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Dead River Series #3
Friss hús
Éveken át kis csapat vérszomjas kannibál szedte áldozatait Maine állam partvidékén, egészen a kanadai határig. Történetünk a rendőrséggel való összecsapást túlélő egyetlen vadember, a Nő sorsának alakulásáról számol be. Súlyos sebesüléseivel a Nő a tengerparti sziklaszirtek között, egy barlangban keres menedéket.
Christopher Cleek, a dörzsölt, gátlástalan – és labilis – vidéki ügyvéd vadászzsákmányra lesve megpillantja a patakban fürdőző nőt az erdőben. Felajzottan követi búvóhelyéhez. És egy újabb sötét titokkal bővíti amúgy is hosszú bűnlajstromát. Fogságba ejti a Nőt, láncra verve tartja háza pincéjében, azzal az ürüggyel, hogy megszelídítse, civilizálja.
Ehhez elnyomott és megalázott feleségéből, Belle-ből, kamasz gyermekeiből, Brianből és Pegből, de még kislányából, Darlin’-ból is bűntársat csinál. De vajon ki kegyetlenebb? A vadász vagy a prédája?
És végül ki kerekedik felül? Ki bukik el, kiből lesz friss hús?
Christopher Cleek, a dörzsölt, gátlástalan – és labilis – vidéki ügyvéd vadászzsákmányra lesve megpillantja a patakban fürdőző nőt az erdőben. Felajzottan követi búvóhelyéhez. És egy újabb sötét titokkal bővíti amúgy is hosszú bűnlajstromát. Fogságba ejti a Nőt, láncra verve tartja háza pincéjében, azzal az ürüggyel, hogy megszelídítse, civilizálja.
Ehhez elnyomott és megalázott feleségéből, Belle-ből, kamasz gyermekeiből, Brianből és Pegből, de még kislányából, Darlin’-ból is bűntársat csinál. De vajon ki kegyetlenebb? A vadász vagy a prédája?
És végül ki kerekedik felül? Ki bukik el, kiből lesz friss hús?
240 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2010
105 people are currently reading
3194 people want to read
About the author
Jack Ketchum
198 books2,956 followersDallas William Mayr, better known by his pen name Jack Ketchum, was an American horror fiction author. He was the recipient of four Bram Stoker Awards and three further nominations. His novels included Off Season, Offspring, and Red, which were adapted to film. In 2011, Ketchum received the World Horror Convention Grand Master Award for outstanding contribution to the horror genre.
A onetime actor, teacher, literary agent, lumber salesman, and soda jerk, Ketchum credited his childhood love of Elvis Presley, dinosaurs, and horror for getting him through his formative years. He began making up stories at a young age and explained that he spent much time in his room, or in the woods near his house, down by the brook: "[m]y interests [were] books, comics, movies, rock 'n roll, show tunes, TV, dinosaurs [...] pretty much any activity that didn't demand too much socializing, or where I could easily walk away from socializing." He would make up stories using his plastic soldiers, knights, and dinosaurs as the characters.
Later, in his teen years, Ketchum was befriended by Robert Bloch, author of Psycho, who became his mentor.
Ketchum worked many different jobs before completing his first novel (1980's controversial Off Season), including acting as agent for novelist Henry Miller at Scott Meredith Literary Agency.
His decision to eventually concentrate on novel writing was partly fueled by a preference for work that offered stability and longevity.
Ketchum died of cancer on January 24, 2018, in New York City at the age of 71.
A onetime actor, teacher, literary agent, lumber salesman, and soda jerk, Ketchum credited his childhood love of Elvis Presley, dinosaurs, and horror for getting him through his formative years. He began making up stories at a young age and explained that he spent much time in his room, or in the woods near his house, down by the brook: "[m]y interests [were] books, comics, movies, rock 'n roll, show tunes, TV, dinosaurs [...] pretty much any activity that didn't demand too much socializing, or where I could easily walk away from socializing." He would make up stories using his plastic soldiers, knights, and dinosaurs as the characters.
Later, in his teen years, Ketchum was befriended by Robert Bloch, author of Psycho, who became his mentor.
Ketchum worked many different jobs before completing his first novel (1980's controversial Off Season), including acting as agent for novelist Henry Miller at Scott Meredith Literary Agency.
His decision to eventually concentrate on novel writing was partly fueled by a preference for work that offered stability and longevity.
Ketchum died of cancer on January 24, 2018, in New York City at the age of 71.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 242 reviews
May 12, 2021
hmm. i should have realized this was the third part of a trilogy before i read this. i have read reviews of this on here before that explicitly stated this, but for some reason, i just blanked that out when i was choosing my books for "october is spooky." this is a perfectly fine self-contained story, but i think i might have felt more connection to it had i read the first two and been better able to connect with the characters from their previous storylines.
so, a cannibal woman happily living on her own terms all half-nekkid in nature, hunting and gathering and eating ummm meat, is captured by a perfect-family-on-the-surface whackjob creep, restrained, then imprisoned, tortured, and raped. all - you know, to civilize her.
it is graphic and brutal and as though that weren't enough (it is), there's all sorts of other horrific stuff going on out in the barn with the dogs and in the bedroom with the teenage daughter. if it is making you uncomfortable to read this review, just think what the book is like. you know, like the joke goes:
this isn't really a book i would feel comfortable recommending to anyone. there are definitely scenes in this that are vile and appalling. but there is also comeuppance. you have to wade through a river of blood and torture in order to get to the comeuppance, sure, but take stock of your personal violence-limits, and if you feel you are up to it, give this a read. i am curious about the first two books, myself, but i will probably wait until next year's "spooky month" to satisfy my curiosity about "how did these people come to this??
come to my blog!
so, a cannibal woman happily living on her own terms all half-nekkid in nature, hunting and gathering and eating ummm meat, is captured by a perfect-family-on-the-surface whackjob creep, restrained, then imprisoned, tortured, and raped. all - you know, to civilize her.
it is graphic and brutal and as though that weren't enough (it is), there's all sorts of other horrific stuff going on out in the barn with the dogs and in the bedroom with the teenage daughter. if it is making you uncomfortable to read this review, just think what the book is like. you know, like the joke goes:
this isn't really a book i would feel comfortable recommending to anyone. there are definitely scenes in this that are vile and appalling. but there is also comeuppance. you have to wade through a river of blood and torture in order to get to the comeuppance, sure, but take stock of your personal violence-limits, and if you feel you are up to it, give this a read. i am curious about the first two books, myself, but i will probably wait until next year's "spooky month" to satisfy my curiosity about "how did these people come to this??
come to my blog! 
October 30, 2018
Oh poor reader do take care! The master of shock and terror has yet again served up a dish of vulgarity, brutality and kindness. Family how wonderful it is, mum and dad brother and sister living as a happy family but it all goes completely out the window when Ketchum is writing!
He opens the plot up with the Woman and a woman in the truest sense she is, but also brutally too in-touch with wilderness and it's savagery.
A hunter stumbles across prey and brings it home and oh boy that's the best decision he made otherwise we would not have such a shocking story to read.
He brought us Girl next door another shocker, and does not fail in this novel, there are disturbing scenes of rape and torture so beware. You will find yourself gasp at the cruelness of these characters within this story, a story that does not let up in momentum and totally gets your attention. The real gem is the way the story unfolds with some hidden secrets. I will not give anything away as that is what really made this a page turning read for me, being in the dark on information. We are an evil species us humans. I wonder at who you will be rooting for in this story that does show the an undesirable brutality of some people.
I am sure the movie is going to be a memorable one.
review also @ http://more2read.com/?review=the-woman-by-jack-ketchum-lucky-mckee
He opens the plot up with the Woman and a woman in the truest sense she is, but also brutally too in-touch with wilderness and it's savagery.
A hunter stumbles across prey and brings it home and oh boy that's the best decision he made otherwise we would not have such a shocking story to read.
He brought us Girl next door another shocker, and does not fail in this novel, there are disturbing scenes of rape and torture so beware. You will find yourself gasp at the cruelness of these characters within this story, a story that does not let up in momentum and totally gets your attention. The real gem is the way the story unfolds with some hidden secrets. I will not give anything away as that is what really made this a page turning read for me, being in the dark on information. We are an evil species us humans. I wonder at who you will be rooting for in this story that does show the an undesirable brutality of some people.
I am sure the movie is going to be a memorable one.
review also @ http://more2read.com/?review=the-woman-by-jack-ketchum-lucky-mckee
April 18, 2018
Like Off Season and Offspring before it, The Woman continues the Ketchum tradition of shock 'em and drop 'em (your jaws that is). Like a still warm carcass, The Woman is freshly spilled blood on a tried and tested horror sub genre - cannibalism; tender and warm to begin with, rotting and germ infested by the end - though one could argue it either way around in this case.
The early scenes introduce a normal American middle class family in the Cleeks, a young successful father, his homemaker wife and three children ranging from preschool age to mid teens attending a BBQ and enjoying life. The facade doesn't last too long, and soon enough, Chris Cleek, while hunting game stumbles across an escapee cannibal from Offspring. It quickly turns rabid from there.
As the story progresses, the horror becomes sicker and more twisted as the mask is peeled off lawyer Chris Cleek and his true identity is reveled. Shocking scenes aplenty from a dysfunctional family drama unfolding in front of an unassuming and well meaning school teacher, to a mistreated creature held captive and forced to endure inhumane acts of depravity.
The Woman is served well by a great cast of characters, Chris Cleek, most notably is one seriously disturbed individual, while Peggy (his 16yr old daughter) is all heart and heartache. However, its the slightly different take on the genre that makes The Woman truly engrossing, as a role reversal of horrors is executed to perfection. A fine tale in all its guts and glory 5 stars.
The early scenes introduce a normal American middle class family in the Cleeks, a young successful father, his homemaker wife and three children ranging from preschool age to mid teens attending a BBQ and enjoying life. The facade doesn't last too long, and soon enough, Chris Cleek, while hunting game stumbles across an escapee cannibal from Offspring. It quickly turns rabid from there.
As the story progresses, the horror becomes sicker and more twisted as the mask is peeled off lawyer Chris Cleek and his true identity is reveled. Shocking scenes aplenty from a dysfunctional family drama unfolding in front of an unassuming and well meaning school teacher, to a mistreated creature held captive and forced to endure inhumane acts of depravity.
The Woman is served well by a great cast of characters, Chris Cleek, most notably is one seriously disturbed individual, while Peggy (his 16yr old daughter) is all heart and heartache. However, its the slightly different take on the genre that makes The Woman truly engrossing, as a role reversal of horrors is executed to perfection. A fine tale in all its guts and glory 5 stars.
July 14, 2021
Even if ham-fisted and with a hemorrhaging heart, what we have here is a delicately-wrought microcosm of tension and perversity, constructed in a way only Ketchum could, with that precise, reporter-style prose, and a flow of horrific events that's as gripping as it is repellent.
In the way of plot, we have a clean-cut, completely average family man and lawyer, Chris Cleek, who chances upon a feral woman whom he proceeds to capture and chain in his fruit cellar in an attempt to "civilize her," as he initially explains, although his true motivations soon rear their ugly head. Yet the Woman, although immobilized and overpowered, remains a fearsome and dangerous force of nature. In fact, the Woman here is many things: an intriguing and sick plaything to Chris and his son, Brian, a repellent nuisance to Chris's wife, Belle, and a mystic, alluring, and sometimes incomprehensible symbol for Chris's older daughter, Peggy. The Woman's body becomes a receptor of unspeakable abuse, but also a mirror for society, a reflection of our most morbid and revolting conceits, and also, perhaps, a portentous signifier of liberation and "suburban apocalypse" (my favorite descriptor for Ketchum's masterpiece, The Girl Next Door).
Although one of Ketchum's last works, and co-written with director Lucky McKee, nonetheless here I see Ketchum in top form, doling out a fair share of shock, but always calculated and meaningful, and although the end escalates to almost ridiculous levels of gore and ruin, nonetheless everything is permeated with his signature essence of literary vérité that's earned him the reputation of a true horror master. The explorations of gender roles, misogyny, and perverse sexuality are admittedly one-dimensional, yet they are screamed with such agony and rage that we can't help but focus our ears.
A satisfying and even poignant conclusion to his Dead River Trilogy, The Woman is without a doubt my favorite installment of the three, an engrossing and twisted tale that's as thrilling as it is sobering, and an elevation of Ketchum's commanding storytelling into something philosophical, existential, and even life-affirming. Even with its flaws and wanton straightforwardness, here I see Ketchum's imagination at its wildest and most incisive.
In the way of plot, we have a clean-cut, completely average family man and lawyer, Chris Cleek, who chances upon a feral woman whom he proceeds to capture and chain in his fruit cellar in an attempt to "civilize her," as he initially explains, although his true motivations soon rear their ugly head. Yet the Woman, although immobilized and overpowered, remains a fearsome and dangerous force of nature. In fact, the Woman here is many things: an intriguing and sick plaything to Chris and his son, Brian, a repellent nuisance to Chris's wife, Belle, and a mystic, alluring, and sometimes incomprehensible symbol for Chris's older daughter, Peggy. The Woman's body becomes a receptor of unspeakable abuse, but also a mirror for society, a reflection of our most morbid and revolting conceits, and also, perhaps, a portentous signifier of liberation and "suburban apocalypse" (my favorite descriptor for Ketchum's masterpiece, The Girl Next Door).
Although one of Ketchum's last works, and co-written with director Lucky McKee, nonetheless here I see Ketchum in top form, doling out a fair share of shock, but always calculated and meaningful, and although the end escalates to almost ridiculous levels of gore and ruin, nonetheless everything is permeated with his signature essence of literary vérité that's earned him the reputation of a true horror master. The explorations of gender roles, misogyny, and perverse sexuality are admittedly one-dimensional, yet they are screamed with such agony and rage that we can't help but focus our ears.
A satisfying and even poignant conclusion to his Dead River Trilogy, The Woman is without a doubt my favorite installment of the three, an engrossing and twisted tale that's as thrilling as it is sobering, and an elevation of Ketchum's commanding storytelling into something philosophical, existential, and even life-affirming. Even with its flaws and wanton straightforwardness, here I see Ketchum's imagination at its wildest and most incisive.
November 9, 2021
My odd fascination of horror books have gotten more extreme after reading this. Being a bit familiar with Jack Ketchum's works, I knew what to expect when sliding through the first pages. This finale of the OffSeason series didn't fail me.
It was disturbing, misogynistic, dark and it showed humans doing some of the worst kind of cruelty to another human being. At the end, I have this question nagging at the back of my mind; Who's really the animal? Who's the more savage?
This got me thinking about a quote from Jason Gideon of Criminal Minds; "Finding new ways to hurt each other is what we're good at." True.
It was disturbing, misogynistic, dark and it showed humans doing some of the worst kind of cruelty to another human being. At the end, I have this question nagging at the back of my mind; Who's really the animal? Who's the more savage?
This got me thinking about a quote from Jason Gideon of Criminal Minds; "Finding new ways to hurt each other is what we're good at." True.
November 19, 2018
Brutal and violent. Bloody and rapey.
The Woman has lost everything. She’s not used to losing. She’s used to taking. Using. Killing. And now she’s finds herself held captive by a psychopath who thinks that he can tame her and use her for his own selfish pleasures. That is probably not a very good idea. She is Woman, hear her roar.
A fitting and appropriately blood drenched final entry in the Dead River trilogy.
“The world is rich with food and family.”
As long as, it’s not the Woman’s family, then they are the food.
The Woman has lost everything. She’s not used to losing. She’s used to taking. Using. Killing. And now she’s finds herself held captive by a psychopath who thinks that he can tame her and use her for his own selfish pleasures. That is probably not a very good idea. She is Woman, hear her roar.
A fitting and appropriately blood drenched final entry in the Dead River trilogy.
“The world is rich with food and family.”
As long as, it’s not the Woman’s family, then they are the food.
October 3, 2021
Story 5/5
Narration 5/5
Great!!
I Loved it!!
Narration 5/5
Great!!
I Loved it!!
January 14, 2016
I can't say how awesome this book is. Its just so damn good and mind blowing! I was just thinking and you'll know what I'm talking about if you've read the others in the series, but it's just funny how in the other books you are rooting for the victims, but in this book, you are rooting for the woman...or at least I was. It's just pure talent how Jack Ketchum can make you feel. How he can flip things. This story is the best one because it really delves into the mechanics of a "normal" family and then just shows you how normal they really are. In other words, what you see on the surface, may not be who they are underneath and who doesn't want to read about the secret lives each family member is desperately trying to hold in? Not to mention, one of them is pretty damn twisted! The movie is just as awesome and stays close to the story line. I'm really hoping Ketchum will continue the series and make me hate the woman again. She is a piece of work! 5 stars and a kick in the gut!
January 15, 2012
The Woman is the third act of a harrowing tale begun in Jack Ketchum's legendary Offseason, a tale of feral cannibals living in the woods, hunting and breeding and terrorizing the Maine coast. The Woman begins with the last surviving member of this savage clan seeking refuge in cave, resting and healing from wounds inflicted upon her when her clan was attacked and killed by those hunting them.
But this survivor isn't left in peace for long. Because she's spotted by Christopher Cleek, a sophisticated, socially-upstanding lawyer, while he's out hunting. And just the sight of her flips a switch inside. Because though a respected member of the community, the local PTA and Kiwanis Club, Christopher Cleek is something much more. And while that something has been held tightly under wraps, concealed from the public eye, it hungers for release and sees something in this savage woman that whispers of infinite opportunities.
So he captures her.
Brings her home, chains her in his fruit cellar.
To civilize her, of course. And he enlists the aide of his family: wife, teenage son and daughter, his little girl. Because they are well accustomed to acquiescing to his desires. The Cleek household is good at keeping secrets. Has kept them for years.
But the woman is not just a savage cannibal. She is a hunter, skilled in fighting and killing for survival. So she waits.
For the scales to tip, turning prey into predator.
A taut thriller, The Woman isn't for the faint of heart. But the narrative shows admirable restrain for its first half, letting the reader wonder in glimpses what exactly is amiss in the Cleek household (other than the woman chained in their fruit cellar). The dread builds, as it becomes very apparent that Christopher Cleek is far worse than this savage woman he's imprisoned, that dysfunctional family is a kind term for the Cleek household. And when Chris finally slips over the edge, taking his family with him, it is impossible to look away.
Even if you want to.
This special edition also contains a bonus novella entitled "Cow", picking up the The Woman's tale a year later. Without giving away any details, "Cow" makes up for The Woman's early restraint, as nothing is left to the imagination.
But this survivor isn't left in peace for long. Because she's spotted by Christopher Cleek, a sophisticated, socially-upstanding lawyer, while he's out hunting. And just the sight of her flips a switch inside. Because though a respected member of the community, the local PTA and Kiwanis Club, Christopher Cleek is something much more. And while that something has been held tightly under wraps, concealed from the public eye, it hungers for release and sees something in this savage woman that whispers of infinite opportunities.
So he captures her.
Brings her home, chains her in his fruit cellar.
To civilize her, of course. And he enlists the aide of his family: wife, teenage son and daughter, his little girl. Because they are well accustomed to acquiescing to his desires. The Cleek household is good at keeping secrets. Has kept them for years.
But the woman is not just a savage cannibal. She is a hunter, skilled in fighting and killing for survival. So she waits.
For the scales to tip, turning prey into predator.
A taut thriller, The Woman isn't for the faint of heart. But the narrative shows admirable restrain for its first half, letting the reader wonder in glimpses what exactly is amiss in the Cleek household (other than the woman chained in their fruit cellar). The dread builds, as it becomes very apparent that Christopher Cleek is far worse than this savage woman he's imprisoned, that dysfunctional family is a kind term for the Cleek household. And when Chris finally slips over the edge, taking his family with him, it is impossible to look away.
Even if you want to.
This special edition also contains a bonus novella entitled "Cow", picking up the The Woman's tale a year later. Without giving away any details, "Cow" makes up for The Woman's early restraint, as nothing is left to the imagination.
April 18, 2021
What a finale! Having read books one and two I couldn’t resist getting the third.
Where there are many similarities between the first two books (Off Season and Offspring) in the Dead River trilogy, The Woman goes in a completely different direction. And boy does it pack a punch. Not only does it serve a deliciously cannibalistic platter of twists, it also closes the saga with a mounting climax that the series deserves. All three books are excellent. And I highly recommend them
Where there are many similarities between the first two books (Off Season and Offspring) in the Dead River trilogy, The Woman goes in a completely different direction. And boy does it pack a punch. Not only does it serve a deliciously cannibalistic platter of twists, it also closes the saga with a mounting climax that the series deserves. All three books are excellent. And I highly recommend them
July 7, 2024
Makes you wonder who's the real beast here. Capturing a savage; bold move. Trying to turn it into a pet; bad move. But what it exposes about the Cleeks is what attracts even more attention. Dysfunctional family stuff, the messed-up kind. Add a captive cannibal mom who just lost hers and you have a recipe for some seriously uncomfortable, depraved and blood soaked scenes. Ketchum and his blunt way of putting it had me hooked again. A beast of a writer.
January 21, 2016
I really liked the first two books in the Dead River Trilogy, but this one kinda fell flat. It as actually very intriguing, but in a car wreck type of way.
I will say Ketchum can truly create some evil characters; true savage animals. Now, this one to me was only partially a sequel. It stars the woman from Offspring, and that's about it as far as tying into the other novels. Well, sorta.
What threw me is the other characters in this book. The woman is kidnapped by a well-to-do lawyer and his family, and we come to find out the lawyer is even more batshit crazy than the cannibal woman is! This guy has raped and impregnated his own daughter, and hes keeping his other ten year old daughter outback in a pen with two dogs. And he's also blinded her. And his son is a little pervert psycho too. So as you can expect, you find yourself rooting for the savage cannibal before it's all said and done.
I guess they were going for a contrast here, in that you have a seemingly normal family that is ten times more disturbing than a family of cannibals living in a cave. But to me it just didn't fit with the other stories. I guess I was expecting something closer to the other books, although really this was more original than just rehashing the other two.
Overall it's like the other Ketchum work I've read: damn hard to put down. Even if it's disturbing an sick, something makes you want to keep reading. (Not trying to ignore Lucky McKee here, I'm just more familiar with Jack Ketchum.)
So in summary, if you've read the other 2 Dead River books this one is worth the read, but I do think it's the weakest of the three. Some may disagree, however, and say it's the strongest. It's one of those kinds of books.
I will say Ketchum can truly create some evil characters; true savage animals. Now, this one to me was only partially a sequel. It stars the woman from Offspring, and that's about it as far as tying into the other novels. Well, sorta.
What threw me is the other characters in this book. The woman is kidnapped by a well-to-do lawyer and his family, and we come to find out the lawyer is even more batshit crazy than the cannibal woman is! This guy has raped and impregnated his own daughter, and hes keeping his other ten year old daughter outback in a pen with two dogs. And he's also blinded her. And his son is a little pervert psycho too. So as you can expect, you find yourself rooting for the savage cannibal before it's all said and done.
I guess they were going for a contrast here, in that you have a seemingly normal family that is ten times more disturbing than a family of cannibals living in a cave. But to me it just didn't fit with the other stories. I guess I was expecting something closer to the other books, although really this was more original than just rehashing the other two.
Overall it's like the other Ketchum work I've read: damn hard to put down. Even if it's disturbing an sick, something makes you want to keep reading. (Not trying to ignore Lucky McKee here, I'm just more familiar with Jack Ketchum.)
So in summary, if you've read the other 2 Dead River books this one is worth the read, but I do think it's the weakest of the three. Some may disagree, however, and say it's the strongest. It's one of those kinds of books.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 26, 2012
While I liked the movie, I LOVE the book! I mention them together because the project was conceived as a movie/book collaboration and it seems that any analysis of one demands mention of the other. No matter how great an actress Pollyanna MacIntosh is (and she
is
The Woman), she's restricted by having no comprehensible dialogue to deliver (unless you understand pidgin Gaelic). Despite that, she does an admirable job. In the book, however, Ketchum gives The Woman a clear voice that fills out her character and adds depth to her experience in the story. Having insight into her perception adds an entirely other dimension to the story that is satisfying and rewarding. In a fairly straight forward story about family secrets and abusive relationships, the addition of The Woman's direct perspective makes all the difference. Wonderful!
Additionally, "Cow," the novella/short story included in Cemetery Dance's special edition is worth the cover price of the special edition. There's not much I can write about it without spoiling the story entirely (and if you've read Off Season, you already know where this one is going). There's little else to be said other than that it provides an utterly satisfying resolution to the Dead River series.
Additionally, "Cow," the novella/short story included in Cemetery Dance's special edition is worth the cover price of the special edition. There's not much I can write about it without spoiling the story entirely (and if you've read Off Season, you already know where this one is going). There's little else to be said other than that it provides an utterly satisfying resolution to the Dead River series.
March 10, 2012
There is quite possibly no one in the business who can write human monsters the way Ketchum does, expertly peeling away layer upon layer, masks and facades, to reveal the hideousness underneath. The Woman certainly packed a punch, emotionally this was his strongest work since The Girl Next Door in that appaling yet compelling way of a deadly car wreck. Don't know how much McKee had to do with the story, but I'd be very interested to see the film adaptation. 4.5 stars read, intense, borderline traumatizing, but highly recommended for those who can.
December 21, 2020
I haven't yet read a Jack Ketchum book or story I didn't think was great.
October 11, 2020
[Off topic]
Right, so this is what happened.
Since I posted my review of The Girl Next Door, I’ve been contacted by a few Ketchum fans who very convincingly made the case that my decision to stay away from this guy to preserve my good opinion of him isn’t fair because, regardless of his deserved reputation for excessive gore, The Girl Next Door isn’t the only book where he made it his business to give voice and dignity to victims.
I got different recommendations (also, everybody said I should keep away from Off Season and Offspring, both early works), but two titles overlapped: this one and Right to Life, so I went for them. I liked them (loved this one, in fact), so I also gagged down the two I was told not to touch... Just to test my respect for their author. Well, it’s still intact. They very much are the pointless (unless you consider "gore for gore’s sake" a point) exercises in shock jockeying I was warned they are. However, I’m now certain TGND was not a fluke, and that makes my good opinion solid enough to coexist with any silliness JK might be responsible for.
(I have to say, however, that in those silly, pointless books, he still went through the trouble of writing his female characters right. They actually read like people as opposed to cardboard cutouts some writer is giving himself a hardon with. That would deserve a nod even if he hadn’t done it as early as 30+ years ago.)
[/Off topic]
The Woman is the sequel to Off Season and Offspring, Ketchum’s first 2 cannibal books (above, I described them in less than glowing terms, and I stand by it). There’s no need to have read them to get into this one, thankfully. I hadn’t yet and had a hell of a time.
The plot recap is as follows: The Woman (the only surviving member of a cannibal colony living in the woods of Maine) gets stalked, then captured by a lawyer with a wife and 3 kids. He’s a profoundly unpleasant individual who sets out to break her.
The Woman is, first and foremost, an alien, formidable character. If there’s one emotion she inspires, it’s respect. Liking her is very hard, but disliking her just isn’t an option, and that’s even before she gets victimized (which she handles with strength and dignity). It might well be just me, but once again, I didn’t get a pornographic, voyeuristic feel from any of the descriptions, even though they were anything but subtle. I don’t get how Ketchum does it.
The Woman’s captor whose name I’ve forgotten is, on the other hand, a genuinely frightening character, partly because men like that are common (even if they rarely get the opportunity to chain a cannibal in their basements). His one defining trait is marrow-deep misogyny, which he masks well enough in public, but as the book moves forward, we find out, little by little, just how bad it is, how it’s affected his wife and children over the years, and how each of them is internalizing it, rationalizing it, or reveling in it. (Quite an accomplishment considering how slim a tome The Woman is.)
Writing-wise, The Woman is as neatly and tightly woven as can be expected. In terms of similes or stuff jumping off the page and right into your "Stunningly built sentences" notebook, you won’t find many fireworks, and that’s by no means a put down. I like no-nonsense and discipline as much as I like eloquent self-indulgence, or having to put the tongue back in my skull because of inspired language usage. Those extremes can be equally absorbing (or boring), and here, I was ABSORBED. The ending was very satisfying because
As much as I enjoyed the experience, I wouldn’t recommend the book to people not used to horror. It’s graphic and though here, brutal detail does actually serve a purpose, to a less jaded mind it might end up obscuring the point being made. Which is that when you’ve got a woman hater and a cannibal, you might find the latter is less of a monster. (I’m sure a jaded mind or an even more clear cut statement of said point is no guarantee it won’t go way over your head anyway, but that deficiency isn’t up to writers to fix.)
The one star I’m withholding is due to a problem very much present in TGND too: Ketchum appears to suffer from an all too common (if charmingly naive) tendency to "other" misogynists by hinting or insisting they have a mental disorder. (The all-around favorite sociopathy, naturally.) And in a society like ours, explaining woman-hating away by basically saying "this is horrific, I HATE people like that, they give me nightmares so here I am passing them on to you along with my revenge fantasy, BUT guy / gal is a nutbar, all right, s/he is an exception" only makes its pervasiveness invisible. Couple that with the fact Ketchum HAS to add extreme, near sci-fi monstrosities to fit the genre (and because he enjoys it), and there goes the life lesson for a number of readers.
That’s worth taking away 2 stars, actually, but I can’t force myself at the moment. I liked The Woman too much anyway.
Right, so this is what happened.
Since I posted my review of The Girl Next Door, I’ve been contacted by a few Ketchum fans who very convincingly made the case that my decision to stay away from this guy to preserve my good opinion of him isn’t fair because, regardless of his deserved reputation for excessive gore, The Girl Next Door isn’t the only book where he made it his business to give voice and dignity to victims.
I got different recommendations (also, everybody said I should keep away from Off Season and Offspring, both early works), but two titles overlapped: this one and Right to Life, so I went for them. I liked them (loved this one, in fact), so I also gagged down the two I was told not to touch... Just to test my respect for their author. Well, it’s still intact. They very much are the pointless (unless you consider "gore for gore’s sake" a point) exercises in shock jockeying I was warned they are. However, I’m now certain TGND was not a fluke, and that makes my good opinion solid enough to coexist with any silliness JK might be responsible for.
(I have to say, however, that in those silly, pointless books, he still went through the trouble of writing his female characters right. They actually read like people as opposed to cardboard cutouts some writer is giving himself a hardon with. That would deserve a nod even if he hadn’t done it as early as 30+ years ago.)
[/Off topic]
The Woman is the sequel to Off Season and Offspring, Ketchum’s first 2 cannibal books (above, I described them in less than glowing terms, and I stand by it). There’s no need to have read them to get into this one, thankfully. I hadn’t yet and had a hell of a time.
The plot recap is as follows: The Woman (the only surviving member of a cannibal colony living in the woods of Maine) gets stalked, then captured by a lawyer with a wife and 3 kids. He’s a profoundly unpleasant individual who sets out to break her.
The Woman is, first and foremost, an alien, formidable character. If there’s one emotion she inspires, it’s respect. Liking her is very hard, but disliking her just isn’t an option, and that’s even before she gets victimized (which she handles with strength and dignity). It might well be just me, but once again, I didn’t get a pornographic, voyeuristic feel from any of the descriptions, even though they were anything but subtle. I don’t get how Ketchum does it.
The Woman’s captor whose name I’ve forgotten is, on the other hand, a genuinely frightening character, partly because men like that are common (even if they rarely get the opportunity to chain a cannibal in their basements). His one defining trait is marrow-deep misogyny, which he masks well enough in public, but as the book moves forward, we find out, little by little, just how bad it is, how it’s affected his wife and children over the years, and how each of them is internalizing it, rationalizing it, or reveling in it. (Quite an accomplishment considering how slim a tome The Woman is.)
Writing-wise, The Woman is as neatly and tightly woven as can be expected. In terms of similes or stuff jumping off the page and right into your "Stunningly built sentences" notebook, you won’t find many fireworks, and that’s by no means a put down. I like no-nonsense and discipline as much as I like eloquent self-indulgence, or having to put the tongue back in my skull because of inspired language usage. Those extremes can be equally absorbing (or boring), and here, I was ABSORBED. The ending was very satisfying because
As much as I enjoyed the experience, I wouldn’t recommend the book to people not used to horror. It’s graphic and though here, brutal detail does actually serve a purpose, to a less jaded mind it might end up obscuring the point being made. Which is that when you’ve got a woman hater and a cannibal, you might find the latter is less of a monster. (I’m sure a jaded mind or an even more clear cut statement of said point is no guarantee it won’t go way over your head anyway, but that deficiency isn’t up to writers to fix.)
The one star I’m withholding is due to a problem very much present in TGND too: Ketchum appears to suffer from an all too common (if charmingly naive) tendency to "other" misogynists by hinting or insisting they have a mental disorder. (The all-around favorite sociopathy, naturally.) And in a society like ours, explaining woman-hating away by basically saying "this is horrific, I HATE people like that, they give me nightmares so here I am passing them on to you along with my revenge fantasy, BUT guy / gal is a nutbar, all right, s/he is an exception" only makes its pervasiveness invisible. Couple that with the fact Ketchum HAS to add extreme, near sci-fi monstrosities to fit the genre (and because he enjoys it), and there goes the life lesson for a number of readers.
That’s worth taking away 2 stars, actually, but I can’t force myself at the moment. I liked The Woman too much anyway.
May 24, 2018
Finally done with the "Dead River" trilogy by Jack Ketchum (The master of shock). Yoh, insanely graphic, but more durable than "Off Season". Or maybe that book hardened me. I can't read too many of Ketchum's books in a row even though I love his storytelling. It really becomes too much. But it is amazing how he can flip your feelings.
"The Woman", the final book in the series really confused me. In "Off Season" and "Offspring" you root for the victims and find joy in the victory. Yet, in "The Woman" you root for the baddie from the previous books? Eh? But with good reason. The final book is a story of survival. As the last standing of a sadistic savage cannibalistic clan, the woman seeks shelter in a cave to heal from being hunted (by this point you still hate her from the previous book). But not too long and a well respected business man, Chris, spots her while out hunting and what does the guy do? Captures her and keeps her in his cellar and tries to tame her with the help of his family. Chris is a man of many secrets and his family abides because they have no choice. I'll leave the rest up to you. Shocking twists.
"The Woman", the final book in the series really confused me. In "Off Season" and "Offspring" you root for the victims and find joy in the victory. Yet, in "The Woman" you root for the baddie from the previous books? Eh? But with good reason. The final book is a story of survival. As the last standing of a sadistic savage cannibalistic clan, the woman seeks shelter in a cave to heal from being hunted (by this point you still hate her from the previous book). But not too long and a well respected business man, Chris, spots her while out hunting and what does the guy do? Captures her and keeps her in his cellar and tries to tame her with the help of his family. Chris is a man of many secrets and his family abides because they have no choice. I'll leave the rest up to you. Shocking twists.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 3, 2014
My new absolute favourite writer. Jack Ketchum's brutal but strangely moral prose is making me love him all the more. You sense that the writer gets every nuance of meaning his writing, like he's purging something and it purges something in me as I read it, but also lifts it. It's strange, almost transcendent in the non-fluffy meaning of that word. It exalts me, even as his characters suffer, and I question myself, and seethe, and feel it in every fibre, and I shed tears, but I'm not sure why - out of a surge of love for the fearsome, fearless Woman, a sense of rightness being done after pages of debasement at the hands of a monstrous man. I feel like I just watched the original Texas Chansaw Massacre - totally sated, I will sleep with a sense of briefly earned contentedness, ready to burn again tomorrow.
February 27, 2021
Wow! What a series!!! I wonder if he planned on writing more about The woman (and the girls?) if he had had the time.
To me, I find it kind of ironic that The woman was being abused in a cellar... sound familiar? In my mind, I would like to think this was Ketchum’s way of getting revenge for Sylvia Likens. Meh, maybe not, but it makes me feel better to think that.
Now...onto the movies!
To me, I find it kind of ironic that The woman was being abused in a cellar... sound familiar? In my mind, I would like to think this was Ketchum’s way of getting revenge for Sylvia Likens. Meh, maybe not, but it makes me feel better to think that.
Now...onto the movies!
January 5, 2016
Every voracious reader has a guilty pleasure reads, admit it, you know you do. Maybe its precocious scared wizard children attending a secret school, or maybe its sparkly vampires, or maybe it’s time traveling nurses who can’t get home because they are too busy rolling in the hay with their “bonnie lad” of a husband. Whatever the case, these are the novels you are slightly embarrassed to admit you own, or feel like you should be checking the books out on your child’s or partner’s library card. Well for me it’s zombie novels, followed only slightly by “splatterpunk” novels.
Splatterpunk is defined by the graphic violence within its pages, and Jack Ketchum has to be one of the masters of this sub-genre. The Woman is in fact the third book in his “Dead River” series. I guess I forgot that when I took the book out of the library. No matter, this is a self-contained story, although I plan to go back and read the first two at some point. The major problem with this story was the lack of character development, but as the main character, known only as “The Woman” is part of a tribe of cannibalistic cave dwellers in Maine featured in the first two novels, I’m sure there was more character development across the arc of the series. Although even as I was typing that line, unbidden came the thought “well maybe not.” Splatterpunk novels are not necessarily known for character development and growth, mostly they are about how far the author can go with the graphic violence and get away with it.
There is lots and lots of violence in this book. It is clearly not for the faint of heart. On the surface this novel appears to be extremely misogynistic. Horrible things are done to the women in this book, all the women. But below the surface, they are strong woman characters, and express this strength by the end of the novel, all be it in some non-traditional ways. And that is one of the grand things about Splatterpunk. In most cases it allows the victims to eventually get in their licks in the end.
3.5 of 5 stars
Splatterpunk is defined by the graphic violence within its pages, and Jack Ketchum has to be one of the masters of this sub-genre. The Woman is in fact the third book in his “Dead River” series. I guess I forgot that when I took the book out of the library. No matter, this is a self-contained story, although I plan to go back and read the first two at some point. The major problem with this story was the lack of character development, but as the main character, known only as “The Woman” is part of a tribe of cannibalistic cave dwellers in Maine featured in the first two novels, I’m sure there was more character development across the arc of the series. Although even as I was typing that line, unbidden came the thought “well maybe not.” Splatterpunk novels are not necessarily known for character development and growth, mostly they are about how far the author can go with the graphic violence and get away with it.
There is lots and lots of violence in this book. It is clearly not for the faint of heart. On the surface this novel appears to be extremely misogynistic. Horrible things are done to the women in this book, all the women. But below the surface, they are strong woman characters, and express this strength by the end of the novel, all be it in some non-traditional ways. And that is one of the grand things about Splatterpunk. In most cases it allows the victims to eventually get in their licks in the end.
3.5 of 5 stars
January 1, 2012
Wow.
That’s my review in a word suitable for a PG world.
There is no single word that best describes this story for the rest of us without resorting to holy hyphenated expletives.
In the beginning, we are introduced to Christopher Cleek who is out hunting. He runs into “The Woman” and sets about capturing her. Each is a hunter. Yet The Woman has been wounded so Cleek gets the upper hand.
I like the POV shifts in this story because you get to see The Woman through the eyes of the Cleek family, and you get to see the family through the eyes of The Woman.
The first two parts of this story set the reader up with character development and setting. The Woman loses her freedom and Cleek loses the tip of a finger. You might wonder why some of the things which are revealed are even in the story, but just keep going because it’s all very necessary stuff.
When the proverbial shit hits the fan, it does so in a build, with a final crescendo of splatter and gore which is very evisceral. Yeah, I mean “evisceral”, as in visually revealing…
This is not the sort of story for a weak stomach. It is raw. It is sexual. It is savage. It is really well crafted.
The bonus novella: Cow, is equally well written. It is an epilogue of The Woman—a tale of the survivors. The pack hunt together and they keep one of their catch alive. He is the Cow...
There isn’t too much out there to equal the style of Jack Ketchum. It is a style which is clean, tight and still evokes that which harkens to our baser senses. And I’ve not read anyone better at it than Jack.
Thanks Jack.
Mine is an advance uncorrected proof.
August 2, 2013
The third in a series of novels featuring wild cannibals living in the forests of coastal Maine, this novel, cowritten with Lucky McKee, takes the story after Off Spring, and the lone female survivor simply known as the Woman. But when local resident, lawyer, and family man, Chris Cleek, spies her bathing in a stream while he's on a hunting trip, he knows he can't just ignore what's presented itself. Cleek captures the Woman and secures her in a fruit cellar in a barn outside the family home. Then, he enlists his family to help watch and care for the savage female (Cleek learns the hard way early on), but his mousy wife detests her husband's newfound fascination, the eldest teen daughter and son each become fascinated in the Woman for very different reasons. And the family harbors a dark secret that will shatter the already fractured veneer of normality, rushing headlong to a brutal, if satisfying, conclusion. This edition includes the short story, "Cow," which is a sequel of sorts to the novel, an excellent accompaniment. Ketchum at his masterful best!
August 24, 2011
My first thought when I finished this was: No Peters!? That guy was some sort of terminator!
My second: She speaks Irish! I dont know whether to be impressed or insulted! :P
A very quick read. I dont think it was as gory as the first two but then again Im probably immune by now. If you've read off season and offspring you'll like this.
My second: She speaks Irish! I dont know whether to be impressed or insulted! :P
A very quick read. I dont think it was as gory as the first two but then again Im probably immune by now. If you've read off season and offspring you'll like this.
March 27, 2015
Lacked finesse.
To me it seemed like Ketchum just wanted to see how much incest, cannibalism, killer dogs, torture, breasts and birth defects you can put in a 250 page book (and short story).
Also the writing seemed rather clumsy at times, but that could be the German translation.
Overall an ok book.
To me it seemed like Ketchum just wanted to see how much incest, cannibalism, killer dogs, torture, breasts and birth defects you can put in a 250 page book (and short story).
Also the writing seemed rather clumsy at times, but that could be the German translation.
Overall an ok book.
February 6, 2012
One of the best novels of 2011. Read my review here: http://thescarefactor.blogspot.com/20...
February 1, 2022
Solid 4.25. Very well written and nice flow. Maybe a bit slow to start off, but it is just setting up everything else.
Spoilers below
A man is out hunting and sees the last of the wild tribe from the 1st two books. She has escaped and is getting ready to move on. He takes her instead and keeps her in his food cellar. Ok, sure. But he has his whole family (son, 2 daughters and wife) help feed and take care of her. A little hard to think they would go along with it. Turns out the son is like his dad (who you find out raped and impregnated his daughter) and is as twisted as his father. The mother just sort of sits back and watches. When the oldest daughter frees the woman finally (while the father/son feed her teacher to the dogs for finding out she was pregnant) she kills the father/son/mother and takes the two daughters, wait 3 (there was a blind daughter who was living with the dogs! maybe that is why the family just rolled with the whole thing so easily) and goes off to start a new family. Very fun story, not as violent as the 1st two books, but with only one feral woman that was expected. A good story and leaving you wondering if there could be a 4th book.
Spoilers below
A man is out hunting and sees the last of the wild tribe from the 1st two books. She has escaped and is getting ready to move on. He takes her instead and keeps her in his food cellar. Ok, sure. But he has his whole family (son, 2 daughters and wife) help feed and take care of her. A little hard to think they would go along with it. Turns out the son is like his dad (who you find out raped and impregnated his daughter) and is as twisted as his father. The mother just sort of sits back and watches. When the oldest daughter frees the woman finally (while the father/son feed her teacher to the dogs for finding out she was pregnant) she kills the father/son/mother and takes the two daughters, wait 3 (there was a blind daughter who was living with the dogs! maybe that is why the family just rolled with the whole thing so easily) and goes off to start a new family. Very fun story, not as violent as the 1st two books, but with only one feral woman that was expected. A good story and leaving you wondering if there could be a 4th book.
October 25, 2018
Fast-paced and engaging, it's what I expected from Ketchum. This one lacked depth and dimension though, compared to "The Girl Next Door". A straightforward violent story, full of blood and gore, with no surprises I can remember. I wouldn't categorise it as horror, really. It had little of the suspense and dread I felt when reading TGND. Suitable candidate for poolside reading.
June 7, 2023
I'd read Off Season back in the early 80s, and was blown away by the storytelling. Couple of years ago it was Offspring, and now wrap it up here. Enter the Cleek family : dad, mom, teens Peggy and Brian, and moppet Darlin'.
On the surface, lawyer dad seems like the great provider but there are numerous skeletons in the family's closet.
Ketchum was a powerful horror novelist as seen here.
On the surface, lawyer dad seems like the great provider but there are numerous skeletons in the family's closet.
Ketchum was a powerful horror novelist as seen here.
August 9, 2012
The final entry into Jack Ketchum’s Dead River trilogy, The Woman, was published recently. Since the movie version emerged at the same time, and since both film and book credit Lucky McKee as the co-writer, I assume both were produced together. I wouldn’t call the novel a “tie-in” book, but they seem to work simultaneously. So similar are book and movie that they can be considered one production.
In the opening chapter of The Woman, we discover “The Woman” of the last novel miraculously survived a knife strike. Given the description of her dispatch in Offspring, this is a little hard to believe, but it’s not the first time a monster has lived again to terrorize another day.
Some of the chapters are told from her point of view, but a leader of a feral cannibal clan which has survived by avoiding civilization has a limited frame of reference. You’d have more insight into a black panther as it regards it’s prey from the other side of a cage.
We’re also introduced to a family named Cleek: Christopher, the lawyer dad; Belle, the stay-at-home mom; Peggy, the troubled teenager; Brian, the even more troubled teenager; and Darlin’, the innocent preschooler. They all live on a big isolated farm in Maine, the scene of the last two novels. There is something bad wrong with this family from the very intro. This is also the second time Ketchum has used a scumbag lawyer in the series. Draw your own conclusions.
The opening scenes are apple pie until Mr. Cleek, out hunting alone, spies the woman bathing in a stream. He decides to take her prisoner and turns his old root cellar into a prison. He doesn’t even tell the family why he needs the cellar cleaned, they just do it out of duty and fear.
Cleek’s hunting alone adds a sense of foreboding to the novel. Why would any sane person hunt by themselves with a dangerous rifle who didn’t have to? Didn’t the state of Maine issued warnings about wondering around in the woods after events in the first two novels? And what the hell has lawyer Creek been hunting besides deer? We never do find out.
In short order, he manages to capture the feral woman and chain her up in the cellar. He simply informs the assembled family unit that they are going to “civilize” her. Right. After a mishap when he gets too close, Cleek shows the family how to shove food in her general direction.
And the woman glares at her captors waiting for her first opportunity.
The authors mess with the reader’s sympathizes by turning the woman into an object of pity. You can’t help feeling sorry for her when she’s getting hosed down by Cleek and company. On the other hand, you have to remember she’s dangerous and will kill anyone in her path. There’s a telling moment when the woman manages to say the word “please”, trying to get her captors to quit hurting her. However, we are reminded, she learned the word from her many victims.
Meanwhile, Peggy’s lesbian math teacher has noted a change in her student. She’s wearing baggy clothes and avoiding the other kids. Could she be pregnant? If so, by who? Should she contact the parents? This is one of the weakest developments in the novel, given that teachers are required by law to report any suspicion of abuse. The teacher’s actions contribute to the final tragedy at the conclusion of the novel.
As in the other novels of this trilogy, the real carnage is saved for the final few chapters. You never are able to decide who’s worse, the captors or the captive.
The movie version follows the book line-for-line. Pollyanna McIntosh returns as the feral woman she played so excellently in the the film version of The Offspring. Because her demise wasn’t so conclusive in the last film, it’s believable that she survived. It’s best to read the book before seeing the movie as the book is able to tell you what’s going on internally with the characters. You better understand why the teacher does what she does to intervene with Peggy, the oldest daughter. The book’s finale makes more sense as well because they never subtitle the woman’s language in the film.
My only complaint with the novel is that it brings out crucial information about the Cleek family toward the end. There’s some hints, but nothing is made clear until the last violent scenes. Again, the book does a better job of handing out the information than the movie, but it’s still a little too late to advance the plot. And the movie has an annoying indie rock score.
Still an excellent horror novel with a superb movie adaptation. Don’t experience either if you have a repulsion to watching the gore fly.
In the opening chapter of The Woman, we discover “The Woman” of the last novel miraculously survived a knife strike. Given the description of her dispatch in Offspring, this is a little hard to believe, but it’s not the first time a monster has lived again to terrorize another day.
Some of the chapters are told from her point of view, but a leader of a feral cannibal clan which has survived by avoiding civilization has a limited frame of reference. You’d have more insight into a black panther as it regards it’s prey from the other side of a cage.
We’re also introduced to a family named Cleek: Christopher, the lawyer dad; Belle, the stay-at-home mom; Peggy, the troubled teenager; Brian, the even more troubled teenager; and Darlin’, the innocent preschooler. They all live on a big isolated farm in Maine, the scene of the last two novels. There is something bad wrong with this family from the very intro. This is also the second time Ketchum has used a scumbag lawyer in the series. Draw your own conclusions.
The opening scenes are apple pie until Mr. Cleek, out hunting alone, spies the woman bathing in a stream. He decides to take her prisoner and turns his old root cellar into a prison. He doesn’t even tell the family why he needs the cellar cleaned, they just do it out of duty and fear.
Cleek’s hunting alone adds a sense of foreboding to the novel. Why would any sane person hunt by themselves with a dangerous rifle who didn’t have to? Didn’t the state of Maine issued warnings about wondering around in the woods after events in the first two novels? And what the hell has lawyer Creek been hunting besides deer? We never do find out.
In short order, he manages to capture the feral woman and chain her up in the cellar. He simply informs the assembled family unit that they are going to “civilize” her. Right. After a mishap when he gets too close, Cleek shows the family how to shove food in her general direction.
And the woman glares at her captors waiting for her first opportunity.
The authors mess with the reader’s sympathizes by turning the woman into an object of pity. You can’t help feeling sorry for her when she’s getting hosed down by Cleek and company. On the other hand, you have to remember she’s dangerous and will kill anyone in her path. There’s a telling moment when the woman manages to say the word “please”, trying to get her captors to quit hurting her. However, we are reminded, she learned the word from her many victims.
Meanwhile, Peggy’s lesbian math teacher has noted a change in her student. She’s wearing baggy clothes and avoiding the other kids. Could she be pregnant? If so, by who? Should she contact the parents? This is one of the weakest developments in the novel, given that teachers are required by law to report any suspicion of abuse. The teacher’s actions contribute to the final tragedy at the conclusion of the novel.
As in the other novels of this trilogy, the real carnage is saved for the final few chapters. You never are able to decide who’s worse, the captors or the captive.
The movie version follows the book line-for-line. Pollyanna McIntosh returns as the feral woman she played so excellently in the the film version of The Offspring. Because her demise wasn’t so conclusive in the last film, it’s believable that she survived. It’s best to read the book before seeing the movie as the book is able to tell you what’s going on internally with the characters. You better understand why the teacher does what she does to intervene with Peggy, the oldest daughter. The book’s finale makes more sense as well because they never subtitle the woman’s language in the film.
My only complaint with the novel is that it brings out crucial information about the Cleek family toward the end. There’s some hints, but nothing is made clear until the last violent scenes. Again, the book does a better job of handing out the information than the movie, but it’s still a little too late to advance the plot. And the movie has an annoying indie rock score.
Still an excellent horror novel with a superb movie adaptation. Don’t experience either if you have a repulsion to watching the gore fly.
September 3, 2023
For those of you who watched ‘Barbarian’ and thought ‘gosh I really hope this has a happy ending’ - this is the book for you!
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