Nick Cutter, the pseudonym for Toronto author Craig Davidson, is one of today’s top horror writers. His latest effort, THE QUEEN, is a masterpiece about unbridled evil and wealth and the impact it has on the planet. His work has received endorsements from such horror and thriller masters as Stephen King, Robert McCammon and Scott Smith.

At its heart, the book is about Margaret Carpenter and Charity Atwater, childhood friends who begin to grow apart. This happens a lot, but the difference here is that one of these girls is not completely human. We also are introduced to a severely damaged billionaire scientist whose tragic past has caused him to play God in a way that can only bring catastrophe after tampering with Mother Nature.

"THE QUEEN is uncomfortably suspenseful and dares you to believe the reality of the horrors to which you are being subjected. Here we have yet another classic horror novel that anyone who enjoys this genre should be reading."

Cutter quotes Thomas Eisner at the start of THE QUEEN: “Bugs are not going to inherit the earth. They own it now. So we may as well make peace with the landlord.” This clearly sets expectations for what is going to be unveiled within these pages. Margaret is locked in the kitchen of a large dining hall where an event is taking place. What she witnesses out of the small porthole in the door are horrors beyond her imagination. A ballroom full of people change into something inhuman, while billions of large killer wasps enter the premises.

We then turn back the clock to the previous day in June 2018. Margaret and Charity are texting each other about a big party in the woods, Burning Van, which is named after the ill-fated vehicle that burned inside the forest and is still there. Margaret lost her virginity to a boy named Harry that night. But that was not the biggest thing to happen as Charity lured three of her male classmates into the van where she did more than just give herself to them. They were never seen again, and both the high school and the entire town are searching for them. Margaret cannot understand why no one is giving any attention to Charity, who also has disappeared.

Margaret and Harry receive cryptic text messages that seem to be coming from Charity. They meet up at a specific location and are sent on a lengthy scavenger hunt, where clues and answers are revealed bit by bit as to what happened to Charity and the boys.

The focus then shifts to Rudyard Crate, a warped scientist who years earlier as a child endured a horrific incident with his family in Africa where they were attacked by a rare species of killer ants. Not only did they tear up and scar his body, they completely consumed his sister. Thus began his mission to create and control a hybrid version of humans and insects. He successfully bred six different species and had a Queen in charge of each one. At the present time, only the sixth Queen still exists. It is none other than Charity.

How these new beings were selected and bred is chilling, and what transpires next as Charity begins to evolve is extremely unsettling. If you have seen the David Cronenberg film The Fly, you will be somewhat prepared for what Cutter has in store for you. The finale brings us back to that ballroom from the beginning of the novel, where the town is holding an event in honor of the boys. The body horror and otherworldly incidents that we experience here are indeed nightmare-inducing and harks to the works of other great horror writers like Clive Barker.

THE QUEEN is uncomfortably suspenseful and dares you to believe the reality of the horrors to which you are being subjected. Here we have yet another classic horror novel that anyone who enjoys this genre should be reading.