hybrid colony – genetically superior, strong, and super intelligent – has moved into the basement... and living flesh is on the menu.

Pets and tenants disappear, leaving behind a wake of carnage Sam is powerless to stop. Now, with his estranged son Bradley dumped on his doorstep, Sam must switch into protection mode – if he can.

Faced with impossible odds, Sam hires Bertha O’Connor from Detest-A-Pest Exterminators Inc. She runs the only outfit brave enough – or crazy enough – to take the job. O’Connor and her crew need backup and drag Sam and Bradley along for the battle. But this horde of super-rats may be smarter than anyone had bargained for...

311 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 1, 2017

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About the author

Lee Gabel

10 books12 followers
Lee reads practically any genre. Plus, he's a movie junkie. That's a dangerous combination.

Traditionally trained as a screenwriter, Lee moved to writing multi-genre books in 2016 and is the author of six novels: Tied: A Street Gang Novel, David's Summer, Snipped: A Cutting Comedy, Vermin 2.0: Hunger Pains (Detest-A-Pest #1), Arachnid 2.0: Darkness Crawls (Detest-A-Pest #2), and Molerat 2.0: Terror Burrows (Detest-A-Pest #3). Lee will release a brand new three-book saga in 2022 and Detest-A-Pest #4 soon after.

Lee once walked 63.5 kilometers in thirteen hours. Why? Ask him. He loves to hear from readers. Past lives include working within the visual and dramatic arts landscape as a graphic designer, illustrator, visual effects artist, animator, and screenwriter. In 2005 he contributed to an Emmy award (LOST; "Pilot; Part 1 and Part 2") for Outstanding Special Visual Effects for a Series.

In reality, Lee lives on an island in the Pacific Northwest with his wife and son. In his head, he lives wherever his characters are.

Follow Lee on the Internet.
LeeGabel.com/links

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5 stars
34 (61%)
4 stars
11 (20%)
3 stars
8 (14%)
2 stars
2 (3%)
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0 (0%)
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
Profile Image for OutlawPoet.
1,291 reviews69 followers
April 5, 2021
Well, this was a blast of a book.

Creepy, hungry critters that simply will not stop!

Heartbreak, but also humor.

Really fun characters! While I would have liked to get to know one or two a bit better before they got chomped, I still enjoyed them.

Book one of 3!
Profile Image for Diane Lynch.
231 reviews12 followers
August 5, 2017
Vernon 2.0 is a gruesome horror. What would happen if rats were able to think and plan. That is what appears to happen in this old apartment building where the main character, Sam Shaw, is the superintendent.

The characters are well developed. They are all colorful and entertaining in their own way. The author makes this into a great story as the characters are introduced to the reader and interact with each other and the rats. Don't get too attatched to any of them.

The focus of the book is very bad rats. This is also Sam Shaw's worst nightmare. This is his story. A real page turner.
18 reviews
April 20, 2017
I received an advance copy of this book for my honest review.
For starters this book was well written and flowed easy. The characters were well defined and the surrounding were well described. Now with those details out of the way, this book kept me on pins and needles. There were times my skin crawled and creeped me out but I could not put the book down. This book is one of the best books that I have read in a long time that actually kept my attention and freaked me out all at the same time. This book is a 5 star book. No one wants to share their life with rats.
9 reviews
October 16, 2017
My skin is still crawling

As a person who is extremely afraid of a tiny little mouse, this book was terrifying! Lee did an excellent job describing these icky rats! I loved the story of Sam and Brad, father and son intertwined throughout. This was one of those unputdownable books! I love horror of all kinds and I loved Vermin 2.0! Highly recommended!
329 reviews1 follower
July 4, 2018
Amazing!

Huge intelligent rats are trying to take over an apartment complex. I was sold on that alone when I was looking for a book to read. What I didn't expect was the great writing style of this author. Great characters, lots of gore, with some humor thrown in makes this book awesome. I will be putting this author on my favorite list.
Profile Image for Crystal.
201 reviews4 followers
October 10, 2020
I got this book thinking it would be a fun October read, and it was. I really enjoyed the fast pace of the story, it was a great horror novel. Gory, bit not too gory, scary ( I really hate rats) but with some humour thrown in. This is the first book in a series and I enjoyed it enough to get book 2.
Profile Image for Stephen Morley.
20 reviews
June 2, 2017
This is the second book of Gabel's I've read and I enjoyed it just as much as the first one. I really felt the fear of the characters as they dealt with all the "little issues" along the way. I look forward to other novels in the future!
Profile Image for Victoria Bowden.
32 reviews
April 22, 2018
Rats

I’ve always been afraid of rats but the idea of giant rats terrify me. But I didn’t want to put the book down until I was finished reading. This book will have your heart beating erratically in no time.
Profile Image for Page Turner.
1,407 reviews
August 31, 2020
Had me squeamish the entire read. Yeesh! I loved the connection between the characters and the wit was appreciated throughout this gory journey. Good book
February 2, 2018
Willard's cousins return

The saga continues. Rats that think and plan war against us. Be scared! Very, very scared. Read before it's too late!
Profile Image for Katherine M.
80 reviews
September 2, 2021
I'm a huge fan of horror and especially creature features! This is a true classic and I could not put it down. Great character development and original story. I look forward to reading the next!
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews

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