I’m writing this hoping that Erin Andrews has not already broken the internet, and these words will be read…*
For some time, people whose opinions I respect have been telling me I should read Breeding Ground by Sarah Pinborough. “You’ll love it” they said. Being a contrarian by nature, I ignored them, and kept it buried at the bottom of my To Be Read pile. Recently, though, I noticed a sequel was on its way (Feeding Ground) and I didn’t want to face the possibility of an entire series sitting there taunting me with its come-hither eyes (like Stephen King’s The Dark Tower series, all of which I own but have never read). So I gave it a shot, and you know what? All those know-it-alls were right. It is a helluva book.
Matt and Chloe are a happy young reasonably affluent couple in England. They become even happier when they receive the news that Chloe is pregnant. But Chloe begins to gain lumpy weight in all the wrong places. This section is very well done. The reader knows pretty much what is going to happen, and Pinborough paces it just right to properly exploit the feeling of dread.
Sure enough, Chloe’s day comes, and in a horrific scene, she gives birth to a …giant spider. A giant man-eating spider. What’s more, almost all the women in the country (presumably the world) have done the same thing. The few men (and a couple of women) who survive the initial onslaught struggle to find a place where they can survive.
This is a creature feature mixed with a post-apocalyptic story. Pinborough deftly produces the sort of shutters you’d expect to have if you saw a giant honkin’ spider, and there are intriguing mysteries that accompany the appearance of the beasts. Very few of which are answered here, as there is a sort of open ending. That’s okay, since the knowledge there would be a sequel started the whole adventure.
I would highly recommend Sarah Pinborough’s Breeding Ground, and Feeding Ground will automatically receive a place high on the TBR pile.
* Lest I be perceived as being too crass, let me say that what was done was outrageous, and she has my sympathies. But the amount of attention being paid to something that should only really concern the victim is staggering.
'
