VESPERS [Hardcover]

A young boy and his father are attacked at a little league game by some bats. The bats are insectivores but seem to be acting in a territorial fashion. Once the boy and his father move away the bats leave them alone. But then there are other sightings. The bat population of New York City seems to be climbing but there is also something else going on.

The carcass of a deer found in a tree top and some dead homeless in the city's subway system indicate something far more powerful than any bat. It could be that whatever is responsible is causing the normal bats to act with abnormal behavior. When a bat expert and a policeman team up they find a trail leading across the surrounding countryside and leading into the city. The evidence points towards a mutant bat brought in from Russia that has managed to propagate.

Now the problem is known but there is the matter of getting the right people top believe it. There is an abnormally large bat loose that somehow controls the smaller bats. But soon the bat is spotted by the authorities and plans are made for its capture. But there are two and one is pregnant so there is little time. The final confrontation is a real page turner.

VESPERS is a very interesting book. On the front of it we have a monster story. But that story is handled more like a vampire tale than anything else. Mix in some classic Night Stalker-esque interactions between the investigators and the City officials and you get a far more complex book than one would first think. In a way it reminds me of NIGHTWINGS, by Martha Cruz Smith, which also has bats on the surface but a much richer, and deeper, story line lurking just below. VESPERS is an excellent book and Jeff Rovin really knows how to pace it to keep the reading following.

A larger bat is on the loose, the size of a bull, using echolocation and its non human squeals to have the smaller vespers attack people. This big bat makes its way to the NYC subway system, while people go missing.

Joyce and Gentry track the origin of the mutated bat down to a man in New Paltz, New York, who was in Siberia 10 years earlier. In New Paltz, they see evidence of another large bat. So, there are two to deal with. One a male, the other a pregnant female.

Gotta destroy the bats, before she gives birth to more large mutated bats, that feast on humans, and in the populated environs of New York City.

Likes: For me, this was a very educational book. Learning how bats behave, and locate their food, send signals to other bats...etc. It was an average thriller, although I've read better horror books with bats involved, this was more science orieneted. Also a little history lesson on the Statue of Liberty!

Dislikes: The story was somewhat lame, and rarely did I feel like I was in a state of suspense. Pretty predictable.

Finally: Don't mix radioactive waste with the animal kingdom, a la Godzilla, you never know what could happen.