Wishbone By Brooklyn Hudson

There were chickens everywhere; some sitting on nesting boxes, others were gathering around his feet, still others scattering at the sight of him. He turned around. Another flash of movement caught his eye. He was sure he saw something outside the coops’ wire walls dart swiftly behind the side of the barn.

All we need is the two of us losing our minds.

He thought perhaps his eyes were deceiving him again, then shrugged it off and focused on the coop. No doubt the previous owners would be back for the birds or had made other arrangements for them. Chickens were messy and loud, and not anything he was interested in keeping. He wanted their lives to be simple now. The chickens would have to go.

***

Why did the chicken cross the road? To get away from Sarah!

Wow!

Really…what more is there to say but, wow!! This book grabs you right from the very beginning and doesn’t let go until the final word…this book had me so enthralled, that I was sneaking peaks at it at work. I only do that with the books I really like. And I like this one.

It has been mentioned before that she is considered the female Stephen King. I’m not a King fan, so I’m going to propose that she is the female Dean Koontz. I like his writing better and find that this story is something he might write…although, I have to admit, this story is more like Misery…but, that’s beside the point.

The point is, is that this story will have you turning the page even when you shouldn’t be…you know, like when you have things to do at home but you’re neglecting them because you have to know what happens next.

As much as it’s like Misery, it’s also a little like The Box and Nightmare On Elm St. Being able to get something while someone else suffers…and then there are the real nightmares! (Ok, so I never saw the movie The Box, but I know the premise can’t be good.)

This book will have you rethinking making a wish the next time someone wants you to pull on one end of a wishbone. If you do make a wish, make sure it’s a good one…someone might have it in for you.

Julien Grenier was abused as a child living in France, feeling unloved by his abusive father, his mother having been killed during childbirth. His grandparents looked after him, but his father, Jerome, was still around to hurt him, even with his grandparents being there.

To this day, Julien continues to dream this same dream, reliving the moment when his grandfather dies, and Julien is hit once again. He never speaks about it to his wife, Rachael. He also tells her that he doesn’t want to have any children, but won’t tell her why. She keeps pressing him with the same result.

On their 9th wedding anniversary, Rachael comes home to their apartment to find an intruder in there. The intruder brutally rapes her, beating her. He leaves Rachael for dead, bleeding and unconscious.

What Rachael didn’t get a chance to tell Julien, was that she was pregnant. When she gets home from the hospital, she is in such a deep depression over having been attacked and losing her baby, that nothing Julien does, will or can help her. She withdraws even more, and it’s driving a wedge between them.

Julien and Rachael decide to get a brand new start in the country, away from the hustle and bustle of the big city. What they find is a large Victorian home that has a barn and land…and chickens. Along with the farm comes a mute girl named Sarah.

Julien has his office in the barn loft. While climbing the ladder to the loft, the brand new ladder rungs give way, causing him to fall and break his leg in several places, and requiring him to go see a specialist. When they get home, there is a cleaned chicken on the counter, ready to be cooked. When they eat it, they devour every bit of it, telling each other that it was the best chicken they had ever had.

Before they knew it, the chicken was gone, the carcass being the only thing left. Rachael finds the wishbone and tries to get Julien to play the childhood game. When he decides to play to placate her, Julien wishes for his leg to be healed. When he wakes up the next day expecting to have to go to the hospital for the surgery, he finds that his leg is completely better.

The wishes continue. They wish for things that they might not normally be able to have. An inground swimming pool for her, a motorcycle for him. But, the wishes get more devious, more threatening, more cutthroat.

Trust me when I say that you won’t be able to put this book down. I read it in a matter of a few days because it was that good. There were a few spelling mistakes that I noted, as well as missing punctuation marks in a few places…but a good reviewer can get past that to see the story behind it. This book is by far one of the best horror books I’ve read, and I only read Dean Koontz horror books. That is saying a lot.

For an added bonus, check out bit.ly/Blogspot-BonusChapter for a WISHBONE bonus chapter. Trust me, you won’t be disappointed about that either. The fun…er…magic…um…well, read the book for yourself…and the bonus chapter. You’ll get what I mean.

Oh, and 5 stars for this book!