The cannibal tribe is the reverse of all the "noble savage" stories so many of us read as kids. Imagine Tarzan butchering Jane's family and you will have some idea of the brutality of this book. It's not a novel to be read if you dislike violence in your fiction. The tribe is viscous beyond description, but Ketchum has done a little research and tried to imagine how such a group might survive. They don't even have names; the clan leader is simply refereed to as "The Man". Word of warning, he does tone the gore down from the first book and it is noticeable. Comparing it to standard, generic horror this is very violent and brutal. But it's just not as frequent as in Offseason. It did leave me wanting a little bit more in terms of carnage. Ketchum's follow-up to the graphically violent Off Season is an interesting but unfortunately doesn't equal the predecessor. This cannibal tribe uses a ploy with the teen girl they have covered in blood to gain entry and go for the baby. Luke and Claire help to get the child out of the house before they do, while David is murdered and Amy is taken hostage. With the cops nearby and Steven on his way, this will all come to a head in an interesting showdown.

Plus, once processed through the digestive system, humans make a phenomenal natural fertilizer which provides further benefit to Mother Earth.It’s sad to think this author died earlier this year, but I think he will leave a legacy like few before or after him. He was simply trying to write pulp slasher fiction and didn't care about character development and can't be judged too harshly for not doing it. The tribe is led by Woman (Pollyanna McIntosh) as well as a male. There are a bunch of children that are with them and the teen girl that David saw. Woman is mad that the baby died as they needed it for a ritual. They're then told to go out and get another baby, or they're going to be cursed.

But it was so much more than kids doing that, there was also their inbred parents, along with lots of topless women, and creepy sexual encounters. While I really liked this book, I feel compelled to make a few introductory remarks before I discuss the specific merits of the story. I will give Mr. Ketchum the benefit of the doubt and say that I do not believe it was his intention in writing this book to come across as a snobby, elitist, “anti” cannibal bigot. However, the fact remains that this novel is yet another example of popular media perpetrating the negative stereotype of cannibalism. I feel it's long past time to give a more balanced view of the subject in the hopes of fostering greater understanding of this alternative lifestyle. Of course there are those who will propose that Offspring is primarily a bloody, gore-fest and that if the film succeeds in delivering the carnage, it's a success. All I can say is that if baby dolls smeared with blood in plastic bags and the sporadic blood spraying of an insecticide pump filling in for a severed vein, there isn't much here to recommend.And before too many hours pass, five civilized, sophisticated people and one tired old country sheriff will learn just how primitive we all are beneath the surface...and that there are no limits at all to the will to survive. Sequel First: Only the latter two books of the 'Off Season' trilogy were made into films. The first has yet to be adapted due to rights issues. After reading Ketchum's The Girl Next Door, I know this man can write characters. He's certainly not on a Stephen King level, but who is. But he can create believable and relatable characters. But those in Offspring while being good enough to service the plot are not going to blow you away.

What makes Off Season so effective and important is Ketchum’s masterful manipulation of the reader. Just as in Psycho, Off Season’s erstwhile hero, Carla, is killed first and most horribly. This is Ketchum grabbing the bullhorn and screaming at the reader: “No one is safe or off-limits in this book! Not even you!” And while Off Season muses on such “big ideas” as the rational v. the natural, the family unit, and urban v. rural, its most enduring message concerns the abrupt ugliness of human violence, and how people face such extreme situations and horrors that come out of nowhere. The violence that occurs in this book touches us so profoundly because it is perfectly reminiscent of the awful and sudden turns that life can take. It is ultimately the unpredictable, uncompromising way Ketchum rains his terrors down upon his characters and the reader that earns Off Season a place in the canon of classic thriller fiction. Ketchum spends the first half setting up the book with some decent character work and identifying sub plots before the brown stuff hits the fan and things go absolutely bonkers in the second half. It's a good formula and makes things very tense and exciting as the story progresses. Spree Killer: The main antagonists in The Lost and Joyride are these. Both are psychopathic young men based on real-life murderers, although only Joyride was inspired by an actual spree murder. And what's most strange about this film is that Ketchum wrote the screenplay. And by God, I can't tell if it's just the amateur acting that makes the writing seem poor, or it's the writing itself. The more I think about Offspring the more I'm thinking the actors aren't to blame. Sure they stunk, but I hate to say it but Ketchum's screenplay writing isn't up to snuff. I also throw a lot of the blame on the director as well.Finally, I believe it's critical to recognize that cannibalism is an excellent way to make a positive contribution to the environment. In addition to using very few fossil fuels or other products damaging to the environment, consumers of humans also help prevent ecological damage that can arise in areas with excess population growth. They are one of the most ecologically conscious consumer groups and have long been associated with the “Green” movement. Off Season covers a family of cannibal killers and their “interactions” with a group of friends who are just looking for a relaxing cabin getaway. Yeah - not happening. I hope the above makes clear that despite the ill-informed, slanted view of cannibals at times portrayed in this book, this community has many positive qualities and deserves to be treated fairly and with respect. I just wish the author would have made the brave choice and not pandered to the more powerful "anti" cannibal segment of the population. Ketchum worked many different jobs before completing his first novel (1980's controversial Off Season), including acting as agent for novelist Henry Miller at Scott Meredith Literary Agency. What does Richard Davidson bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?