Book Review: The Swarm by Andy Marino

I received a review copy from the publisher. This does not affect the contents of my review and all opinions are my own.

The Swarm by Andy Marino

Mogsy’s Rating: 4 of 5 stars

Genre: Horror, Science Fiction

Series: Stand Alone

Publisher: Redhook (November 5, 2024)

Length: 512 pages

Author Information: Website

Several years ago, my area experienced the emergence of Brood X, the Great Eastern Brood of cicadas. The experience was a bit surreal and unsettling. Even though cicadas themselves are harmless, they are ugly with their roach-like bodies and blood-red eyes, and for a few weeks they were absolutely everywhere. Tree trunks were covered with nymphs, and afterwards, it felt like every blade of grass you saw bore signs of their empty husks. As adults, their bodies would seemingly fall from the sky, smacking people in their faces or pelting car windshields like gross little projectiles. Every time you stepped outside, you would hear a constant siren—which was actually the droning of hundreds of thousands of these creepy bugs.

It was disgusting. And it also made me think: what if someone wrote a novel inspired by cicada swarm emergence? Their very lifecycle—spending 90% of their 17-year existence underground, only to burst out onto the surface en masse for a brief and frenzied time—has a very alien quality about it. It seemed like the stuff of horror and science fiction.

Along comes Andy Marino’s The Swarm, which delivers on this exact premise. Combining bug-based body horror and apocalyptic thrills, the novel depicts a horrifying, alien-like invasion of cicadas across the state of New York. But this is far from a normal emergence, and these cicadas are anything but harmless. The story follows several groups of characters as they try to survive the utter chaos brought on by a sudden and unprecedented swarm of these giant, aggressive bugs.

First, you have Vicky and Grimes, detectives who are drawn into the mystery following an investigation into a series of bizarre murders that defy all logic. Next, you have a pair of enterprising “fixers”, Will and Alicia, an ex-married couple who are trying to track down a missing young woman. Rebecca is a forensic entomologist who is leading a summer class at the Body Farm when the cicada apocalypse hits. And finally, Anton is the CEO of a cutting-edge communications company who discovers that his life’s biggest innovation may have been at the root of it all.

All their stories are told in tandem together as the book alternates between these characters, building upon the growing threat of the swarm. Instead of surfacing briefly to mate and die, the monstrous cicadas in this novel have mutated into parasites that require human beings to complete their lifecycle. In a process disturbingly reminiscent of Alien, the bugs invade the body through any open orifice, maturing inside before violently bursting forth in their fully adult form, approximately the size of a cat. They have also become carnivorous, evolving lamprey-like mouths to attack and eat their prey—us.

Marino’s writing maintains a swift pace, with descriptions of the swarms becoming more urgent and dire as time goes on. However, this story doesn’t just focus on the cicadas, taking the time to explore the devastating toll in human lives and the sacrifices required for survival. In addition, like many horror stories rooted in biological themes, there’s an underlying message about the consequences of meddling with nature. Here, we start dipping into science fiction territory with regards to the origins of the mutated cicadas, but unfortunately this is also where the story started to lose me with its convoluted and somewhat underdeveloped concepts. I can’t help but think too that this had a lot to do with why the ending felt so confusing and abrupt.

That said, The Swarm was a good read, delivering a visceral and spine-chilling deep dive into an apocalyptic scenario from an unexpected cause. If you have an insect phobia, I highly recommend staying away from this book as Andy Marino doesn’t shy away from tapping into those primal fears to maximize terror and discomfort. If you can stand the creepy crawlies and are looking for a change in a different kind of creature feature novel though, then this may be the fresh take you’re looking for.