Them

De: W.H. Chizmar

Narrado por: Johnny Heller, Kevin R. Free

The solo debut from the New York Times bestselling coauthor of Widow's Point: The Complete Haunting, a post-apocalyptic/survival horror novel written in the bestselling traditions of Stephen King’s The Mist and Josh Malerman’s Bird Box.

A top-secret government project hits upon a revolutionary idea for transporting matter across the vast reaches of the universe, and it succeeds in bringing something back. Something alive. Soon, mankind’s reign comes to an abrupt halt when a truck hauling a very special shipping container overturns and rolls off the highway, unleashing an otherworldly horror upon an unsuspecting New England countryside, where it cannot be contained…

Several years later, an unidentified man emerges from the rubble of humanity, seeking other survivors and a shred of hope amid an eerie and lonely landscape. He travels by night up the rural East Coast, discovering Americana ruins and encountering monsters the likes of which no one has survived. Scarred and molded by the cruel horrors of this new natural order, he must face his own dwindling humanity and pray that any others out there have not become monsters themselves…

THEM by W.H. Chizmar (USA Bestseller) Post-apocalyptic sci-fi horror

A man walked across the countryside and no one followed."

I went into this one completely blind, no synopsis, going completely off the cover and the author. I was expecting your average creature feature novel, this is not that..to me this is better.

By focusing on only two characters, their experiences hit even harder. Loneliness, isolation, regret and longing. I did enjoy the nods to King's work, the music, the literature referenced. I did not expect to cry but there is one moment in particular that just really affected me.

And, then there is THEM. Highly descriptive storytelling, you will see THEM, even without the audiobook narration, you will hear THEM and because of the way that Chismar wrote THEM, I was surprised about how I felt about, fear, yes but more than that. Definitely recommend.
-samantha

the humanity they never lost

loved the end from Their Pov , I found myself feeling sad for Them. I wish we knew what happened to one of the characters, I won't say who, Idon't want to spoil it for others

a Cormac The Road proxy

my taste in fantasy led to scifi, and then zombiapoclytipic novels.. then Horror. my inevitable decline of taste as I plowed through post-apocalyptic novels brought me to Carmic's The Road. finaly a foundation I could build upon.
the concept of walking through a forgoton world
where everything that was once taken for granted is now a cherish icon of a memory that will never be. the fear, the loneliness the terror...
THEM: brought me that fix. it was well narrated,
written well and kept me engaged.

Unputdownable horror story

Them, W.H. Chismar's debut solo book is one that is the definition of unputdownable, it's been a long time since I listened to a book where I could not put it down, and where I devoted my full attention to the story. Now the cause of my enjoyment wasn’t just the well-crafted story, it was the choice of the two narrators. Prior to listening to Them, I wasn’t familiar with either Johnny Heller or Kevin R. Free. Each narrator did an excellent job of bring the characters to life through distinct voices, creating the tension in the story and driving the narration in a way that enhanced the story.

The story line reminded me of a lot of other horror type books that that I've read in the past and that quasi familiarity captivated me. In this case, Them just grabbed me and kept me listening. It's a heck of a story, where there isn't a moment where it
Slows down or where you might yawn or take a want to take a break. This story will keep you wrapped up in its clutches while you follow it through to its end.

Nothing to the story

Two characters - neither are interesting. One of the narrators has a voice like nails on a chalkboard. The story is just about the two survivors walking and ultimately meeting up. And they kill an alien together at the very end. And that’s it. Don’t be fooled by the excellent cover art of book.