Nematodes by David Smith

Temple Dark Books, 2026

ISBN: 9781068250729

Available: Hardcover

Buy:  Temple Dark Books (pre-order, available in January)

If you thought Lord of the Flies and its premise of “kids running wild amid societal  breakdown” was a cool concept, but wanted a version that was light on philosophy and heavy on excitement (with plenty of gunfire) then you will love Nematodes. The basic idea is taken and amped up way past the redline, and includes the author’s own original twists to the idea in the narrative.

The setting is rural America, in the town of Paradise, a year after nematodes (microscopic worms that are part of our ecosystem) have killed almost all of the adults in America, turning them into flesh-eating, raving lunatics that soon die from the effects. If you saw that old movie  The Crazies, the adults are kinda like that. Only kids, age 15 and under, are left. The author does an excellent job portraying Paradise and its inhabitants.

Here, a rough social order has emerged, run by the strong, and force is the only law. The children are shown as you might expect– petty, extremely cruel, lying constantly to save themselves, and willing to turn on each other whenever necessary. Oh, and very foul-mouthed, of course! It’s a nice job showing what is likely to actually happen, as opposed to trying to portray the kids as suddenly maturing and acting like adults. Some readers might nit-pick about the lack of detail concerning how the kids managed to survive for over a year with no electricity and running water, (cooking and toilet problems come to mind) but this isn’t written like Verne’s The Mysterious Island, where every little survival detail is provided. In this case, doing so would have slowed the narrative, and the intent here is clear: provide a high-speed story that doesn’t ever let up.

It never does, and that’s why it works. Early on, the story revolves around Ben and his younger siblings, and their clashes with Caleb and his slimy brothers Rikki and Marcus, who run the town. Partway through, a couple of surviving adults are introduced, and the scope of the narrative expands to include some areas outside of Paradise, as well as a BIG twist to the plotline, it shifts from being just “survival of the fittest” to “will humans survive, in the face of what they learn about the nematode infestation?” The reason given might seem a little wacky for some readers, and really changes the narrative, but I thought it showed good creativity by shifting away from where the reader expects the story to go. This also allowed the author to have the kids forge new alliances among themselves, which again, does a nice job of keeping the reader guessing, and elevating interest.

Even if the author had made the plot more predictable, this is easily worth reading for the high-octane pacing. Someone is always being hunted for a reason, and that keeps the tension high throughout, wondering if one of the children will survive into the next chapter. There’s enough character development that readers will hurt when some of the characters are killed off, especially considering how heartless some of the murderous kids are. You thought the Children of the Corn were bad news? They are bush-league amateurs compared to Caleb and his gang. Paradise is truly a “take no prisoners” world, and it can be a bit tough to read at times, but it makes for a real page-turner of a story.

Bottom line here is: if you want to see an ugly, ultra-violent world where the kids are every parent’s worst nightmare, you don’t want to miss this. Definitely recommended!

Reviewed by Murray Samuelson