Doom Spore — John Argo

Doom Spore is a 'summer movie in a novel' - dark, chilling, and hugely creepy science-horror fiction in the tradition of ‘Invasion of the Body Snatchers,' ‘They Walked Like Men,' and ‘The Thing'. The story began in little homes in ordinary neighborhoods around San Diego, where a boy named Jimmy Mendez, 9, and his cousin Maribel Walesky, 10, awaited the return of their dads from the sea. But the things that came home were not men. They looked like sailors, but they were silent and empty-eyed, and were not the same dads who had gone to sea. At first, only the children could see this -not their mothers, nor any other adults--and nobody would believe them. Then people began dying all over town, turned into alien spore carriers seeking their next victim to infect. The inhuman forces behind it all were well organized. From a secret airstrip, in the Volcan Mountains east of San Diego, they flew crop-dusting missions across the city to spread their spores more efficiently. By the time human authorities realized what they were dealing with, it was all but too late. Lt. Linsey Simon, San Diego Harbor Police, and her husband, hard-hitting reporter Jack Simon, were thrust headlong into the gripping case of a dangerous scientific experiment gone horribly wrong for corporate profit. Now was up to Linsey and Jack, along with two brave children and a few hardy citizens, to save the world. San Diego, beautiful tourist capital of blue skies and balmy sea breezes, became a colony of the fungal or Fifth Kingdom of life on Earth. This novel is a node in the Holo Time Sector of the Empire of Time series of SF novels and stories by John Argo. At least one direct sequel is planned. More info at the Clocktower Books website.