Pearl – Josh Malerman

Expectation: High concept horror drivel, if the incredibly low user ratings on Goodreads are to be believed.

Reality: Uneven but creative, I was entertained throughout.  

My Take:

If you ever wondered what “Animal Farm” would be like as a slasher film, this is the book for you. Even if you didn’t wonder about that, but love the outlandish horror of early Stephen King and American Horror Story, this is a story for you, because “Pearl” is a book about a homicidal telepathic pig. Yes, as in swine. 

While it requires a fair amount of reality suspension — as most good horror does, in my opinion — Josh Malerman starts the book swinging (if you read it, you know what I mean), and keeps the gory fun going until about the last third when the story starts to buckle under its weight. 

In true slasher film fashion, there isn’t much plot, but it follows similar beats. There’s idoitic teens, backstory galore, creative kills and a connection between our killer and the final human standing. You’ll yell in disbelief at the stupidity of the characters while reveling in the ways Malerman dispatches them.

While it’s a creative take on a well-loved structure, Malerman scores points by successfully selling the idea. I particularly enjoyed how he posed the question of who is the hero and who is the villain. 

Is Pearl evil or simply enacting revenge on a town that has allowed his kin to be murdered for years? In many ways, he’s like Carrie White. 

As mentioned, the last third lost me. More characters are added, a telepathic connection is established (which I never really understood) and the action shifts from full throttle to a trickle. 

Outside of Pearl’s backstory, which brought the action to a halt but was fantastically crafted, it felt like Malerman wrote himself into a corner and wasn’t able to work his way out. The last few chapters were flat out confusing.

Still, for genre fans it is worth the read. It's a high concept horror story that feels low-fi. I hadn’t read anything by Malerman before, but I’d be interested in tackling another novel soon.

The audiobook was great. Sarah Mollo-Christensen has a delivery and cadence very similar to Julia Whelan’s, which works well here. She did particularly fine work with Pearl — her “sing for me” was truly unnerving — and Jeff, one of our primary human characters. 

Rating (story): 3.5/5 stars

Rating (narration): 4/5 stars

Formats: Audiobook (library loan)

Dates read: September 29 – October 5, 2022

Multi-tasking: Good to go. There are several characters and POVs, but Malerman keeps things pretty tighty. I mostly exercised and did yard work while listening.