Blackbirds by Chuck Wendig

4 STARS

Miriam Black - Book 1

This book is so far outside my normal comfort zone that it needs an international number! That being said, I was fascinated. I could NOT put it down, even when it was at its most horrific and I was at my most disturbed. *LOL*

Chuck Wendig has a singular voice. I have been reading his blog for a while now and have dipped into his writing how-to books and what I saw there induced me to give Blackbirds a try. It's written in the present tense, which thanks to fanfic and RPGs I have become accustomed to reading and I have to say it works really, really well. There's an interview with Chuck at the end of the book where he explains some of his process and the background for the novel and it puts into words far better than I why this works. AND why I felt like I was watching a movie in my mind's eye.

Miriam, the protagonist, just has to touch someone, skin to skin, and she's able to see how that person will meet their demise. This book is the story of how she stops just drifting along with the tide of this power. It's a bloody, frightening, disgusting, violent tale, believe me. But the insight into the characters, that's the gem of this book, I think. The beauty with which they are drawn - the craft of it, not that they're gorgeous to look at, if you know what I mean. I was really in awe of the craft of this book, but only realised it whenever I would put it aside. While reading, I was just totally immersed and enthralled by the story.

So... all that being said... WAY outside my comfort zone but a fascinating, immersive read and while I do have the other two books in the series, Mockingbird and The Cormorant, I will need some time before I get to the next one. But get to it I will!