MarzAat

Having read some short stories from William Meikle and his Derek Adams trilogy, I decided to pick this one up.

It’s the first in what is currently a four part series (and more on the way) about the S-Squad, a series described by Meikle at his website as a tribute to several things –

50s big-bug B movies, Alistair MacLean books and movies, Aliens, and Dog Soldiers are all rattling around in there.

I’m not that big on the big bugs, but I am very fond of Alistair MacLean and particularly fond of his stories of spies and intrigue in cold places: Ice Station Zebra, Night Without End, and Where Eagles Dare.

Review: Infestation, William Meikle, 2017.

When a British commando unit drops into the frozen Canadian wastes west of Baffin Island to see what a mysterious Russian ship is doing in Canadian waters, it doesn’t take long to discover the carnage left behind by the cover creature.

Not all six members of the S-Squad are going to make to the end of Meikle’s story, and battling those critters through about a 100 pages doesn’t leave any room for a double agent – which I expected to see in a tale inspired by Alistair MacLean.

The opening, in a deserted fishing village at night, was atmospheric, but, to be honest, the critters didn’t do much for me. I did appreciate, being interested in geology, the origin story Meikle gives them.

Meikle does a nice job with the physical details. Cold water, however shallow, can kill quickly.. Fingers uncovered quickly become too numb to fire weapons. A character is half blinded from operating a cutting torch.

While I wished for some human treachery added to the giant bug plot and found the bugs eviscerating but not very emotionally invigorating, I am interested in more adventures of the S-Squad.

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