Thursday, January 10, 2013

Breed.

Title/Author: Breed by Chase Novak.

Genre: Horror/Dark Fiction.

Publisher: Mulholland Books.

Source: Purchased.

Favorite character: Michael Medoff.

All in all: Twisted!

Synopsis: Alex and Leslie Twisden lead charmed lives-fabulous jobs, a luxurious town house on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, a passionate marriage. What they don’t have is a child, and as they try one infertility treatment after the next, yearning turns into obsession. As a last-ditch attempt to make their dream of parenthood come true, Alex and Leslie travel deep into Slovenia, where they submit to a painful and terrifying procedure that finally gives them what they so fervently desire . . . but with awful consequences.

Ten years later, cosseted and adored but living in a house of secrets, the twins Adam and Alice find themselves locked into their rooms every night, with sounds coming from their parents’ bedroom getting progressively louder, more violent, and more disturbing.

Driven to a desperate search for answers, Adam and Alice set out on a quest to learn the true nature of the man and woman who raised them. Their discovery will upend everything they thought they knew about their parents and will reveal a threat so horrible that it must be escaped, at any cost. ~Goodreads.com.
My Thoughts: This book is F'ed up, yo.  That's what I stated when I described it to my friends.  It's just F'ed up.  I picked it up one, because of the synopsis and two, because it has a blurb from Stephen King on the front.  Well, I had to get it.  If Mr. King liked it, I'm sure I would too.

The voice is clear and easy to read.  Written in 3rd person omniscient (which in my opinion isn't done a lot nowadays, or maybe I just haven't read a lot of books written in this narrative lately) let me as a reader watch the characters as if I had a telescope and delve into their backgrounds and thoughts as if I were a part time psychic.  The author weaves in a tight picture of the socio economic status of the characters and I felt the insights into their minds and nuances of their lives were clear. 

On page 50, my eyes bugged out of my head in surprise.  And that set the tone for the rest of the book.  Breed is unlike anything I've read before.  It's dark, chilling, at times even kooky.  Not in a humorous way, but in a way that makes you shake your head like you can't even believe this is happening.  It all fits and works, but I think with a less skilled writer it wouldn't.  Just a side note, Chase Novak is actually a moniker for Scott Spencer who wrote bestselling book Endless Love.  (Which I didn't read.)

What was also cool was that since the majority of the story takes place in New York City it was easy for me to picture the events, scenes and action because I am so familiar with the setting.  From the kids running around in Central Park, to trying to escape in the Metropolitan Museum of Art to the streets of the city. 

All the characters are very believable, but I especially loved Michael, the teacher who Adam turns to for help.  As the book states, Michael is just an incredibly nice man with no agenda except to protect his student.  His involvement and observations of his situation, being a gay male teacher harboring a runaway are not lost on him.  His job is in jeopardy and his story within this saga is just as compelling as the whole.

I also loved that not everything is explained.  The story just plays out and as a reader I am shown what happens and soon the pieces come together and become more clear and more horrific as the story moves on.

The ending, perhaps the last 4th of the book or so was a bit sketchy to me.  I wasn't really satisfied with the conclusion, although I loved the experience as a whole. 

This book is not for the faint of heart but if you like horror, even a kind of dark humor, you may like this.  I for one, could not put it down. 

Afterthoughts:  After reading a few reviews on Goodreads, I see there are quite a few people who didn't agree with my stellar approval of Breed.  Please check them out before deciding.

Other editions:












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10 comments:

Unknown said...

I've heard about this one. Looks good. GOnna have to watch out for it. With the ending being sketchy, did you mean ambiguous or just underwhelming?

Midnyte Reader said...

@Rabid Fox-I meant underwhelming. It kind of fell a little flat for me.

Michelle Stockard Miller said...

Well, I totally agree with your stellar approval, as you know. This book had me glued. I did not want to put it down. I was surprised when I found out who the real author was, although I haven't read his other books, he is quite acclaimed. Quite a genre shift for him.

Kate @Midnight Book Girl said...

I'm so glad that this is already on my shelf because now I really want to read it, even if the ending falls flat- I just want to get to the eye bugging moment!

Jenny said...

I'm thinking this probably isn't a book for me Pam, but I can't help but be curious as to what happens on page 50 that made your eyes bug out. My mind is going crazy with possibilities. Too bad the ending wasn't completely satisfying, but overall this sounds like it was a really strong and surprising read:)

Karen said...

This book sounds "F'ed up, yo" lol but I like when books can surprise you like that and when a writer can pull it off instead of it becoming a jumbled mess.

Kimberly @ Midnight Book Girl said...

I have this book, but I don't know. This might be too much for me to handle. I'm such a wimp, but I liked books that are F'ed up so... yeah. Maybe I'll read it and be prepared for some nightmares.

~Sara @ Just Another Story said...

I really liked your review of this novel. so much so, that I almost want to read it (and I do not like horror in the least). I want to know what all these twists and turns and spooky revelations are. I am totally curious. Thanks so much! I will consider it-- maybe.

Happy Reading,

Sara @ Just Another Story

Nina @ Death, Books, and Tea said...

This seems interesting...I tend to go for f'd up books, so it might be my kind of thing. And I love it when things are left out and left for your imagination. Thanks for the review.

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