What's the Name of That Book??? discussion

Minutes to Burn
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SOLVED: Adult Fiction > SOLVED. Book about a group of soldiers that go to an island where there is a giant insect monster (fight for survival) [s]

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message 1: by Mateo (last edited Aug 04, 2014 09:10AM) (new) - rated it 2 stars

Mateo R. (teoentrelibros) | 24 comments Hello there! I was hoping you could help me again =)

There was this book I read more than 5 years ago. I remember vaguely the intro, that said something like there had been a nuclear war or something that had rendered South America uninhabitable some years ago.
The story itself was about a female soldier (she was blonde, short-haired, and a bit masculine if a remember well) that is called to join a group of soldiers (among them: her boyfriend, a gentle medic-soldier; an old, hard-to-kill, socially conflictive veteran from Vietnam; a young, fierce and aggresive black woman -and many others).
They are sent to an island in Central America to investigate something. The island is only inhabited by a Latin American farmer and his pregnant wife. They have been hearing strange noises during the night, there is some kind of creature around.
The soldiers start doing their job but soon they are attacked by the creature and they start dying one by one.
The creature is like a giant mantis or something insectoid like that. It's portrayed like the perfect predator.
The main character girl is having some issues with her life and her boyfriend.
In one point the black girl sneaks into the old veteran tent during night, mounts him and puts a knife on his neck, and forces him to have sex with her.
At the end almost all of the characters die.

Thank you very much in advance!!


Mateo R. (teoentrelibros) | 24 comments The book starts in USA, where the soldiers reunite (most of them know each other, excepto from the old veteran) and soon the action goes to Central America, to the island where they have to go... I think they have to go to extract some samples of animals and plants, or something like that.
South America is mostly uninhabited but there is some (very few) people living in some parts of Central America, this island is one of those places (I think it was called... Santa María? Or something like that), where the farmer (Manuel?) and his wife live.


message 3: by Ann aka Iftcan (new)

Ann aka Iftcan (iftcan) | 6917 comments Mod
How gritty was this book? Do you remember anything about the cover of the book? What about where in the alphabet the author's last name fell? Where did you get it--school library, public library, grocery, book store?


message 4: by Trilobyte (new)

Trilobyte | 184 comments This one perhaps? It ticks the island and giant mantis boxesEat Them Alive


message 5: by Mateo (last edited Sep 26, 2013 10:09PM) (new) - rated it 2 stars

Mateo R. (teoentrelibros) | 24 comments @Trilobyte: No, that's not it, I think (but I'm not sure) that this book must be more recent, like from 1995-2005. But it did have an island, and a giant mantis-like monster, and the deaths were pretty explicit and gore, so I'm guessing that this book was probably influenced by that one.

@Ann: What do you mean with a "gritty" book? I looked up the word but can't quite get it.
I don't exactly remember the cover, I think it was red or purple or something like that and MAYBE it had the biohazard symbol around (hinting at the radioactive dangerous area where the story takes place). I do remember the book really looked like one of those cheap "commercial" books that seem to be aimed at casual readers and kinda fail, so a couple of years after their publication they are already the cheapest books on the supermarkets... (at least that's what happens in my country with that kind of American books).
So it was a cheap book my parents bought me on a supermarket around the year 2005.
I also remember the author, there was a little information about him and a picture. He looked young and athletic, short haired, and I'm 90% sure he was American. I also think this was his first book. They really presented him in a "young promise writer" fashion.

PS: Sorry for my bad English.


message 6: by Ann aka Iftcan (new)

Ann aka Iftcan (iftcan) | 6917 comments Mod
A "Gritty" book is one where everything is hard and dark. The descriptions of what's happening (especially the "bad" parts--deaths, dismemberments, rapes etc)are extremely graphic and leave nothing at all to the imagination. There is usually a lot of not really needed to further the story fights, deaths etc.


message 7: by Lobstergirl, au gratin (new)

Lobstergirl | 44924 comments Mod
Mateo, are you still looking for this?


Mateo R. (teoentrelibros) | 24 comments Yep, still haven't found it


Mateo R. (teoentrelibros) | 24 comments That's exactly it! Thanks a lot, Kris :D


message 11: by Kris (new)

Kris | 54986 comments Mod
You're welcome! Glad we could help. And thanks for hanging in there with this request...sometimes it takes us a while to solve the case. :)


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Books mentioned in this topic

Minutes to Burn (other topics)
Eat Them Alive (other topics)

Authors mentioned in this topic

Gregg Hurwitz (other topics)