3 Stars.
Pros: The fact that you never actually see the creatures definitely keeps the suspense up/The mixing of past and present keeps the reader engaged and wondering how it is Malorie found herself alone with the two children.
Cons: I understand it's fiction but there just seem to be so many variables that don't add up/I feel like paddling a boat down a river while blindfolded is something Evil Knievel would have done, it just seems a tad too far fetched.
Full Review:
Malorie lives in a house with her two children. She stands at the kitchen counter, looking at the dew on her hands from when she went outside that morning to collect water from the well. She is certain the moisture is from fog. The weather is getting colder, she's waited long enough. Today, they will leave and do what she's been planning for four years.
Through flashback we learn that the world went to Hell in a handbasket four years ago, when Malorie and her sister Shannon moved into an apartment together. It started in Russia, a man had his friend pull his car over, killed his friend and then killed himself on the side of the road. And then the "accidents" escalate and spread. People start killing each other and then themselves for no discernable reason. Skeptics and critics amass on the Internet but the conclusion is eventually drawn that what's driving these people to do these horrible things, driving them insane to put it bluntly, is something that they see.
It is something so horrific, or so beyond our own comprehension, that it just causes the mind to shatter into a million fragments and all rationality, all humanity is lost. It's a far flung concept and one that Malorie is, at first, wary of accepting. But when her neighbors and eventually everyone in town start to cover their windows and lock their doors, Malorie realizes that something far beyond her control is happening and all she can do, is focus on surviving and protecting her own life and the life she carries inside her.
We learn of how she came to a house of strangers, who accepted her and took her in, even though she was already a month pregnant. These people are kind and understanding, especially the "leader" Tom, who Malorie takes a liking to almost immediately. His assertiveness, his attention to detail and his practicality and dedication to plotting out and then acting upon plans, are admirable qualities. There are those in the house who are more combative, more wary of strangers and one night, when a knock sounds on the door, they let another person in. Gary.
It all starts to unravel from there.
Years have passed and Malorie has raised her children to listen instead of see. The boy is so adept that he can tell what page of the phone book she is on, that he can hear when she taps a finger against her teeth. Their ears are finely tuned machines and Malorie must use them as her guide as she makes a desperate attempt to find a safer place, down the river.
It's a gripping tale and easily read in one sitting. Malerman expertly mixes the past and the present to keep the reader intrigued. Sadly, with the current climate we're living in, the idea of society crumbling and people having to "band together to survive" seems far too hopeful a thing. But Malories story of survival is harrowing, terrifying, gut wrenching and inspiring all at once. There are times when Malorie seems cruel towards the children, but once you've finished the book and processed it all, you realize that it was necessary to keep the children safe. All she did, she did to keep them safe. And in the end, I think that's what all mothers hope to do.
This wasn't a mind blowing read as I was hoping it would be. But it was entertaining for what it was. A quick, rather mindless story that is easily followed while you spend a lazy Saturday in bed. I'm glad I read it but as for the sequel, I'll probably save that one for the library.
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