The invasion of the world from space comes not with laser
beams and strange alien creatures in Rick Yancey’s “The 5th Wave”
($18.99, Putnam), but by much more chilling and seemingly insurmountable means.
When the mothership appears glowing over the Earth,
speculation runs wild. Reactions vary anywhere from panic to optimism that the
visitors come in peace and will bring valuable knowledge to help us. That optimism
fades as soon as the First Wave hits – a massive electromagnetic pulse that
knocks out electricity and disables vehicles and communications. With the
Second Wave, the alien invaders drive a spike into the ocean floor, setting of
tsunamis that wipe out most of the coastlands and concentrate people in the
central part of the continent. That’s where the Third Wave can do the most
damage – a violent and virulent plague that wipes out the majority of the remaining
population. Perhaps most fiendish is the Fourth Wave, humans that have been
taken over by the invaders, sowing mistrust and paranoia among those that
remain.
But it gets worse. The Fifth Wave is coming, and it’s by far
the most sinister.