Symbiote

Nayak sets his high-octane debut in 2028, as the U.S. and China wage war. At the ice-bound Amundsen-Scott Station in Antarctica, a U.S. research team is preparing for four months of complete darkness when a Chinese convoy blips on the radar. The only military person on site is soft-spoken Rajan, who ventures out to meet the unwanted guests: three Chinese scientists and one mutilated body, the apparent victim of Antarctica’s first murder. Shortly after their arrival, a plumber on the American crew experiences strange heat flashes and begins stalking one of the Station’s female scientists. After her bloodied body is found in the snow, the station’s doctor discovers the cause of all the weirdness: a fast-mutating microbe that thrives in the cold and controls its hosts’ minds. Within days, the station is overrun with zombies and Rajan must find a way to stop the hive. The plot feels ripped from John Carpenter’s The Thing, but Nayak enhances the familiar setup with sparse but effective scene-setting, much more gore, and a fascinating focus on the psychological effects of isolation and sun depravation. It can be hard to keep track of the large and hastily drawn cast amid the relentless, testosterone-laced action. Still, readers looking for thrills and thrills alone will find plenty of them here. (Jan.)