A review by erin_oriordan_is_reading_again
Bedbugs: A Novel of Infestation by Ben H. Winters

4.0

This piece of urban horror succeeds for the same reason urban legends persist: each plays off anxieties that are very real, then ramp up the creepiness factor. The re-emergence of the bedbug plague in the United States in the past few years is a real reason for alarm. It plays into our ancient mammalian fears of contamination and of being preyed upon. 'Bedbugs' introduces these elements into a marriage already strained by financial uncertainty. Susan and Alex Wendt are doing alright after Susan decides to leave her job as an attorney to pursue painting, but Susan feels that Alex secretly resents her. When she begins to suspect their new, almost-too-good-to-be-true New York apartment has bedbugs, many who've experienced the six-legged creepy crawlies will be able to sympathize. Then, as in any good urban legend, things quickly go from suspiciously uneasy to surreal and nightmarish. Thank the heavens, no one's ever had a bedbug problem like this before.

Ben H. Winter may be best known for literary mash-ups like [b:Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters|6425725|Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters|Ben H. Winters|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1266691612s/6425725.jpg|6615075] and [b:Android Karenina|7551580|Android Karenina|Ben H. Winters|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1275695384s/7551580.jpg|10448325], but Winter is equally creative with wholly original horror. This fast-paced read is sure to make skin crawl.