Frank Schaetzing 'Der Schwarm'

Everyone who loves books as much as I do will understand.... while on holiday in Germany last August, I HAD to browse every book shop we walked past. And gosh, my mum and the children were ever so impatient, rolling their eyes... 'Mum, not another book shop... Please hurry up' Basically, I was looking for a good holiday read, but wanted something from a contemporary German author. I don't really know any, so I've asked the bookseller in a shop in Gosen for her recommendation. She came up with 'Der Schwarm' (='The Swarm'). Well, I guess our tastes are pretty similar, as I loved this book, and the story kept playing in my mind long after I finished the last page. I think it has been translated and publish in English speaking countries. Give it try! It is not for the faint-hearted, nearly 1000 pages, but I promise, it wont get boring.

So, what's the story? It reads like a big Hollywood blockbuster, and reminds me of 'The day after tomorrow' or '28 days later' with an ecological twist. I think I read somewhere that some Hollywood Acress has already bought the film rights, and filming is due to start soon.

Strange things start to happen all over the world. In the oceans of Peru, fisherman go missing, no trace found. Oil company researchers find strange creatues who appear to have collonised thousands of square metres on the bottom of the norwegian sea. Wale researchers and watchers in Canada realize that the wales are acting more and more strange, first they don't appear when they should, and then they appear to turn violent. None of those happenings appear to make any sense, and are initially not seen as all belonging to the same phenomenon. One of the books 'heros' Sigur Johanson, biologist, does not believe all this happens by chance. And than there is Leon Anawak, Inuit, a wale researcher who also comes to the conclusion that a worldwide diseaster is about to happen. Worldwide, researchers are coming together to find the reasons behind all those strange happenings, and what they are about to find as to 'who' or 'what' is responsible is shocking! Nature against humans - Frank Schaetzing's novel is scarily believable, so much so that I started to look for some of 'signs' he describes in the first few weeks after I read it LOL