Beating Heart Cadavers

by Laura Giebfried

The Onerian government is in a race to find a solution for the Mare-folk, metal-hearted people who have been threatening their country for decades. To do so, they've created an agency known only as the Spoken, whose members hunt down the Mare-folk to the best of their ability. But the Mare-folk look and act like everyone else, and distinguishing them from ordinary people proves harder than anyone could have imagined. When the Spoken task their new ambassador, Matthew Caine, with getting rid of the Mare-folk using any means necessary, he agrees to do so in exchange for his young son's freedom, whom the government took from him after a crime he committed in his past. But the further that Caine goes to aid the Spoken and destroy the Mare-folk, the more he begins to how can he eradicate a group of people who are outwardly no different than anyone else? And more are we all different, or are we all the same? A twisting, suspenseful story inundated with dark humor and depth, Beating Heart Cadavers examines how prejudice can overtake one's better judgement, and scrutinizes the formidable idea of what it means to be human.

Genres: Adult, Fiction

210 pages, Paperback

Published April 6, 2016

About the author

Laura Giebfried is the author of seven novels. As a native Mainer, her stories are often set in New England. Giebfried has a master’s degree in Forensic Psychology. She also has three certificates in screenwriting from UCLA, NFTS, and the Film School in Seattle.

Reviews

[Andy Peloquin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is, as the blurb says, "a twisting, suspenseful story inundated with dark humor and depth". It takes a pretty unique look at prejudice and how it can cloud our perceptions and judgment. A deep story hidden beneath an interesting tale.
I have to note a few weaknesses in the story, though:
- The intro didn't have any hook. Heck, nothing really serious happened in the first ¼ of the book. It's only at the 50% mark that it starts to get interesting.
- There's no real sense of place. You focus a lot on the characters, but there's minimal background details. In my mind, I saw the characters clearly, but they moved through mostly formless, featureless landscapes.
- Everyone is searching for "IT" for the first 150 pages, but we don't find out what "IT" is until 1/3 of the way into the book. It's a good way to drive up mystique and interest in the beginning, but it annoyed me that it took so long to find out what was so important.
- All the characters have the EXACT same habit: they all run their tongue across their teeth. Not sure how many people do that in real life, but I know not EVERYONE in this society does.
The story was interesting, the concept absolutely unique, and overall (aside from these foibles), it was a book worth reading!

[Ddxexex · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked this book.

As the book description states, the book is about discrimination. The strongest point of the book is its ensemble of characters. Each character has a different perspective on and different goal for the general state of their society, and all of them are well developed and believable.

The ambiguity of the setting and situation make the novel much more powerful. The time period of the story subtly shifts time periods. Also is the discrimination against the "Mare-folk" racism, anti-foreigners or just an over-jealous health concern? As you progress through the novel, these begin to not matter at all, discrimination is discrimination, regardless of the time period or reason.

Overall, it is an excellent read.