Offspring

I accidently read this series out of order, not on purpose, but more of a happy accident. I had seen the movie of "The Woman" in a much-edited edition on The Chiller Network, and was intrigued by the story. Then a couple of years ago I read, Ladies Night, also by Mr. Ketchum. I remembered The Woman and only then decided to hunt up the book. Imagine my surprise when I got it and realized it was the last book in a trilogy entitled "Dead River," so long (and frankly pointless) story short, although Offspring is the second book in the series, it was the last one I read. What makes it so happy, is this is by far and away the best book of the series. There the same cannibalistic gore, but with much needed character development sprinkled in. It was a pleasure to see the characters of Amy and especially Claire, grow and strengthen as characters throughout this harrowing night of terror.

At its heart Offspring is a story about what a person will do to survive. Even the Woman, is only trying to keep her family and herself alive. I as a reader may not approve or condone the actions of the inbred cannibalistic cave dwelling family, but I can surely understand the will to see ones' family and self live and prosper as they see it. Unfortunately, they met up with Claire and Amy who also felt VERY strongly that they and their family wanted to survive. To me this foreshadows the third book, The Woman where our cannibalistic female lead actually becomes the protagonist.

I enjoyed this novel quite a bit and glad I took the time to hunt it down on interlibrary loan.