Inspection

A Novel

By: Josh Malerman

Narrated by: Michael Crouch, Brittany Pressley

Boys are being trained at one school for geniuses, girls at another. Neither knows the other exists—until now. The New York Times bestselling author of Bird Box invites you into a world of secrets and chills in a coming-of-age story like no other.

NOMINATED FOR THE BRAM STOKER AWARD • “Josh Malerman is a master at unsettling you—and keeping you off-balance until the last page is turned.”—Chuck Wendig, New York Times bestselling author of Blackbirds

J is a student at a school deep in a forest far away from the rest of the world.

J is one of only twenty-six students, all of whom think of the school’s enigmatic founder as their father. J’s peers are the only family he has ever had. The students are being trained to be prodigies of art, science, and athletics, and their life at the school is all they know—and all they are allowed to know.

But J suspects that there is something out there, beyond the pines, that the founder does not want him to see, and he’s beginning to ask questions. What is the real purpose of this place? Why can the students never leave? And what secrets is their father hiding from them?

Meanwhile, on the other side of the forest, in a school very much like J’s, a girl named K is asking the same questions. J has never seen a girl, and K has never seen a boy. As K and J work to investigate the secrets of their two strange schools, they come to discover something even more mysterious: each other.

Praise for Inspection

“Creepy. . . a novel whose premise is also claustrophobic and unsettling, but more ambitious than that of Bird Box . . . Inspection is rich with dread and builds to a dramatic climax.”—The Washington Post

“This unlikely cross between 1984 and Lord of the Flies tantalizes.”—Kirkus Reviews

“Malerman builds a striking world. . . . As he did in Bird Box, Malerman’s crafted an irresistible scenario that’s rich in possibility and thematic fruit. . . . Where [Bird Box] confined us behind a blindfold, Inspection rips it off.” —The A. V. Club

“A must read . . . It’s a wonderful thing, digging into a new Josh Malerman novel—no idea what to expect, no clue where his twisted mind is going to take you.”—Cemetery Dance

Brilliant!

Download and listen. Do it now! LOL. A bit of a slow burn, then ... WHAM! Excellent story. Great ending. Very entertaining and worth a listen.

Cool plot idea

I enjoyed the book. it makes you wonder what would happen to the children if this were real.

Pretty good in the end

So I agree with some readers that this was a little too long. There was a little too much description and the author went on some tangents that I don’t think really mattered to the plot, which could have cut a couple hours out of listening time and it would have been a little more concise. However…That being said…the book is a fantastic story and you’ll definitely have some feelings during it. I enjoyed the other/alien world feeling as if I’m on the outside of a snow globe staring into a whole other planet other than ours. I would recommend this book.

SURPRISING TURN OF EVENTS

This book had an amazing build up and the twist caught me completely off guard. I had no idea how this could have ended. The ending was slightly anticlimactic but I would definitely read a sequel.

Eh. Not really worth it.

Great performance by narrators! Very well done throughout.

It was the story that was the issue. It was an overly bulked up 2/3 and then a hastily tossed together end, with the last bit of the book thrown together so rapidly that it was implausible at best.

Such a shame as I really enjoyed the concept and see where the author was going with it. It was as though he just kept writing hoping he’d come up with a direction and then his publisher was like “we need this by Tuesday” and so he wrote words not thinking about if it made sense or added benefit to the story.