When an author comes up with such an original concept as Josh Malerman's Inspection, it's just plain refreshing to read. There are only so many times I can read about secrets in marriages and the like before I start to get bored with the same old topic again and again. It's nice when you can say as a reader that you've read NOTHING like a particular book. That's not to say I loved Inspection, but it definitely had its positives.If you want characters with actual names, you better turn elsewhere. The story revolves around the "Alphabet Boys," who are students in a school deep within a forest. They know nothing about reality. All they know is what D.A.D. and the Parenthood have told them, namely that they came from trees and need to be careful not to get fake diseases. Oh yeah, they also do not have a clue that a species called "girls" exists either.
We are told their story through the eyes of "J." J begins to have some suspicions, and these suspicious are increased a hundredfold when he meets "K," a girl. Where did K come from? What secrets about the world are being kept from all of them, and how will they react when they find out they have been deceived?
Other readers have commented that they found the plot slow and the ending great. I, however, am completely the opposite, which is why I couldn't rate this a 4. Unfortunately, I can't reveal much about the ending lest I give it away, except to say that I just found it way too much. But major props go out to Malerman for creating something here that we really haven't seen before.
MY RATING - 3.5
