Bird Box by Josh Malerman

A perfect horror-thriller-weekend read. I had heard the buzz about the Netflix show starring Sandra Bullock when it came out, and I even read Malerman’s new book, Inspection, because of it, but I never got around to reading Bird Box. And like any true lit nerd, I didn’t watch the film. Welp, I finally had some time to fit this one in during my winter vacation, and I finished it in less than 24 hours.

Bird Box is the story of a woman named Marjorie and her efforts to survive… some sort of creatures/ beings/ monsters are driving people to violence. One look at these beasts turn one against themselves and others. Brutal and bloody and unexplainable.

Pregnant and at a loss of what to do, Majorie finds an ad welcoming people to a place of safety. She drives through empty streets to a house filled with a variety of characters who are now taking the steps to protect each other.

Cut to four years in the future and Marjorie is escaping the house with two children. Their goal is the travel down a nearby river to the promise of sustained protection.

The threat of the creatures looms in every scene and the unanswered questions kept me reading and reading. The tension is derived from the shift in time between chapters, the conflicts that arise between the characters, and those scenes when Marjorie needs to brave the outside.

The training of the children to awake with their eyes closed. The anxiety of the scarcity of food. And a little fun of driving a Jeep Wagoneer with a blindfold on.

This is a one that will keep you up late. I am now ready to watch the film.