From the Bookshelf of Around The World…

[close] The Bird Box by Josh Malerman
4★'s

Something is out there . .. Something terrifying that must not be seen. One glimpse and a person is driven to deadly violence. No one knows what it is or where it came from. Five years after it began, a handful of scattered survivors remain, including Malorie and her two young children. Living in an abandoned house near the river, she has dreamed of fleeing to a place where they might be safe. Now, that the boy and girl are four, it is time to go. But the journey ahead will be terrifying: twenty miles downriver in a rowboat—blindfolded—with nothing to rely on but her wits and the children’s trained ears. One wrong choice and they will die. And something is following them. But is it man, animal, or monster? Engulfed in darkness, surrounded by sounds both familiar and frightening, Malorie embarks on a harrowing odyssey—a trip that takes her into an unseen world and back into the past, to the companions who once saved her. Under the guidance of the stalwart Tom, a motely group of strangers banded together against the unseen terror, creating order from the chaos. But when supplies ran low, they were forced to venture outside—and confront the ultimate question: in a world gone mad, who can really be trusted?

One of my biggest problems with this story is that we never actually get to see the "unfathomable thing" that tears one’s mind apart nor do we even find out what it was. That was a bit disappointing that we had had work our imaginations overtime and still not know if we were right. On a positive note the character of Malorie was ingenious. The world is ending, everyone she knew and loved is dead, and now she finds that she is pregnant. From that moment until she finally gets the courage to leave her haven for the past four years her plan was to survive and to see that her twins survived any way she possible could. [Bird Box] is not quiet on the order of Stephen King's It but it's very close. A good physiological...sometimes really scary read.