Offspring (Mass Market Paperback)

~ Jack Ketchum (Author)
Key Phrases: Second Stolen, First Stolen, Dead River (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Off Season (1980), the tale of a cannibal holocaust in rural Maine, established Ketchum as a writer of hardcore horror and cultivated ground where Splatterpunk fiction eventually took root. This sequel, first published as a paperback original in 1991, reprises characters and themes from its predecessor and far too much of the grisly plot. Survivors of the feral flesh-eating clan, who were all but destroyed at the end of the first novel, are back and chowing their way through the locals again. Amy Halbard and Claire Carey strive to survive their abduction by the cannibals and save their children. A subplot involving Claire's despicable husband, Steven, gives Ketchum another opportunity to cleverly compare predatory civilized folk to the appetite-driven primitives. The story is suspenseful, fast-paced and intelligently written, but readers nurtured on horror fiction that has come up in the wake of this saga may wonder what the fuss is all about. Agent, Alice Martell. (Apr. 5) --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

Jack Ketchum is probably the scariest author in america. ---- Stephen King

Just when you think the worst has already happened... Jack Ketchum goes yet another shock further! --Fangoria

OFFSPRING may well be the most horrifying book you will ever read. ---- Robert Bloch --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 293 pages
• Publisher: Leisure Books; 1st THUS edition (May 29, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0843958642
• ISBN-13: 978-0843958645
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #85,909 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Cannibalistic, Humanoid, Maine-Coast Dwellers, July 23, 2007

By	Kim Paffenroth "Winner - Bram Stoker Award. A... (New York) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

They eat your liver, but no fava beans or chianti. They are helped in their murderous rampage for part of the book by the stereotypical Evil Yuppie (a fairly overused, stock villain, but still effective). Between extremely graphic descriptions of human dissection, and some suspenseful moments of chasing, hiding, and hunter-becomes-hunted, there are some ruminations on evil that are quite substantial and complex. Consider how the cannibals are presented in such a way that we never feel any sympathy for them: a less careful author would've succumbed to the temptation to make these monsters more sympathetic, to give them a hint of caring or affection, at least for one another, if not for their victims. And also consider how flat they would've been if they were unregenerately evil, but w/o a glimpse into their inner thoughts (as they would appear in a torture porn movie version of this) - cackling clowns whooping it up around the fire as human entrails bubble away in the pot. But with their inner thoughts revealed, we have a look at what the author considers the essence of evil - selfish, almost solipsistic brutality (and here the use of the Evil Yuppie as comparison is effective).

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A copy of the first one,,,,,,,,, February 12, 2004

By	Ja'Maul Redmond (Charlotte, N.C.) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Offspring (Paperback)

I'm a big Jack ketchum fan, after reading "The Girl Next Door", but the sequal to the cult novel Off Season was far from special. If you read Off Season , there's really no need to read Off Spring because it's basically the same story, without the creative suspense of the first. Both books have the same synopsis,,,, A few people go to this small rural town for a vacation only to find that they are being attacked by cave dwelling cannibals. I can't really tell too much of the story because i would give away the plot to BOTH books. Off Season is worth reading. Off Spring lacks the creative slow suspense and terror that Jack Ketchums creates by describing horrific incidents as other characters witnesses them.
In short Off Spring pales in comparison to Off season.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars OFFSPRING by Jack Ketchum, July 19, 2009

By	Benjamin Boulden (The High Desert) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

OFFSPRING takes place eleven years after OFF SEASON, and the books are very much connected. The Sheriff of Deep River, Maine--George Peters--is haunted by the events of 1981; he has retired, his wife and only friend died a few years earlier, and his only solace is in the bottle.

That changes on the evening of May 12, 1992 when the new Sheriff of Deep River pays him a call with a story of two brutal murders. The Sheriff asks for Peters help, and the scene is eerily familiar. The murder victims have been disemboweled and literally cannibalized. George Peters knows who is responsible, and he fears they won't be able to stop the clan before they wreak havoc on the town.

OFFSPRING is a well-written tale of gruesome, violent, and horrifying terror. There are no vampires, ghosts, zombies or anything else of the netherworld here, there is just good old fashioned human evil. The type of evil Jack Ketchum does better than anyone else. And it is scary simply because gruesome inhuman stuff like this happens.

OFFSPRING has the feel of a well-executed horror movie, although the themes and underlying meaning has much more depth than many of the current crop of films. The characters are likable; the description is tight and serves the storyline well. Jack Ketchum is my favorite writer of horror tales, and OFFSPRING lived up to my expectations. It wasn't quite at the level of OFF SEASON, but it was tight, scary and very well plotted.

-Gravetapping