Scientist and marine archaeologist Dr Charles Pellegrino turns his hand to this thought provoking eco-horror story. At time it might seem that the author gets bogged down in scientific explanation but to many this will only serve to back up the chilling spiral of events with a plausible reason for the reader to think: Oh, but this could happen... couldn't it?
The insects are disappearing and the ecological repercussions are devastating. A group of scientists provide some of the focus of the book as they desperately race to find a solution to global events that could lead to the extinction of the human race. ( )

Dust tells the story of the end of life, as we know it, on Earth. It all begins with the seemingly sudden mass extinction of insects, which quickly works its way up the food chain to doom the existence of humans. The first 50 pages of this book were awesome. I was hooked. Then the author just went all over the map with scientific hypotheses and underdeveloped characters galore. There were too many story lines to keep track of and loose ends all over the place which were never explained to my satisfaction. The author noted in the acknowledgments that he was a hyperactive child. His writing style reflects a hyperactive adult as well! My sense is that the author is probably a brilliant scientist, but a natural born storyteller, he is not. ( )

The Next Great Extinction Event Has Begun

The Dust of the title of Charles Pellegrino's tale of the next great extinction event refers to giant, black motes of hungry mites that swarm over Long Island, New York and other locations to consume every living thing in their way: humans, dogs, hamsters, etc. As the world's insect populations vanish, the food chain is turned on its head and animals such as mites, bats, must find a new food source, while such things as fungus are given free reign to ruin the crops of whole continents when the fungus gnats disappear.

Pellegrino has used his vast scientific knowledge to imagine a world in a chaos and the remaining scientists, mostly those based at Brookhaven National Laboratory, that are struggling to understand what has happened to the world's insects, what it means for humanity an the ecosystem, and how they might possibly counteract the effects. The book might be a bit overwhelming for some as it bombards the reader with extinction theories and hypothesizing, sometimes in a stream of conscience manner much like real life can present in a time of crisis. But, the shear amount of scientific thinking is quite fascinating.

Where Dust misses the mark is how Pellegrino potrays the chaos that civilization descends into; specifically in how the people of America follow a messianic talk show host's personal crusade against the very scientists fighting to save humanity. It is not that anti-scientific elements and fundamentalist religious leaders wouldn't come out of the woodwork, but Pellegrino wraps it all up in form of a Bill O'Reilly cliche with delusions of grandeur.

if you set aside its faults, Dust is a fascinating read of an ecosystem gone wild and what humanity possibly faces as the next great global extinction continues to take shape. ( )

Awesome... but most of my friends hated it!! I loved this book! ( )