Offspring
I spotted Offspring by Jack Ketchum in the book rack at Giant Eagle. I recognized its name from the glowing review from Dread Central, and it had some great quotes on the front, so I picked it up.
And you know, I didn't think it was that great.
Offspring is a sequel to Off Season (which I didn't read), both of which revolve around a tribe of cannibals terrorizing civilized people on the coast of Maine*. One of the original cannibals has survived and built up a new tribe, and now--for reasons poorly explained, but possibly just as a convenience of migration--they're back in their old chomping grounds to wreak some more havoc. And of course there's one cop left who was there for the first go-round....
For starters, it's short. I was actually surprised at how thin it was. About a third of the story is introducing the protags, a third is the police investigation of a grisly multiple murder, and a third is the inevitable bloodbath. Out of that, I got two characters that interested me. The first screamed "unfulfilled subplot." (See also: short.) The second wasn't so much "interesting" as "an okay guy"--someone I wouldn't mind seeing the story with, but who I didn't expect to do anything revolutionary. (He didn't.)
The story is profoundly straightforward. I could lay it out for you in about six bullet points. I know intellectually that it themed around a life-and-death struggle but that fact only occurred to me just now, I was that uninvested in the stakes. I had a lot more people pegged for death than actually died--so in my mind it's practically a happy ending.
I don't read horror novels for the happy endings.
It's fairly gruesome, but not all that novel in its gruesomeness...there's gore and cannibalism and baby bodies, but nothing really made me queasy or even shiver a little. It could be that I'm more of a scare junkie than a gorehound; could be that I'm just way too innured at this point; could be that I sympathize with alternative points of view way too easily, so that traditional taboos like eating human flesh just slip right off me when presented with some kind of justification.
(Apparently, "I'm hungry" is enough justication for me. I probably would have been Donnering with the rest of them.)
For the record, it was not actually a bad book, just lackluster. It kept the pages turning. Ultimately, it was just too shallow and immemorable.
There is one extremely awesome thing about the book, and that is the author photo on the back flap. Flip it open if you spot it in Wal-Mart. I doubt you'll be disappointed.
I really went into Offspring with high hopes. It's a shame it didn't pan out for me.
You know what? I am so interested in other people's opinions that I will mail for free it to someone who promises to review it on their LJ. Drop your name in the comments, I'll pull one from a hat tomorrow morning, and ship it off tomorrow at lunch. Goodness knows I'm not going to get the urge to read it again.
* When are these people going to learn? MAINE IS AWFUL. Living in Maine is begging to be brutally murdered in a horror novel.
And you know, I didn't think it was that great.
Offspring is a sequel to Off Season (which I didn't read), both of which revolve around a tribe of cannibals terrorizing civilized people on the coast of Maine*. One of the original cannibals has survived and built up a new tribe, and now--for reasons poorly explained, but possibly just as a convenience of migration--they're back in their old chomping grounds to wreak some more havoc. And of course there's one cop left who was there for the first go-round....
For starters, it's short. I was actually surprised at how thin it was. About a third of the story is introducing the protags, a third is the police investigation of a grisly multiple murder, and a third is the inevitable bloodbath. Out of that, I got two characters that interested me. The first screamed "unfulfilled subplot." (See also: short.) The second wasn't so much "interesting" as "an okay guy"--someone I wouldn't mind seeing the story with, but who I didn't expect to do anything revolutionary. (He didn't.)
The story is profoundly straightforward. I could lay it out for you in about six bullet points. I know intellectually that it themed around a life-and-death struggle but that fact only occurred to me just now, I was that uninvested in the stakes. I had a lot more people pegged for death than actually died--so in my mind it's practically a happy ending.
I don't read horror novels for the happy endings.
It's fairly gruesome, but not all that novel in its gruesomeness...there's gore and cannibalism and baby bodies, but nothing really made me queasy or even shiver a little. It could be that I'm more of a scare junkie than a gorehound; could be that I'm just way too innured at this point; could be that I sympathize with alternative points of view way too easily, so that traditional taboos like eating human flesh just slip right off me when presented with some kind of justification.
(Apparently, "I'm hungry" is enough justication for me. I probably would have been Donnering with the rest of them.)
For the record, it was not actually a bad book, just lackluster. It kept the pages turning. Ultimately, it was just too shallow and immemorable.
There is one extremely awesome thing about the book, and that is the author photo on the back flap. Flip it open if you spot it in Wal-Mart. I doubt you'll be disappointed.
I really went into Offspring with high hopes. It's a shame it didn't pan out for me.
You know what? I am so interested in other people's opinions that I will mail for free it to someone who promises to review it on their LJ. Drop your name in the comments, I'll pull one from a hat tomorrow morning, and ship it off tomorrow at lunch. Goodness knows I'm not going to get the urge to read it again.
* When are these people going to learn? MAINE IS AWFUL. Living in Maine is begging to be brutally murdered in a horror novel.