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Scorpion Swarm Lib/E

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When a terrorist organization take control of an island research facility, Rob Cashen and his band of mercenaries are recruited to eliminate the terrorists and rescue the hostages. Upon arrival, they realize something has gone horribly wrong. Terrorist outposts are in ruins, guns and equipment are left abandoned, but no bodies can be found. In the ensuing investigation, Rob discovers the horrific consequences of genetic tampering.

Hordes of giant scorpions have taken over the island. Their hunger is insatiable, their numbers are increasing, and their food supply is dwindling. Armed with razor-sharp claws and javelin-like stingers, they mercilessly slaughter anything in their path. Now the team must fight for survival as the horde of scorpions pursue them through the jungle.

Audio CD

First published April 13, 2019

70 people are currently reading
40 people want to read

About the author

Michael R. Cole

32 books112 followers
Michael R. Cole is an author of creature horror and science fiction. He was born in Toledo, Ohio and grew up in lower Michigan. He has a profound love for monster movies and book as well as the action genre. In addition to writing, his hobbies include martial arts and fishing.

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Community Reviews

5 stars
44 (34%)
4 stars
38 (29%)
3 stars
32 (25%)
2 stars
11 (8%)
1 star
2 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
Profile Image for Waheela.
200 reviews1 follower
May 23, 2020
This was a great book!

Good writing, likable characters, not too much human drama.

Excellent monsters, top notch action and pacing. Vivid descriptions of blood and gore. It kind of ticked of all the good qualities of a creature feature.

And it was hard to put down when the action for real started below the 50% mark.

I could see some inspiration from a classic movie. I didn't mind. And should be fun if it was made into one.

If I have to nitpick, it is I dont see a sequel...

I was thoroughly entertained and will check out other books from the author.
Profile Image for Ski Croghan.
609 reviews5 followers
September 9, 2020
Great book !!!!!!!

Lot's of action and mystery! A mercenary team parachutes on to a deserted island at the behest of the Peruvian government. Their mission and what they're getting paid to do is two-fold; find and rescue 3 scientists, and kill the terrorists that took them. But there is much more to it. Who or what is killing and eating every living thing, human or animal? Where are the terrorists? Will anyone be tough enough still be standing at the end? How will they get off the island afterwards? To find the answers scroll up and use Kindle Unlimited to read for free. Highly recommended!
21 reviews
August 12, 2020
Action packed

Good story line with likable. .......... Charaters👍. Enjoy this Authors style of writing draws you in and keeps the story flowing 👍
Profile Image for Savannah Owens.
36 reviews2 followers
April 20, 2023
I enjoy Michael Cole's books, but this one is one of my least favorites. The mercenaries liked to joke around with each other which made them feel more alive. I will say I was not a fan of Jean the ex-U.S. Airforce now a scientist. She was in the military yet doesn't know how to keep her expression neutral and her trap shut. She just has to insult her captor in front of him and then, of course, he gets aggressive, so her fiance tries to protect her, which just lands both of them in trouble. Which I will ay it seemed to me that Jean was only made a female to add conflict between the scientists and the terrorists. Their threatening to rape her was used to keep the other scientists (both men and one her fiance) in line; which is something that bugs me to my core with books. I do not like rape being used as a way to "hurt" the men.

Now spoiler for the ending, which is a large reason I gave 3 reviews.

The scorpion queen screeches and her drones come running to her multiple times in the book. Yet, when it is at the final battle with the queen she is screaming in pain and yet not a single drone comes to help her. Rob did set up an explosion at the beach where the drones were, but given that they had used explosives all throughout the book and they didn't do a whole lot of damage I find it difficult to believe that the one at the beach killed every single drone. So, he uses construction equipment to push the queen off a cliff which kills her. Then all the survivors celebrate and wait to be picked up by whoever Rob called to pick them up. So it just felt unfinished to me. I feel like a proper ending where maybe all the surviving drones jump off the cliff to follow their queen would have left me more satisfied then just assuming that the last explosion killed every single one of them.
Profile Image for Kelvin Reed.
Author 9 books14 followers
December 11, 2024
"Scorpion Swarm" (2019, 2020) by Michael Cole is an exciting monster novel. Rob Cashen and his teams of mercenaries are hired to eliminate terrorists holding a group of scientists hostage on an island research facility. The mercenaries don’t know the experiments have gone wrong and produced a swarm of carnivorous giant scorpions. There’s plenty of action, although the carnage inflicted even on the good guys leaves a bad taste. P. J. Ochlan’s voicing characters with foreign accents is underwhelming. Still, solidly recommended.
Profile Image for Al.
18 reviews1 follower
January 21, 2021
I was willing to cut this book some slack because, like the author, I like (old) monster movies. Unfortunately, the poor writing quality (in some places junior high level at best), lack of editing, and poor knowledge of military hardware & procedures (the Philippines has a carrier AND an amphibious C-130?!) just made me down rate the book. Two stars because it wasn't so bad I just couldn't finish it but it won't go into my "re-read someday" pile.
124 reviews6 followers
April 11, 2020
Not Pleasure Island

Forget House Hunters. This is not the place you should go if you don't like insects that place you on their menu. Reminded me of the old horror movie "Them" with the giant ants. While really stretching believability, it was still an entertaining read and I'd recommend it if this your type of fiction.
Profile Image for William Shearer.
71 reviews1 follower
March 3, 2024
I normally like this kind of creature feature, and have enjoyed others in the author’s library, but this one was pretty bad. Not bad enough to DNF, but it definitely could have used another pass at the editing desk. Plus, the characters take a few cracks a then-relevant social trends that feel more grievance’s the author has, which felt unnatural to hear sprinkler into life or death situations.
Profile Image for AJRXII .
430 reviews10 followers
November 7, 2023
If you like JF Gonzalez's Clickers you'll like this!
Profile Image for Joan Smith.
813 reviews22 followers
April 23, 2024
Thank you, Michael R Cole

A really creepy Creature Feature. I really enjoyed it. It pays homage to the movies of the 1960s and 1970s.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Myke.
81 reviews1 follower
April 26, 2024
Another cracking short story, some genuine gory moments. Great characters that could easily develop into longer books or series
Profile Image for Fred Rayworth.
437 reviews5 followers
January 4, 2020
Scorpion Swarm is the second Michael Cole book I’ve read and it came with a batch of Christmas books I requested from Amazon. Basically it’s the only way I can get these icky bug offerings because there’s no other avenue to get them as they’re never available in brick and mortar bookstores.

As for Scorpion Swarm, it was a pretty decent icky bug except the writing needed work. The story was of self-publishing quality and it showed, not only in the poor editing, but the formatting.

The writing was solid third-person, past-tense, which is the only thing I’ll read. However, there was basically no point of view. While there were some short periods of limited, for the most part, the point of view was all over the place with head-hopping which made the story confusing and almost jerked me out of the story at times. Not only that, but the poor editing with repeated words and occasional grammar and awkward phrasing constantly getting in the way making it hard to concentrate on the story.

Then there was the formatting issues with random lines justified wrong and some paragraphs not indented.

On the other hand, it was still a fun icky bug. There was lots of gory mayhem, a high body count and a decent ending. Despite all, I was still able to close the last page of this rather short novel with a smile on my face. For a B-movie icky bug story, I still had a great time despite the flaws. While I want to encourage more of this genre, it’s still hard to get over the writing, editing and formatting flaws. That’s probably not going to stop me from buying more of his books, but I hate to have to suffer to enjoy a good story. All the best to the author.
Profile Image for Summer.
709 reviews26 followers
February 18, 2020
Where do I start?

About halfway through I was convinced my review would say "this is the only time I'm gonna say this ever but I want more scorpions" but then it was scorpion overload. I loved the action sequences and the gory bits. Very fun, and very gross. There are a few cringy and insensitive pop-culture references that slowed me down a bit, and unfortunately all my least favorite characters were the only ones to make it out alive. I feel like it's a fun 2.5 but rounding down for that shitty ending.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Addam Dallman.
127 reviews1 follower
January 25, 2023
Oversized Bugs

Scorpion Swarm by Michael Cole is a fun thrill ride. The action starts off from the first page. The overall plot is your typical mercenaries versus a a swarm of creatures. However what makes this one stand out over the others is the intensity of the story. The characters are never safe and are constantly dealing with their adversaries. The human enemies in this book were also very well written. You really enjoyed every time one of them met their end. As far as the main cast I really enjoyed how the mercenaries were written. They acted just as any real military unit would in this situation. They also were written with great chemistry between one another. The deaths in this story were quite brutal and well written. The narrator P.J Ochlan did a fantastic job bringing the characters and the story to life. All in all I would recommend Scorpion Swarm to anyone who likes a good creature feature thrill ride or is a fan of Michael Cole.
351 reviews1 follower
January 8, 2020
Scorpion venom that just won't quit

This book is for all of us that love any creature that is scary and hunting anyone in its path... huge scorpions in this case. If you add in mercenaries, a few really bad guys and some scientists, you get a lot of fighting and killing. I like books with lots of action and frightening moments and this had those things and more. I am a fan of Michael Cole and have enjoyed some of his other books. I am so glad he wrote another good one.
Profile Image for Myra Gabor.
225 reviews3 followers
January 20, 2020
Mercenaries are hired to rescue scientists from an island which has been taken over by some very bad guys. No one has told them of the experiments run amok. This is lots of action, too much of it. We become numb to all the gore and dismembered bodies. Of course, the chief mercenary manages to lose most of his team on the way to saving the day. The book is well written, but it is strictly for fans of mayhem and non-stop action.
Profile Image for Phil Matthews.
508 reviews2 followers
December 13, 2019
Okay

Well written but there is nothing new here. Island with monsters, scientists, and bad guys. Mercs are sent in to find out what's wrong. Mayhem ensures.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews

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