Eric Poor's "Invasive Species" is the Story of a Little Menace That Becomes a Big Problem

The wasps have arrived in Eric Poor's debut novel, and they portend something ominous. These aren't just any wasps. They are big. They are toxic. And most ominously, they seem to be smart. Newly released, the book is now available at Toadstool Bookshop in Peterborough, Escape Hatch Books in Jaffrey and on Amazon. A veteran newspaper reporter and lifelong outdoorsman whose previous book, "Working at the Word Factory: The Curious Life of a Small-Town Newspaper Journalist," has long been a staple of journalism classes at Franklin Pierce University, Eric Poor has conjured a believable natural — or maybe supernatural — threat that accentuates just how fragile our comfortable lives may be. Thanks perhaps to the hundreds of hours spent at town meetings, in police stations and talking to folks about town, the world of "Invasive Species" is populated with real people, and the crazy goings-on feel all too possible. "I've admired Eric Poor's work for decades, going back to the years we worked together on the staff of the Monadnock Ledger-Transcript," says Escape Hatch Books co-owner Joe Bills, "so it is an honor to publish this sharp novella. In many ways, the book feels like a throwback to the pulpy sci-fi and mystery stories that many of us grew up with. That throwback feel was why we thought the classic mass market paperback format suited this story so perfectly." Escape Hatch Books has been selling (and occasionally creating) books, comics and games from their Main Street storefront in Jaffrey since 2014. 2025 will see the official launch of the Escape Hatch Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to the promotion of literacy, "comics in the classroom" collaborations with local schools and the establishment of a comics lending library.