Rachel Reviews: Lovestruck Maggot by Jarrett Brandon Early

It's a distinctive title, Lovestruck Maggot, and entirely appropriate because this is a distinctive book with a style of its own. I wasn't really sure what to expect when I started reading it and I will admit that this is not the sort of book that I would normally choose but I'm glad I took a chance because I've ripped through it and it's been a great read from start to finish.

So, about this book. It's science fiction because it's set in space on the planet Kalderra. I had echoes of Dune with the kameeba which is what the maggots are harvesting and before you think that 'maggot' is literal, it's not: it's the name given to the humans who are sent out to harvest kameebas when they emerge from underground and expire. What is a kameeba? Good question. It is a transparent slug-thing which has extreme value, especially its heart which when removed without exploding is specially coveted. It has unique energy, from what I can gather, like a nuclear reactor. And they're not the only things out there and maggots aren't the only things harvesting them.

Stay with me. It might sound a bit out there but it's all beautifully explained by Jarrett Brandon Early's tight narrative style which provides sufficient detail for you to visualise it all but doesn't swamp you in alien planet science.

But this is really the backdrop, imaginatively constructed though it may be because the story is, you've guessed it, about a lovestruck maggot, in this case, the leader of Karcass Five, Mona Ripple. She has it bad for her beautiful but not so brave companion, Darien Vance who she loves with a passion so ferocious that she can't bear to be without him and is desperate to take him away from this life of scavenging to an idyll of luxury and love-making.

Of course, it would be boring if this happened without conflict and Mona is not the only one attracted to Darien, as someone more powerful is threatening to have Darien for herself. Can Mona live without him? No, but with Mickie Brass, a fellow maggot to help, she may just get him back. But is Mickie everything he appears to be?

This book rockets along to a conclusion that satisfies on many levels. Action galore with very real threat and Mona and Mickie's exchanges make this book great fun.

Rachel Rating: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

This review was first published on Reedsy Discovery where I was privileged to read it as an ARC: