Offspring by Jack Ketchum Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Offspring
Book Review: New kids, old tricks...
Summary: 4 Stars
After reading Off Season, which was gripping, tight and savage I was ready for the sequel! The first book left a very strong impression and made me cringe more than usual when but this one was a bit softer and less terrifying. Was it worth the read? Yes, of course, it read very quickly and I enjoyed the story, well I mainly enjoyed rooting for my main characters and their survival but overall there was nothing too new that spiced things up. One novelty I can point out was the foul character of Steven, a nasty husband with no respect for his family that enraged me by the time I was almost done. I must admit I couldn't wait to see what was in store for him from the same brutes who were imprisoning his friends and family.
When Amy and David invite their troubled friend Claire and her eight year old son Luke to their country house to meet their infant daughter Melissa they have no idea that terrors from the past are going to change their plans. Little filthy beasts with sharpened teeth and weapons inflict permanent damage to the family in ways that are better no thought about for too long, some things are just too much to bear. Their struggle to survive is the main focus of the story, with the help of the police the tale flowed well but these kids seemed too strong, I cant imagine having a problem defending myself against kids...
As the title suggest, the offspring takes off in the task of terrifying us in this tale, eleven years after the original massacre the children are ready to strike back and continue to mate with each other and steal infants from houses nearby to make their clan bigger and meaner. The story starts off with a bang and shows the reader that even thought it's the kids and teens doing the killings, they are no less savage and there is no softness and mercy. Good read and fast one too, I would love to read more of this strange clan of barbarians but unless they change the settings then it will just be a major rehash. Perhaps they should strike the city next, if dinosaurs from Jurassic Park 3 can than so can little dirty brats with big hungry tummies.
- Kasia S.
Book Review: Not Ketchum's best
Summary: 3 Stars
At this point I have read several of Ketchum's novels, and to be honest the first book in this series "Off Season" really didn't thrill me. I had a hard time dealing with Cannibals who were capable of speech and yet were so overly barbaric. The two didn't mesh well in my mind.
This sequel was far less bloody, less immediate, and less terrifying. Too much information was given on the wrong parties in the book, and not enough on the ones that we should have gotten info on. The death toll is far lower in this book, and nowhere near as gruesome. In most cases the deaths are barely described and seem "skimmed over" in comparison to the extreme detail he went to describing them in the first book. Also this plot follows the first almost exactly. There is almost nothing new here from the first book.
(Possible spoiler warning)
You have a group of people in a cabin beset by Cannibals who drag a few of them off to a cave and torture them, there are also some cops trying to find the Cannibals. (/spoilers)
Sounds an awful lot like Off Season doesn't it? Well you could save yourself the money and just read Off Season again because it really is the same exact book, with a lot of what was interesting in the first left out of this one. I won't say this was a bad book, it just brought nothing new to the table and seemed rather unfocused. If you like Ketchum, read "The Girl Next Door" rather than this book, it's a much better read.
Book Review: OFFSPRING by Jack Ketchum
Summary: 3 Stars
OFFSPRING takes place eleven years after OFF SEASON, and the books are very much connected. The Sheriff of Deep River, Maine--George Peters--is haunted by the events of 1981; he has retired, his wife and only friend died a few years earlier, and his only solace is in the bottle.
That changes on the evening of May 12, 1992 when the new Sheriff of Deep River pays him a call with a story of two brutal murders. The Sheriff asks for Peters help, and the scene is eerily familiar. The murder victims have been disemboweled and literally cannibalized. George Peters knows who is responsible, and he fears they won't be able to stop the clan before they wreak havoc on the town.
OFFSPRING is a well-written tale of gruesome, violent, and horrifying terror. There are no vampires, ghosts, zombies or anything else of the netherworld here, there is just good old fashioned human evil. The type of evil Jack Ketchum does better than anyone else. And it is scary simply because gruesome inhuman stuff like this happens.
OFFSPRING has the feel of a well-executed horror movie, although the themes and underlying meaning has much more depth than many of the current crop of films. The characters are likable; the description is tight and serves the storyline well. Jack Ketchum is my favorite writer of horror tales, and OFFSPRING lived up to my expectations. It wasn't quite at the level of OFF SEASON, but it was tight, scary and very well plotted.
-Gravetapping
Book Review: Offsping Brings Fear Back!
Summary: 5 Stars
Ketchum is one of the most consistant contemporary horror writers in the world today; on a par with Stephen King and Bentley Little.
Ketchum's prose is as good as it can get, but he always finds something up his sleeve to surprise me.
His is ferocious , a major voice in horror literature. He's able to scare you to death, then revive you and do it all over again--have paramedics on standby for this great sequel to the ever-so-chilling OFF SEASON!
--Joseph McGee, author of In the Wake of the Night, Phil's Place and Darkness Won't Rest: Phils Place II
Book Review: Offspring
Summary: 4 Stars
I found it to be a continuation of Off Season; which was fine by me. I found it to be just as gory and nasty as Off Season and it held my attention to the end. However, I was disappointed in the ending. Since the way the book ended I expected to find another book playing off of Offspring. Sadly enough there isn't one. Ketchum writes some gory, bloody, wild books but I don't think there'll be any others to peak my interest as these two books.