Pearl
Ratings14
Average rating3.4
From Josh Malerman, the New York Times bestselling author of Bird Box and Malorie, comes the legend of Pearl, a strange new monster unlike any other in horror (previously published as On This, the Day of the Pig). NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE WALL STREET JOURNAL • “Daring readers should find this tale of a malevolent telepathic pig to be a memorable experience.”—Booklist (starred review) There’s something strange about Walter Kopple’s farm. At first it seems to be his grandson, who cruelly murders one of Walter’s pigs in an act of seemingly senseless violence. But then people in town begin to whisper that Walter’s grandson heard a voice commanding him to kill. And that the voice belongs to a most peculiar creature: the pig named Pearl. Walter is not sure what to believe. He knows he’s always been afraid of the strangely malevolent Pearl. But as madness and paranoia grip the town and the townspeople descend on Walter’s farm with violent wrath, they begin to discover that true evil wears a human face.
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Last year, when Pearl dropped, I had been on a quest to read as many Josh Malerman books as possible. There is a sharp edge to the horror he creates, an assault on the reader's psyche that may or may not be too far. Malerman has a deft understanding of what makes some readers climb the walls and tear at their hair in dismay. Opening one of his books is thrilling and slightly terrifying because you never know which part of your abused mind he will assault.
Then he created Pearl.
“GO TO THE FARM JUST OUTSIDE OF TOWN AND YOU'LL HEAR IT.
A VOICE. INSIDE YOUR HEAD.
OR IS IT?
COME TO ME...
Pearl never minced on the edges of horror; this is Malerman stretching his metaphorical razor-tipped claws and sinking them into your unsuspecting brain. Pearl is the stuff of childhood nightmares.
Pearl is a pig; if you know anything about pigs, know they are crazy intelligent, massive in size, and will eat anything. They tick all the “other” boxes compared to humans. Pearl is also a pig with only one good eye, but this psychotic pig sees everything. And Pearl uses his mind to wreak havoc and control everything.
Pearl by Josh Malerman is gory and psychotic. It touches on that part of the primal brain that hides in the corner, quivers from things bigger and worse than you, and is up to no good. The pig is a wonder of creation, so subtle, Malerman's prose is unadorned, but explains just enough to allow the author's imagination to take over.
If you read this story, and I wholeheartedly believe you should, you are going to go through some shit—because Pearl is going to get you.
5 out of 5 gore smeared stars
I have loved everything Josh Malerman has written and this is no different! This book was true horror and so graphic. I had such a hard time putting it down, that I ended up reading it all in one day. Everything about this book was unsettling.
Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Del Rey, and NetGalley for providing me with an eBook copy to review.
4.5 Another hard one to rate, I really really love Josh Malerman's writing, this book was as creepy and tense as the other ones I have read from him. However, while reading it it did feel a bit like a lecture on animal rights, and I am not personally into media like that. All in all creepy and good just a little too heavy handed for my taste.
