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Thripz
Nathan Brewster, a reporter with an extranormal sense for trouble, plows into the middle of an agricultural feud that turns deadly when biogenetically enhanced insects begin killing people. Nathan takes a dead specimen of one of the insects to the nearby college entomology department, where scientists deduce the creatures are thrips, common yard and garden pests. But these have been altered at the genetic level, giving them the ability to metabolize pesticides and to reproduce at increased rates. Within twenty-four hours, the island must unite to battle the voracious killers. Nathan follows the trail of death and destruction, finding more questions than answers. Can the mutant horde be eradicated without destroying the island? How can the technology be kept out of enemy hands? How many people will die before the terror ends--if it ends? Welcome to the extranormal world of Nathan Brewster.
234 pages, Paperback
First published July 15, 2008
7 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
January 17, 2020
A 3 star book with a 1 star ending.
Spoiler alert!
The bugs just suddenly disappear, with no explanation given and the son gets to come back to his dad also for no reason.
Spoiler alert!
The bugs just suddenly disappear, with no explanation given and the son gets to come back to his dad also for no reason.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 18, 2010
We live in a time of constant fear. Terrorist hit us hard with the 9/11 attacks and now, fear has become an everyday thing. Everything is looked upon as a possible terror attack: food contamination, West Nile Virus, etc. A book, fiction or not, becomes more compelling when it parallels with a current fear. Robert Farley developed an idea from the days he use to work on a farm in Hawaii. Working indoors not out didn't stop him from using his surroundings. In the end, he created an evil biogeneticists with one mission in life: seeking revenge. Two feuding farms in paradise gives him that opportunity. With every villain there is a hero. This techno-thriller produces a reporter to save the day.
Nathan Brewster, a reporter for the Waikiki Times, left the fast-pace of city life for the mundane stories to entertain mostly tourists. While at the Honolulu Police Station gathering police reports for his column, he came across a weird story of a man attacked by insects and reported missing. Who could pass up something like that, right? He manages to get his hands on a dead specimen of the allege culprit and rushes it to a college professor friend. While at the college entomology department, he meets a local farmer, Tommy Wagner, who's melons and peppers were destroyed by the very same insect. Dr. James Lanahino and his students discovered the insects were in fact thrips, a common garden pest. There is one slight problem. These thrips were genetically modified to reproduce faster and are immune to pesticides. That's the last thing you want to hear. The only person capable of creating such an insect, no one can find.
Dr. Lanahino and his team continue to break down the insects genetic structure and try to find a way to keep them from spreading all over the island of Oahu. In the meantime, Nathan continues to keep track of where the thrips are, who they are attacking, and where they may head next, helping the military and law enforcement contain the infestation the best they can. If that wasn't enough to keep this reporter on his toes, he consents to helping Tommy (and his story) to determine why his competitor, Tapaya Farms are not only experiencing the thrips rampage but also has managed to get their hands on a specific pheromone to keep them away. However, what they find were two feuding farms unknowingly were working together to help Philip Wei with his revenge plot.
I'm not a big fan of insects period. Yes, I'm the type of person who would do a crazy dance just to get a grasshopper off of me. This book didn't really help with that fear either. There were a few typos. They could easily be missed if you weren't really looking. I think the only other reservation I have is with the characters Jin and Sung, Philip Wei's bodyguards. It's well established how much of a psychopath Wei was though some may understand why. However, considering who Jin and Sung were, why would they risk witnesses? They had chances to kill or at least let Wei kill Lianne Halea, the first dead guy's fiance, and Jael Duncan, works with Nathan, but chose to save them instead. If they were just bad guys with a conscious, that wouldn't be any big deal. But the plan was to take Wei's work back to North Korea and use it for their own military purposes. Despite how it ends, they would have quite a bit to lose leaving loose ends. It just seems a bit out of character for bad guys like them.
Thripz is one long rope of mystery and suspense without any kinks or knots. The point-of-view shifts between multiple characters but you're never lost among all the chaos. Despite a few minor spelling errors and in my opinion, a bit of confusion with a couple of character's behavior, this book is a good read. I wouldn't say it's worthy of Great American Novel status, but good for a nice thrill ride.
Nathan Brewster, a reporter for the Waikiki Times, left the fast-pace of city life for the mundane stories to entertain mostly tourists. While at the Honolulu Police Station gathering police reports for his column, he came across a weird story of a man attacked by insects and reported missing. Who could pass up something like that, right? He manages to get his hands on a dead specimen of the allege culprit and rushes it to a college professor friend. While at the college entomology department, he meets a local farmer, Tommy Wagner, who's melons and peppers were destroyed by the very same insect. Dr. James Lanahino and his students discovered the insects were in fact thrips, a common garden pest. There is one slight problem. These thrips were genetically modified to reproduce faster and are immune to pesticides. That's the last thing you want to hear. The only person capable of creating such an insect, no one can find.
Dr. Lanahino and his team continue to break down the insects genetic structure and try to find a way to keep them from spreading all over the island of Oahu. In the meantime, Nathan continues to keep track of where the thrips are, who they are attacking, and where they may head next, helping the military and law enforcement contain the infestation the best they can. If that wasn't enough to keep this reporter on his toes, he consents to helping Tommy (and his story) to determine why his competitor, Tapaya Farms are not only experiencing the thrips rampage but also has managed to get their hands on a specific pheromone to keep them away. However, what they find were two feuding farms unknowingly were working together to help Philip Wei with his revenge plot.
I'm not a big fan of insects period. Yes, I'm the type of person who would do a crazy dance just to get a grasshopper off of me. This book didn't really help with that fear either. There were a few typos. They could easily be missed if you weren't really looking. I think the only other reservation I have is with the characters Jin and Sung, Philip Wei's bodyguards. It's well established how much of a psychopath Wei was though some may understand why. However, considering who Jin and Sung were, why would they risk witnesses? They had chances to kill or at least let Wei kill Lianne Halea, the first dead guy's fiance, and Jael Duncan, works with Nathan, but chose to save them instead. If they were just bad guys with a conscious, that wouldn't be any big deal. But the plan was to take Wei's work back to North Korea and use it for their own military purposes. Despite how it ends, they would have quite a bit to lose leaving loose ends. It just seems a bit out of character for bad guys like them.
Thripz is one long rope of mystery and suspense without any kinks or knots. The point-of-view shifts between multiple characters but you're never lost among all the chaos. Despite a few minor spelling errors and in my opinion, a bit of confusion with a couple of character's behavior, this book is a good read. I wouldn't say it's worthy of Great American Novel status, but good for a nice thrill ride.
February 20, 2009
In Monster Rally, Pat O'Donnell takes a chapter to examine classic horror films featuring swarms of killer insects. From blood-thirsty worms to highly intelligent ants, there seems to be no end to the number of insectoid creatures willing and ready to combat the human race. It's enough to make Professor Hellstrom proud.
But the silver screen and [...:] tube aren't the only fertile domains for arachnid invasions and predatory pests. These killer insects are just as willing to kill us in ink as they are on celluloid. This became more than apparent when I stumbled upon Robert Farley's latest novel, Thripz.
In Thripz, Reporter Nathan Brewster's thinks he smells a story when he reads a police report of an insect attack that suddenly turns into a missing person case.
During his own investigation, Nathan gets his hands on one of the insects and takes it to a nearby college for examination. They soon discover that the insects in question are Thrips, a common yard and garden pest. At least, they were. These have somehow been altered at the genetic level, and are now capable of rapidly metabolizing pesticides and reproducing at an alarming rate.
Before you know it, Nathan and company are drawn into a desperate race to track down the bio-geneticist responsible for this new breed of killers, in the hopes of stopping him before his twisted creation spreads beyond control and swarms over the world in what can only be described as biblical proportions.
Robert Farley's Thripz has everything that you would expect from a sci-fi horror film: Destructive swarms of killer insects, a hapless reporter who unwittingly becomes mankind's last hope, a mad scientist hell-bent on improving on God's design, horrible mutilations, partially devoured victims, and the occasional angry farmer.
Thripz is a fast-paced novel that not only carries on the tradition of such classics as The Hephaestus Plague, but takes the genre to the next level. Not only is it engaging and captivating, it is also scientifically plausible and creatively original. In short, it's a damn good read.
Just don't read it anywhere that insects tend to congregate. They might realize that we're on to them.
But the silver screen and [...:] tube aren't the only fertile domains for arachnid invasions and predatory pests. These killer insects are just as willing to kill us in ink as they are on celluloid. This became more than apparent when I stumbled upon Robert Farley's latest novel, Thripz.
In Thripz, Reporter Nathan Brewster's thinks he smells a story when he reads a police report of an insect attack that suddenly turns into a missing person case.
During his own investigation, Nathan gets his hands on one of the insects and takes it to a nearby college for examination. They soon discover that the insects in question are Thrips, a common yard and garden pest. At least, they were. These have somehow been altered at the genetic level, and are now capable of rapidly metabolizing pesticides and reproducing at an alarming rate.
Before you know it, Nathan and company are drawn into a desperate race to track down the bio-geneticist responsible for this new breed of killers, in the hopes of stopping him before his twisted creation spreads beyond control and swarms over the world in what can only be described as biblical proportions.
Robert Farley's Thripz has everything that you would expect from a sci-fi horror film: Destructive swarms of killer insects, a hapless reporter who unwittingly becomes mankind's last hope, a mad scientist hell-bent on improving on God's design, horrible mutilations, partially devoured victims, and the occasional angry farmer.
Thripz is a fast-paced novel that not only carries on the tradition of such classics as The Hephaestus Plague, but takes the genre to the next level. Not only is it engaging and captivating, it is also scientifically plausible and creatively original. In short, it's a damn good read.
Just don't read it anywhere that insects tend to congregate. They might realize that we're on to them.
January 7, 2009
THRIPZ, a gripping thriller, pulls you in from the first sentence and never lets go. With deft precision, Robert Farley's novel about mutant killer thrips, genetically altered and resistant to pesticides, is so believable that you may never look at any bug the same way again. Set in Hawaii's Waikiki in Oahu, the author's firsthand familiarity with the island and knowledge of what he writes, makes this thriller just that much more powerful a read. Beautifully written and brilliantly crafted, THRIPZ offers the reader one surprise after another. At every turn, the unexpected will pull you in further, making it clear that people are often not what they seem and that nobody is above suspicion. THRIPZ is a stunning read that will stay with you long after you close the book.
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January 28, 2009
A great techno thriller. A real page turner. I know this author, and helped critique this book.
August 16, 2009
Kindle version. I really liked this book. It moved along, had an interesting storyline.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews