21 July 2015

Review #279: Housebroken by The Behrg




My rating:
5 of 5 stars


“Better be the devil you know than the devil you don't.” 


----Jack Heath, an Award-winning Australian author


The Behrg, an American author, pens his debut thriller, Housebroken that accounts the story of a family who are taken hostage by two psycho kidnappers who only wanted one thing from that family- observe the normal daily routine of that family for a week. Sounds weird as well as thoroughly creepy!

Warning: This book is not for those who have a faint/weak heart that can't handle too much creepy and dark violence and horror! Look Away...





Synopsis:

It was a kidnapping, but in all the wrong ways. No ransom, no demands; there was nothing they wanted--other than to observe."

When Blake Crochet and his family are taken hostage in their own home, they are forced to act out their everyday lives under the observance of two psychotic kidnappers. Each moment Blake must pit the decision to follow their captors' rules against the potential catastrophe of a failed escape.

He soon learns that the consequences of both action and inaction are more terrifying than he imagined. As Blake's life erodes beneath him, secrets come to light that threaten to destroy his family before their kidnappers have a chance.

Secrets carry consequences too.

As the motives behind the kidnapping are revealed, Blake must sacrifice everything to hold on to the ever-shifting definition of what his family has become. In his battle for survival, he will face the ultimate consequence: for to fight a devil, you may have to become one yourself.



Okay, honestly The Behrg is like a diamond in the rough, yeah a rare gem found in the ocean of self-published authors. This book is one of a kind where words will fall short to describe the bone-chilling horror that I felt while reading it, in fact I literally had to shut my eyes in order to stop visualizing those keenly described scenes. Anyhow, I was engaged as well as engrossed to this skillfully-crafted as well as captivating story till the very last page. This book is an example of talent, intelligence and brilliant imaginative skill of the author. Because how come, I'm still so horrified as well as terrified with the very thought of those two psycho kidnappers?

The Crochet family has just moved to their plush and expensive house in California. Blake Crochet had no idea that he and his family would have to taste hell when he shrugged off a magazine subscription seller. Because the next moment, he and his family are taken as hostages by that very same man, who had a speech problem and thus called himself Joje instead of George, along with his brother. What did they want? Just to keep an eye or rather say careful observation of the whole family's normal day-to-day activities. Just follow the kidnappers' rule and if you fail, you will be subjected to maximum torture that is even beyond your imagination.

The writing style is top class, polished, thoroughly gripping with the usage of crisp and engaging narrative style that only kept me hooked on to the heart of the story. The pacing is very fast because there are tons of action-filled scenes.

The mystery is layered into the plot right from the start. The story opens like any normal story but once the house arrest, I had to put my viewpoint differently and take this book as something really compelling not with it's gravity of suspense but with it's gravity of darkness and horror. Well, there are lots of edgy twists and mind-numbing turns in the story which either will make you look like a fool in anticipating things before hand or will throw you off your seat.

The themes that the author managed to bring up with this story are the level of darkness hiding behind a regular human soul and at what depths it can go to either choose a evil path or a path of goodness. Yeah kind of provoked my thoughts as well as forced to shift my perspective about a human soul.

Let's talk about those enlightening, perfect and really good characters! I'm sorry, they are nowhere close to good or perfect or enlightening- they all have one fatal flaw- darkness in their soul. Yes, the author have thorough grip over his psychologically challenged and flawed characters that are described strikingly and opens up their soul along with the flow of the story, which gives us a better depth to their mindset. Even the villains will make you love to hate them and even the perfect ones will make you hate to love them. And yes they undoubtedly leave an impressionistic mark after the end of this great story and maybe they will even make you think about them for a while.

Anyways, I can't stop raving and ranting about this intriguing psycho-thriller. So if you have liked my review and somehow I have managed to make you believe that this book is worth a read, then do grab a copy of this book now. Otherwise, if you want to read and review this book, you can always contact the very lovely publicist-cum-my-friend, Maxine, who is a very sweet and nice woman, for a review copy of the book.

Verdict: A must read for everyone and especially for those Stephen King fans!

Courtesy: Thanks Maxine for the review copy and for introducing me with such a great author! 
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Author Info:
My writing career began in the fourth grade when tasked with an assignment to write about rain. I opted to tell the story of a raindrop who decided life wasn't worth living and leapt to his death only to discover that really he was being reborn. (You know that whole life-cycle thing).

Yeah, I was a little twisted even back then. Thankfully my teacher encouraged my writing rather than send me for a psych evaluation... (that came later). Let's see...

I was a child actor and starred in recurring roles in Dynasty and Highway to Heaven, and was even in an episode of The Twilight Zone.
I dropped out of college to join a rockband.
I was kicked out of the Peter Pan ride at Disneyland for lobbing rocks onto toy houses.
I have a grave in my backya ...
Oh wait, this is a BIO not a CONFESSIONAL.

Bottom line: I love to write. Thankfully, my family puts up with it. The very act of creating something that might be slightly askew keeps me going. I'm drawn to dark fiction where I find an appreciation for the light. Horror, thrillers, suspense. Things that make you question your own reality or open your mind to look at the world a little differently than you might have before.

I'm grateful to all those who give an independent author like myself a chance.
Seriously. Thank you.

For more about me, my works, (my rants), and upcoming projects, please stop by: my website. I promise I don't bite.

(See, there's a reason they keep me muzzled).

Visit him here


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