Review: Housebroken by The Behrg

Sorry I dropped off the planet for a bit there. Why are there never enough hours in the day?! I hope to get back to posting reviews and features and visiting blogs again because I've missed it all so much. Anyhow, now I'm even further behind than I was previously so here's a way overdue review.

Housebroken by The Behrg

Published March 2015

Dark Fiction  |  Goodreads  |  Amazon 

Source: Received for Review Consideration 

"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. They soon learn that the consequences of both action and inaction are more terrifying than they imagined. As the motives behind the home invasion 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.Some rules hurt when broken. Others can kill.

My 2 Cents For Free!

This is a book that is absolutely not for everyone. Honesty, I feared it wasn’t for me because I have a weak spot when it comes to animals being harmed but I kept going because my friends' reviews convinced me not to be a quitter. I’m going to warn you though if you cannot handle (view spoiler) please be very careful when picking this up. I nearly put the audio down forever after a certain scene because it was graphic and it hurt me to the very core.

With that said, this book turned out to be a very surprising and brutal, horrific thriller. It is not for the squeamish but if you can handle the rougher stuff you might not be sorry you read it.

Blake is a wealthy guy who has started a new job and relocated his family to Malibu. He gets up one morning and steps in dog poo. The poor dog is a little out of sorts with the move but Blake, being the awful person he is, rubs the dog's nose in it and leaves the poop sitting there on the floor for his wife to clean up! FOR HIS WIFE TO CLEAN UP!!. AFTER HE STEPPED IN IT! I apologize for screaming but damn what a jerk! He is totally deserving of death from the get-go. I hoped it would happen soon but then there wouldn’t be much of a story then, I suppose. Soon after a stranger rings the doorbell asking for an interview and everything goes sideways from that moment on.

This book takes some wild and unexpected turns and no one here is exactly as they present and I liked that best about this story. The characterization and tension are so well done. It kept me guessing and it has some secrets! It’s violent and cruel and it will make you cringe. It gave me some major Funny Games vibes at times and trust me there is nothing funny about that movie! As I listened, I kept thinking “why am I doing this to myself?” and I still cannot answer that question properly. In the end, I would not reread this book but it was a compelling and horrifying story that surprised me and I’m glad I saw it through to the very end.

As for the audio? The narration was absolutely excellent and spot-on when it came to the men but oh sweet Satan the lady voice! The lady voice will send shivers down your spine with its unidentifiable accent and piercing falsetto but it does break up the tension, so there’s that.

I’m going with a four here, I think. I hate number ratings but they’re a necessary evil. Read this story only if you want to give all bell-ringing people a hard side-eye for the rest of your life. 

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