BOOK REVIEW: Birdbox by Josh Malerman

BOOK REVIEW: Birdbox by Josh Malerman
Harper Voyager
Reviewed by Shane Pinnegar
9/10

Singer/guitarist of Detroit garage rockers The High Strung delivers an absolutely un-put-downable debut novel in Birdbox. The film rights have already been sold, with the end result likely to be as thought provoking and disturbing as the book.

Malerman has imagined a world overrun by creatures that we can never visualise except in our own mind’s eyes. For the characters in Birdbox, to catch one glimpse of these creatures is to go instantly insane, homicidal and then, shortly afterwards, suicidal.
The book details the descent into chaos and isolation as Malorie loses her parents and sister, discovers she is pregnant, then finds respite with a group of fellow survivors in a local house. Over the course of a few months Malerman explores the effects of the isolation and constant danger on the house’s inhabitants, until a newcomer tips things over into a devastating climax.

Malerman successfully transmits the insecurity, fear and paranoia of the impossible situation Malorie finds herself in, not only during the six months in the share house, but trying to raise two children alone in the years that follow.

As a debut novel Birdbox is wholly unique, riveting.

Category: Book Reviews