The Night Parade Paperback – July 26, 2016

Just discovered this author and am enjoying all his books. This story of a plague had a different twist to it and was a quick read. The characters are engaging.

If forced to give a one word description of Ronald Malfi’s The Night Parade I would have to say: intense, disturbing, and relentless. Yeah, I couldn’t narrow it to a single word, sorry. At the book’s opening we meet David and his daughter Ellie. (A very special girl.) It’s the middle of the night, they are on the run in a stolen car, and we learn that David’s wife is dead. This setup hooked me instantly. Why are they on the run? From who? Why? How did his wife die? Then the flashback scene to the midnight run-in with the guy in an ice cream truck…wow, so disturbingly creepy. What was wrong with him? What is this strange new disease? (Yes, I’m being quite vague because the truth is you really want to go into this one knowing as little as possible. Trust me.) The way Malfi slowly reveals what is happening is masterful, and I think given what we’ve all been through with the pandemic over the last few years, The Night Parade hits even harder, feels even more disturbing, than when the book was originally published. Truly epic. Thanks so much to Kensington Books and NatGalley for allowing me the opportunity to read and review an eARC of The Night Parade.

This was my first read by this author and I will definitely read more of his work. There is obviously a prescient quality to a pre-COVID plague novel and it was thought-provoking in that sense. Wanderer’s Folly is no COVID, and like most plague novels, the disease here turns people into mindless savages. Given the last 18 months, it occurred to me that pandemics are far more nuanced than fiction writers have traditionally thought, and the collapse of societal norms far more subtle and not just a result of institutional collapse. The non-linear storytelling is compelling without being obnoxious, and the main characters reasonably well-developed. The villains tend to be a little cliched once revealed, but that’s often true of real-life villains, too. Speaking of real life, I expect that we will likely be seeing an avalanche of new plague novels informed by what we’ve been through. In the meantime, I recommend this one. The only reason this one doesn’t get 5 stars from me is because of King’s Stand, which stands alone in this niche genre as far as I’m concerned.

Worth the read

Mr. Malfi is one of my favorite authors–his Skullbelly short story is probably my favorite horror piece ever–but I didn’t like this one as much. The summary is that humanity is being wiped out by a mysterious diseases called Wanderer’s Folly, which makes the afflicted lose more of their memory and mental functioning until they finally die of strokes or cerebral hemmoraghes, and has no cure or even clear vector (inmates in maximum isolation prison are getting it). The protagonist, a former college professor, is on the run with his young daughter because his wife seems to be immune and the government took her away, leading (he thinks) to her death. His daughter has the same immunity, so he flees because he doesn’t want the government to get its hands on her. But as the story goes on, and they both have their share of scary experiences, it becomes apparent the daughter has stranger powers…As you can tell, this is pretty derivative–of Stephen King’s The Stand (a disease wipes out humanity except for a lucky band of survivors) and Robert McCammon’s Swan Song (Nuclear war wipes out most of humanity, except for a young girl who may be our salvation). That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but Malfi doesn’t do much to separate himself from his predecessors; the story beats are pretty predictable, and the ending is no real surprise to anyone who’s read Swan Song. Still, his writing and characterization are top-notch, and the protagonist’s mental decline as it’s revealed he has the disease too is extremely well portrayed. So I’d still give this 4 stars in the end.

i just read night parade by ronald malfi and absolutely adored it. night parade gives us David and Ellie Arlen, on the run from the authorities in the wake of a devastating plague called wanderer's folly that is whittling away at the global population. it also seems to have wiped out the birds (this is a nice touch, i think, and connects the folly to avian connected disease, such as west nile virus), giving rise to a world gloriously overrun with the everpresent drone of insects.malfi does a superb job of relating david and ellie's plight within the backdrop of a freshly upended human race. david and ellie are intensely believable characters, and i was quickly tied to them emotionally. like immediately, which makes the entire novel an incredible read.malfi writes with a gorgeous simplicity, laying out the scene, providing his characters with meaningful--not over-expository--dialogue, and creating tense moments with vivid and thoughtful description. to this end, malfi describes the state of things well, the emergence of cults, methods of survival, and the emotional tragedy that the folly causes. his writing never feels repetitive or contrived. nothing in this fantastic, emotional novel is wasted, and malfi finds an engaging way to utilize the apocalypse/plague device as a way to tell a really heartfelt story about a father and a daughter. it's beautiful, really. i cannot recommend this book enough.the fact that malfi writes in and about maryland only further endears him to this maryland-loving horrorhound's heart.

Dark, disturbing, and heart-breaking. One of my favorite reads this year.

I hate it when books or films constantly flick between past and present. Usually there isn't a particular reason other than to make it more interesting and this is such. I ended up skipping the past as it was all fairly obvious from the info in the present. Hopefully should i find myself being chased by the government and CDC they'll turn out to be just as incompetent and a quick getaway is assured. The petrol stations motels and local shops are working along the way but it seems all authority has collapsed. Very lucky that there aren't any marauding bandits or looters other than one dodgy family. Sadly the most interesting bits, like where it came from, where the birds went and where are the other uninfected aren't expanded. It's not terrible or long, I read it in one go minus the back waffle, but it's not in depth or scary or gory or very post apocalyptic either. If you like your stories on the lighter side then it's definitely for you.

The challenge writing anything in the horror genre can be summed up in two words: Stephen King.At the start of this novel I thought, "oh, it's like Firestarter" and then later it was "It's like The Stand". Comparing anyone to Stephen King is unfair, but we do it because he casts such a long shadow.The Night Parade was good, I enjoyed the story and there were some genuine surprise an route. The core idea was interesting and it left me thinking about the questions it posed. Can't ask for more than that from a book.

I like Ronald Malfi and read The Night Parade after December Park. Nothing compares to December Park. Highly recommend that book by same author.

Took a chance and it was worth it. Apocaslyptic tale told at a personal level. Keeps you guessing what is real or not?

Grabs you and holds you right from the opening page. Good stuff!