The hephaestus plague

This classic bio-terror novel introduces the wonderfully misanthropic Professor Parmiter, a man whose determination to fulfill the biological destiny of his beloved insects threatens the whole of humankind. Professor Parmiter: "I had an idea, Metbaum. Suppose God transferred his covenant from man to the insects. It would explain a lot." Metbaum: "Um. Maybe the next Jesus is a roach." Out of the brimstone and hellfire of the North Carolina sandhills comes a simple, deadly challenge to man's supremacy on earth: The Hephaestus Plague. Blind, black, armoured and unstoppable—a fire making beetle with an amazing scientific secret. A secret that the reclusive, monomaniacal Professor Parmiter is obsessed with sharing and an insect whose biological destiny he is determined to fulfill, without regard for the human consequences.