"You tell yourself that noise is what defines silence. Without noise, silence would not be golden. Noise is the exception."

Carl Streator is a journalist investigating sudden infant death syndrome. He notices that all of the dead children were read the same poem called the "culling song", an ancient African spell for euthanizing sick/old people. He, himself, accidentally killed his child and wife with the same poem, and he finds a woman who did the same. Together, they go on a quest to destroy every book that consists of this poem. 

If you knew a certain lullaby that could kill people, would you use it? Out of sheer curiosity? For revenge? For the greater good? 🤔 

All of these questions arise when Carl and Helen discuss the ideas of having power as they're on their journey to destroy all the poems. One is for it and the other is against it, however when it comes down to certain circumstances or a simple annoyance, suddenly people are dropping dead. You begin to wonder whether morals are important anymore 😂

You either love or hate the characters in Palahniuk's books. I really liked Carl, just your average Joe. Helen, not so much, your rich, snobby realtor. Then there is Mona, Helen's secretary, and her boyfriend, who are also on this quest. This causes problems because at some point or another, they're all pitted against each other.

I forgot that I love the theme of repetition in his books. He will have certain phrases/words that are repeated throughout. Some people might not like this, but I do. It's his style and it works well with his flow of words. For example, "Sticks and stones may break your bones, but words can hurt like hell", but then it becomes "Sticks and stones may break your bones, but watch out for those damn words", and so forth.

I don't want to say anything else, but I love transgressive fiction. If you're into it, or want a starting point that isn't completely out there, then read Lullaby!