The Washington Post describes the world of 'Malorie' as 'utterly compelling,' noting 'Malerman balances the novel’s various elements - family drama, road novel, supernatural thriller - with skill and genuine compassion for his characters and their blighted lives.'Īnd, of course, a film based on the sequel is in development, according to Malerman, but he says that is all he knows for now. The success of the movie spurred Malerman to finish a rough draft of 'Malorie' by February 2019, relying in part on a plot thread that had been trimmed from 'Bird Box.' 'By the end of it, as silly as it sounds, I turned to Allison and I was, like, 'Well, now I want to know what happens to her.' And Allison rolled her eyes (and said), 'You could find out if you want!' ' The possibilities for a sequel intrigued Malerman, 44, after he watched a pre-release screening of the 'Bird Box' movie with his fiancee, Allison Laakko. But when a stranger brings news people close to Malorie may be alive in the Upper Peninsula, she risks putting her family in jeopardy with another dangerous trip.

Then it jumps ahead a decade to the life she and her son, Tom and adopted daughter, Ophelia, both 16, have built at an abandoned summer camp in Michigan.įiercely protective of her kids, Malorie keeps them on a strict regimen of safety precautions against the creatures. 'Malorie' picks up at the location where 'Bird Box' ended, at the school for the blind Malorie had reached as sanctuary after taking two children on a perilous river journey. Seeped in tension, the sequel also is prescient in its echoes of current COVID-19 fears. On Tuesday, when 'Malorie' is released, readers can find out what happened to the cautious heroine played by Sandra Bullock in the movie. The movie was so popular, it turned Malerman's taut novel into a New York Times best-seller five years after its original publishing date. The 2018 Netflix adaptation of 'Bird Box' became a huge hit and - thanks to memes, gifs and late-night TV jokes - a cultural phenomenon. In the metro Detroit author's terrifying 2014 debut novel 'Bird Box,' blindfolds were key to surviving a world where just looking at mysterious creatures turned humans violent and insane.Īnd how's this for a parallel to 2020's coronavirus pandemic? For much of the book, the characters stay quarantined inside to protect themselves from a threat they can't - or, at least, shouldn't - see. 'Malorie is 100 percent that kind of person: 'We know this works.

Great! Done!,' said Malerman, 44, speaking by phone a day after the start of Michigan's new mask requirement. 'It's this little piece of cloth, you put it over your face and it decreases the chances of you and someone else getting sick. Like the title character of his new book, 'Malorie' - the sequel to his best-selling 'Bird Box' - Josh Malerman has a strong viewpoint on face coverings.

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