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3.76 AVERAGE
3.76 AVERAGE
Peter Clines stories are just plain addicting on audio and this one is no different. I was absolutely sucked into this one from the very first scene. Clines never took his foot off the gas - this story was fast-paced and action-packed. It had characters you could root for, and characters to root against, and an ending you just couldn't wait to read. I wouldn't consider this Clines' best, but sure as hell was a lot of fun!
The Broken Room isn’t deep. Instead, it’s engrossing, entertaining, and fast-paced. If you like Clines’ writing style, you’ll have a great time reading it.
Hector was once a top special operative, but it’s already history. He feels betrayed by his country and drowns his sorrows in booze. In the opening chapters, he’s killing another bottle when a young girl, Natalie, asks him for help. Why would he? Well, there’s a dead guy Hector owes a favor to, and he’s stuck in Natalie’s head.
The Broken Room opens with action and rarely slows down. It offers vignettes from Natalie’s past: cages, nightmarish experiments, other children/subjects, and the titular Broken Room. Outside of these vignettes, it’s a breakneck race as Hector and Natalie are on the run from killers.
I love competence porn, and Clines got it just right with his portrayal of the highly skilled and dangerous Hector. I loved watching him map every situation and use his extraordinary skills to fight, help Natalie, and survive. On top of this, he’s nicely fleshed out and likable. He’s ready to fight for a stranger and risk his life to make things right. The menace is convincing, as is Hector and Natalie’s dynamics.
At first, the story reads like a thriller, but toward the middle, Clines introduces horror elements. The closer we get to the end, the more disturbing things become. Maybe there’s no rescue for Natalie? And maybe it would be best to close The Broken Room for good. Anyway, prepare for a solid dose of cosmic horror and gallons of cold mucus exploding from throats.
There's a little bit of social commentary, too. Both leads are Latinos and they have to deal with unfair social judgment and stereotypes. I appreciate Clines mentioning this and seamlessly integrating it into the story.
Clines is a master of suspense. Once I started this book, I couldn’t put it down. It’s an excellent, adrenaline-filled blend of thriller, action, and horror. Highly recommended for anyone looking for their next crazy adventure.
Hector was once a top special operative, but it’s already history. He feels betrayed by his country and drowns his sorrows in booze. In the opening chapters, he’s killing another bottle when a young girl, Natalie, asks him for help. Why would he? Well, there’s a dead guy Hector owes a favor to, and he’s stuck in Natalie’s head.
The Broken Room opens with action and rarely slows down. It offers vignettes from Natalie’s past: cages, nightmarish experiments, other children/subjects, and the titular Broken Room. Outside of these vignettes, it’s a breakneck race as Hector and Natalie are on the run from killers.
I love competence porn, and Clines got it just right with his portrayal of the highly skilled and dangerous Hector. I loved watching him map every situation and use his extraordinary skills to fight, help Natalie, and survive. On top of this, he’s nicely fleshed out and likable. He’s ready to fight for a stranger and risk his life to make things right. The menace is convincing, as is Hector and Natalie’s dynamics.
At first, the story reads like a thriller, but toward the middle, Clines introduces horror elements. The closer we get to the end, the more disturbing things become. Maybe there’s no rescue for Natalie? And maybe it would be best to close The Broken Room for good. Anyway, prepare for a solid dose of cosmic horror and gallons of cold mucus exploding from throats.
There's a little bit of social commentary, too. Both leads are Latinos and they have to deal with unfair social judgment and stereotypes. I appreciate Clines mentioning this and seamlessly integrating it into the story.
Clines is a master of suspense. Once I started this book, I couldn’t put it down. It’s an excellent, adrenaline-filled blend of thriller, action, and horror. Highly recommended for anyone looking for their next crazy adventure.
I honestly don't think I should even review this one because it just isn't my normal genre. I loved Clines' Paradox Bound, and assumed this would be along the same lines. I wouldn't have picked it up if I realized it was a car chase shoot em' up type of book. Just not for me. Even the sci fi aspect of it was a bit too much on the creepy side for my liking.
Adequate. If you don't like people vomiting or bugs or those things together, maybe skip this one.
I had typed out a review and then walked away from my laptop just long enough for it to shutdown because I'd forgotten to plug it in. The review did not survive and I have to move on to other tasks. The book was swell, though.
31 October 2022
Actual Rating: 4.5 stars. Look, I would not re-read this and that's what it generally takes to get the full five stars, but there's nothing wrong with it and it's really good you guys go read it.
CW: human experimentation, child abuse, gore, body horror, mindfuck horror, terrible border crossings, human tragedies galore, plenty of murder but it's cathartic honestly
1. Girl escaping from military research facility finds retired special ops badass to help her stay out of the clutches of the retrieval squad. Retired badass is weirded out because the guy who's marker she's calling in was supposed to have died years ago, but he goes along with it. On the way, he discovers more about how fubar the whole situation is (and it's pretty fubar), has to deal with whole-ass squads of security experts, and a fair amount of sci-fi horror. (Hector's having a pretty terrible week, y'all, and Natalie's situation is somehow worse.)
2. This book was really good. And I say this as a person who's only mostly fond of horror and not at all fond of thrillers. (It's a sci-fi horror-thriller.) A lot of horrible things happen to a lot of innocent people (mostly kids, but there's plenty of misery to go around) and there are plenty of evil scientists. I say evil, but I mean more banal evil than mustache-twirly evil. People who have a higher purpose (◔_◔) doing things while are horrific in the more immediate sense. Add in some really horrible race-coded dehumanization. Suffice to say, the book needed to end with a massacre in order for us to have a satisfying story.
3. Idk what it is about badass girldads that get to me. it was true for Spy x Family, it's true for this one. Combine parenthood with a person who would not be the ideal image of a parent and a child who is far from normal and yo get like- the best found family narratives. Found family is the best.
4. Hector is just. Such a dad. I mean yes, badass Special Ops guy etc etc, but this is someone in a very tense situation who is stressed and has been depressed for years and is saddled with a very strange girl dragging along a lot of problems in her wake. But the way he interacts with Natalie, and the way you can slowly see her reliance on him going from being based on desperation to being based on trust is just. Gah. It gets to me. It kills me every time when people thrust into parental roles end up doing their best because there's a kid in front of them and taking care of that kid is what you do.
5. That ending scene was a biiit huhwhat to me because I think but I was sniffling too much to pay much attention to that. Story themes matter more than exact sci fi mechanics and all that. Plus, the last conversation between Tm and Natalie was heartbreaking.
Actual Rating: 4.5 stars. Look, I would not re-read this and that's what it generally takes to get the full five stars, but there's nothing wrong with it and it's really good you guys go read it.
CW: human experimentation, child abuse, gore, body horror, mindfuck horror, terrible border crossings, human tragedies galore, plenty of murder but it's cathartic honestly
1. Girl escaping from military research facility finds retired special ops badass to help her stay out of the clutches of the retrieval squad. Retired badass is weirded out because the guy who's marker she's calling in was supposed to have died years ago, but he goes along with it. On the way, he discovers more about how fubar the whole situation is (and it's pretty fubar), has to deal with whole-ass squads of security experts, and a fair amount of sci-fi horror. (Hector's having a pretty terrible week, y'all, and Natalie's situation is somehow worse.)
2. This book was really good. And I say this as a person who's only mostly fond of horror and not at all fond of thrillers. (It's a sci-fi horror-thriller.) A lot of horrible things happen to a lot of innocent people (mostly kids, but there's plenty of misery to go around) and there are plenty of evil scientists. I say evil, but I mean more banal evil than mustache-twirly evil. People who have a higher purpose (◔_◔) doing things while are horrific in the more immediate sense. Add in some really horrible race-coded dehumanization. Suffice to say, the book needed to end with a massacre in order for us to have a satisfying story.
3. Idk what it is about badass girldads that get to me. it was true for Spy x Family, it's true for this one. Combine parenthood with a person who would not be the ideal image of a parent and a child who is far from normal and yo get like- the best found family narratives. Found family is the best.
4. Hector is just. Such a dad. I mean yes, badass Special Ops guy etc etc, but this is someone in a very tense situation who is stressed and has been depressed for years and is saddled with a very strange girl dragging along a lot of problems in her wake. But the way he interacts with Natalie, and the way you can slowly see her reliance on him going from being based on desperation to being based on trust is just. Gah. It gets to me. It kills me every time when people thrust into parental roles end up doing their best because there's a kid in front of them and taking care of that kid is what you do.
5. That ending scene was a biiit huhwhat to me because I think
Spoiler
Tim punched the break out of existance?
Yes, it has some similarities to Stranger Things and Stephen King's The Institute. And the preternaturally gifted assassin military operative is a stereotype. But, Clines still puts his own spin on it and unrolls a great story with interesting characters. I was reading this while I stirred food with the other hand because I wasn't willing to put it down to cook dinner.
Clines never disappoints..
Spooky paranormal mystery is Clines trademark, which he does to perfection, here we get that in spades combined with some hard core action delivered by our protagonist, an ex army specialist.
Highly enjoyable, especially as audiobook
Spooky paranormal mystery is Clines trademark, which he does to perfection, here we get that in spades combined with some hard core action delivered by our protagonist, an ex army specialist.
Highly enjoyable, especially as audiobook
Peter Clines book never fail to excite. Pulse racing stories with unbelievable plots that pull you in.
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No