How exactly does one classify Inspection by Josh Malerman? At various points there are certainly elements of horror, namely near the end. There are also portions that could be grouped into the thriller category, as well as an overall climate that I had trouble comparing to anything besides Orwell’s 1984. It’s also appropriate to lump it into the category of coming-of-age stories. Suffice it to say, I don’t believe I’ve ever read anything quite like this one.

The stripped-down version of the plot is that we begin by following a group called the Alphabet Boys, adolescents who are being raised to believe the entirety of humanity is male. The boys are completely unaware of the existence of girls/women under the belief that without this distraction, the Alphabet Boys can do great things and lead the way in various fields. This is our set up, but we can’t go too much further into what happens next without some major league spoilers.

The prose throughout is very sharp and quick-moving which, combined with relatively short chapters, leads you through very rapidly. I found myself consistently saying “one more chapter” and subsequently plowing through the story.

The adult characters are relatively one dimensional. Even the one we go a little bit deeper with, we never get to truly explore his motivations beyond guilt. The main children characters are written sympathetically, and even though they interact relatively normally, we can’t help but think of everything wrong with their world and the things they are missing. Beyond a few adolescent characters that are frequent participants in the story, I found it difficult to keep track of some of the second and third tier characters, though I chalk this up to characters having assigned letters rather than names. It does feel like although some of these boys have individual strengths and skills and we miss out on some potential here.

Credit where credit is due, one thing Malerman excels at is writing dialogue between the Alphabet Boys. I marveled at how much work it must have been keeping straight what they know, what they don’t, what phrases (gender, religion, pop culture, etc.) wouldn’t make any sense coming out of their mouths, and the way it’s handled throughout the running time of 383 pages is pitch perfect.

The highest selling point that I can give on this book is that I can’t imagine you’ve read anything like it before, and it deserves some points for originality. There is also a chapter about 20 pages from the end of the book where shit absolutely goes down. A great cap on a really fun book that has something to say.