Malorie

*4.5 stars. After reading Bird Box long before the great Netflix adaptation, I was an instant Malerman fan. The story was unique, the fear and sense of claustrophobia exceptional, and the characters well drawn. For the most part, his following novels disappointed. Great premises but they were missing that magic. Malorie represents Malerman's return to that magic, revisiting his incredible female lead in what is a study in mental strength, madness, deprivation and the will to survive and protect those you love. A few minor hang ups kept me from a full-fledged 5 stars, including a little too much repetition outside of the necessary repetition of a mind trapped in it. Otherwise, I was turning pages as quickly as I could. It also bears mentioning that the parallels to the global pandemic we are all facing were not lost on me and seemed to capture the same choices facing the world's population today, of course, crafted before COVID-19 was something to consider. Well done, Josh Malerman.