Review of Spread Me

Blurb: Kinsey has the perfect job as the team lead in a remote research outpost. She loves the solitude, and the way the desert keeps her far away from the temptations teeming out in the civilian world.

When her crew discovers a mysterious specimen buried deep in the sand, Kinsey breaks quarantine and brings it into the hab. But the longer it's inside, the more her carefully controlled life begins to unravel. Temptation has found her after all, and it can't be ignored any longer.

One by one, Kinsey's team realizes the thing they're studying is in search of a new host—and one of them is the perfect candidate....

Review: Kinsey loves the solitude of her remote scientific job at a desert research outpost. She and her crew find a strange creature buried in the sand and bring it back to the lab. Yet it isn't dead, and it's craving to spread its life around. Kinsey is its target, and she's finding it hard to resist its call.

This is a standalone erotic horror novella. I would put it in the category of eco horror since it is very much an environmental thing. Maybe alien, but definitely in the unique desert environment. I learned a lot about the fragile desert ecosystem. The author doesn't shy away from being scientific and using intelligent language. It's well-written, makes your skin crawl, and it's oddly erotic. There's very little detailed sex. It's just the sensual way its written that makes it erotic.

I had no idea what I was getting when I picked up this book from my library, but I liked the cover and the comparison to The Thing. The characters themselves make references to the classic horror movie, and even have a jar where they have to put money in every time they make a comment about it. (They use that money to buy alcohol.) The eldritch creature they find is weird enough, and then it gets even stranger. A crusty almost dead thing that isn't possible reveals a fungal virus. The twist (which you find out in the beginning) is that Kinley is aroused by viruses and bacteria. It's a strange sexual turn on, but it drives her and has consequences.

You can find Sarah Gailey on their web site and buy the book here.