The Invention of Sound by Chuck Palahniuk: a review

I don’t read crime fiction super often, but the concept of this book really caught my eye. I couldn’t pass it up. The name of the author was also familiar to me, and that’s because he’s the author of Fight Club. I need to find and read that. I know about as much about the book as I do its adaptation, and it has been on that imaginary ‘I should read that at some point’ list.

CW: violence, abuse, drugs, paedophilia

The Invention of Sound by Chuck Palahniuk follows Gates Foster on the search for his missing daughter who is on the verge of the shocking truth. It also follows Mitzi Ives, a Foley artist, renowned for creating the most blood-curdling screams in Hollywood. Their paths grow closer and closer, and the collision unveils a litany of horrors.

            Palahniuk has such an unusual and distinctive style that I can’t get out of my head. Occasionally the sentence structure is just not quite what you’d expect, and it adds a wonderful flavour to the story. It’s hard to describe, but I do love it.

            At every turn, I became more and more entranced by this book. I barely even took notes because I didn’t want to put the book down, constantly wanting to know more. Palahniuk had me so hooked. I mean, this story is so fucked up, in so many different ways, but I couldn’t help but want more with every new piece of information.

            I could certainly see myself reading this again. I’m sure there are loads of breadcrumbs that would be easy to miss the first time around. I 100% recommend this book.

Don’t forget about the Bad Reputation Book Club that will be hosted by Bits Bobs & Books on the first Sunday of every month. If you like, you can send over some content for this series:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/33XX7MWZ3PD7A?ref_=wl_share