Bird Box by Josh Malerman

The Blurb On The Back:

Most people ignored the reports on the news.

But they became too frequent, they became too real. And soon, they began happening down the street.

Then the Internet died.

The television and radio went silent.

The phones stopped ringing.

And we couldn’t look outside anymore.

Malorie raises the children the only way she can: indoors. The house is quiet.

The doors are locked, the curtains are closed, mattresses are nailed over the windows.

They are out there. She might let them in.

The children sleep in the bedroom across the hall.

Soon she will have to wake them.

Soon she will have to blindfold them.

Today they must leave the house.

Today they will chance it.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Josh Malerman’s debut horror novel is a slick, taut apocalyptic horror with Lovecraftian tones. It’s a short novel but there’s not an ounce of fat in it and Malerman skilfully jumps between his timeline, showing Malorie as she is now (trying to get two four year old children to a safer location) and the events in the house 4 years earlier. The characters are a little stock and I would have liked more of the side characters (particularly Don and Cheryl who are under-utilised). The apocalyptic depiction is well written but doesn’t offer anything different to others of this genre and I would have also liked to have known a little bit more about the creatures. That said, it was an entertaining and creepy read and I would definitely read Malerman’s next book.

BIRD BOX is released in the United Kingdom on 27th March 2014. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the ARC of this book.