The idea of children being raised in an experimental setting with no knowledge of the outside world or the opposite sex--or, indeed, that such things as the outside world or opposite sex even exist--is an intriguing one for a novel, and certainly offers a lot of promise for a horror novel. However, while the novel is consistently an interesting read, it often struggles to deliver on the horror. Despite the inherent horrors of the situation in which the children find themselves, the book struggles throughout to communicate those emotions to the reader, not through lack of writing skill, but through issues related to the overall plot and pacing.
The bright side is that, by and large, the author does an excellent job of writing from the perspective of these children. That is no small accomplishment as many authors will tell you that writing children, under the best of circumstances, can be challenging. Writing children with fundamental deficiencies in their knowledge must be even more challenging, and the novel does a good job of delivering (with very few exceptions) a consistently believable vision of the children's perspectives. The internal monologues given to the children seem completely appropriate for intellectually advanced preteens who simply don't know many of the things we all take for granted due to their particular upbringing. The result is a novel that constantly challenges the reader to imagine what it would be like to live under such circumstances, with no knowledge of the opposite sex or the existence of a world beyond the borders of one's own home. That intellectual challenge alone is reason enough to read the book.
However, where the book doesn't quite live up to its aspirations is as a horror novel. Part of the problem, presumably, is that the story is a bit of a slow burn. Ordinarily I appreciate a novel that takes its time, but horror is dependent upon the presence of some threat, and the point of view characters lack any knowledge that there is any threat at all throughout the early chapters. Indeed, they have no concept that their lives are at all out of the ordinary, so the horror experienced by the reader is entirely intellectual and not at all visceral.
I can imagine the intellectual horror gradually morphing into visceral horror as the characters gradually discover the truth of their lives. However, while I can say without spoilers that this does take place to a certain extent, its impact upon the reader is lessened by the novel's pacing issues. In particular, following a slow-burn beginning, and just as the novel's real action is beginning, the novel takes a hard turn in both time and space and introduces the reader to an entirely new set of characters. These characters are equally interesting as the ones in the beginning, but the complete abandonment of one set of characters in favor of another is both jarring and takes all the wind out of the sails of mounting tension in the narrative.
As the novel approaches its climax, the disparate storylines do converge, but the climax itself brings a new set of problems. While in many ways it's the perfect climax for such a story, it suffers from two deficiencies. First, though the details of the climax were quite surprising, the big picture felt a little too predictable. Second, and more importantly, much of the real action of the climax takes place "off screen," so to speak, and is given to the reader in expository or summary format. There's a good narrative reason for this strategy, but it feels a bit like the reader is cheated out of what would otherwise have been a thrilling finish to what had hitherto been a primarily cerebral novel.
The bottom line is, this is a good novel, but it's not a great one. It will certainly hold the reader's interest, and it's definitely worth picking up a copy and giving it a read. However, it will also leave the reader with the feeling that it could have been more than it was.
Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required. Learn more
Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.
Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.
Loading your book clubs
There was a problem loading your book clubs. Please try again.
Not in a club? Learn more
Join or create book clubs
Choose books together
Track your books
Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free.
![Inspection: A Novel by [Josh Malerman]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51gEVuOS3DL._SY346_.jpg)
Follow the Author
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.
| Price | New from | Used from |
|
Audible Audiobook, Unabridged
"Please retry" |
$0.00
| Free with your Audible trial | |
- Read with Our Free App
-
Audiobook
$0.00 - 59 Used from $1.59 21 New from $9.00 2 Collectible from $36.95
- 20 Used from $1.85 10 New from $12.21
Customers who viewed this item also viewed
Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1
From the Publisher
Inspection by Josh Malerman
|
|
|
|
|---|---|---|
|
|
|
|
About the author
Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Just screaming for a film adaptation!
Reviewed in the United States on March 29, 2019
Inspection by Josh Malerman is a slow-burning tale about two groups of children, one group of boys and one group of girls, that are raised as a science experiment. The goal is to prove that they can accomplish brilliant things if only they weren’t distracted by the opposite sex.When I first read the blurb for this book, I was so excited that I preordered it right then and there. Unfortunately, I think I let my high expectations get the best of me for this one…While reading, the slow burn format of the story was definitely bumming me out a bit. I don’t love slow plots to begin with. In this case I was definitely expecting more of an intensely sinister tale.Repetition was also a major issue for me. There was just so much of it, that it had me skimming from time to time.Once I had finished reading the book, and thought back about how the overall story played out, I definitely respected the way that the author organized the story line. I really enjoyed how innocent things seemed for the most part. I especially loved when you got little glimpses into the darkness behind everything. But I, personally, would have liked the story more if it had gone a bit darker.Then there was the ending… Now that was by far my favorite part of the book. The ending was intense! It was a horrific ending; there was darkness, violence, lots of blood, and a one element of very torturous revenge.I felt like the very end finally showed how dark and intense these towers were. I found myself equally pleased with how well the darkness was hidden from the reader and the children throughout (though there were certainly hints of it throughout the story) and bummed that we didn’t get more of the darkness earlier.While the slow burn format and the repetition just wasn’t my favorite, I would still say that I enjoyed this read. I thought the idea behind the tale was super interesting and eerie!While I probably wouldn’t re-read this one, I would still definitely recommend this to others! And I would really love to see this one adapted into a film!
Reviewed in the United States on March 29, 2019
Images in this review
Top reviews from other countries
suedie
Zu viele Plotlöcher, vollkommen uninteressante Figuren
Reviewed in Germany 🇩🇪 on December 12, 2022
