Bird Box

Bird Box
By Josh Malerman
Ecco Press, 2014. 262 pgs. Fiction

Life for Malorie is looking a little more complicated when her pregnancy test comes back positive after a one-night stand. But just as she and her sister start to plan for Malorie's new future, the world is thrown into utter chaos by the so-called "Problem"--something strange and sinister has come to Earth, which, if looked at directly, drives its witness to violent suicide by any means. You must close your eyes if you want to survive. Weaving three narratives together from different moments in Malorie's story, Bird Box explores how survivors navigate the new world, banding together, using the resources around them, and staving off hunger, thirst, and perhaps most importantly, paranoia. As it turns out, it's an Olympian task to stay sane in an environment that drives people mad. Malorie must do not only that, but also bring a child into this world where it seems even animals are not exempt from the effects of the hostile presence.

Just when you thought the post-apocalyptic genre's moment was over, Bird Box bursts onto the scene with several awards and a Netflix adaptation starring Sandra Bullock and John Malkovich. If you want in on the buzz without having to watch something violent, the book is a great place to go; the print medium lends itself well to the phenomenon of blindness and you'll feel just like Malorie, stumbling suspensefully into the twists and surprises of the book. The psychological development of the characters is just as thrilling as the dangerous presence and will have you questioning who the real threat is. Bird Box is Malerman's debut novel, and I must admit at times I struggled to suspend my disbelief--it doesn't quite make sense when Malorie decides to risk opening her eyes to drive three miles just after another character is offed nearby. Moreover, the novel takes on more than four years and such an enormous "Problem" that I wish Malerman had devoted a little more time to, especially after reading Justin Cronin's beautiful and thoroughly-written book, The Passage. But the premise of Bird Box is so terrifying and so compelling that you'll be hooked, and the characters' instincts and wills to survive so universal that I believe the story inside will outlast its momentary trendiness.

DMR