Private Detective Foster Gates is a father is in search of his missing daughter, and sound engineer Mitzi has a secret that may help him solve the case. It's Mitzi's job to create the dubbed screams used in horror films and action movies.
But what no one in Hollywood knows is the screams Mitzi produces are harvested from the real, horror filled, blood chilling screams of people in their death a technique first employed by Mitzi's father and one she continues on in his memory.
Soon Foster finds himself on Mitzi's trail. And in pursuit of her dark art.
A unique chilling tale that kept me hooked throughout. A satisfying twisted story.
My thanks go to the author, publisher and Netgalley in providing this arc in return for a honest review.

I have received this book from Netgalley to review.
This book was sadly disappointing with random threads of various characters and places appearing at random intervals without sufficient connection between. In addition, the matter is quite dark which may not appeal to some readers.

We all know Chuck likes his books to be dark and this one certainly doesn't disappoint in that respect. The Invention Of Sound has such an unusual premise and I was 100% here for it. Gates Foster's Daughter Lucy went missing a long time ago and he has never given up hope of finding her. His search takes him to the dark web where he submerges himself in a seedy and disgusting world that envelopes him. Mitzy Ives is a Folio artist who designs sound effects for movies. She has been on a mission to record the perfect scream her entire life, the avenues she goes down to obtain these screams are less than legit and we are soon thrown into an underworld of depravity.
I had been highly anticipating this novel, mainly because Palahniuk has such a unique take on the world and even when scraping the bottom of the barrel people-wise he still rounds out his characters and makes them unbelievably interesting to read about. The Invention Of Sound was no exception. Both of the main character's in this book are morally grey and yet I still kept wanting to know more about them. At times I did find the writing disjointed and I struggled to understand which character was talking at which point as the transitions between conversations and scenes was often rapid and unexplained.
There are some super dark and sometimes gag inducing moments in this book, but it wouldn't be Chuck Palahniuk without these. Massive trigger warnings for pretty much everything you can think of in this book.
A lot of reviewers talk about the 'twist' at the end but I found it a little lackluster after everything that had come before it and I was disappointed that the story kind of unraveled by the end.
I did enjoy it as a whole and I was intrigued enough to stay up late and finish it so it's still one I would recommend.

Maybe because of my high expectations, maybe because I still live for the classic Palahniuk era, "The Invention of Sound" fell flat; it is disturbing for the sake of being disturbing.

Was I in the mood for the latest Chuck Palahniuk during the madness that is 2020?
Turns out, hell yes, I was!!

The Invention of Sound is (maybe, a little) like a Monsters Inc for adults.
Mitzi Ives is a gifted foley artist, searching for the perfect scream. And she doesn’t find them through talented actors!

Forest Gates is searching for his missing daughter. His search takes him to the dark web and the nastiest depths of human depravity to find out what happened to her.

As you can expect from Palahniuk, this book is shocking, incredibly dark, gory and intense.
But the interweaving story line between Mitzi Ives and Forest Gates is brilliantly done and really well-paced.

There were chunks of sentences that were written in an odd back-to-front way that were a bit jarring. But in a way, they were a good reminder to read ‘more deeply’. I wonder how many words I skim through in most books without really taking the full sentences in?

I haven’t read any Palahniuk for a couple of years, the last one I picked up (can’t remember which) I gave up on quite quickly as it just felt too laboured in its quest for shocks. But The Invention of Sound takes me back to his earlier books and I’m glad I gave it another go!

* Thanks to Little Brown Book Group and Netgalley for the ARC

I have to say, I expected a bit more of this one. I have read only Palahniuk's Invisible Monsters, but damn, that book was good! Freaky, twisted, weird, but so good! This one seemed confusing at moments - I just couldn't follow the story no matter how hard I tried. Ok, maybe it was the author's intention all the way, or maybe I am not the right one to understand his writing. Even the scenes that were supposed to be sickening or disturbed, didn't make me feel that way. All in all, an interesting story, but left me kinda meh.

Big thnx to NetGalley for a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Need to get this out of the way first. All through reading this book, all I could think was: I actually have a favourite (if you can call it that) movie scream. A scream that blew me away with its sheer badass-determined, scream-through-the-horrifying-pain-to-fight-for-your-survival rawness. If you've watched the horror Ready Or Not, you probably know what I'm talking about - Samara Weaving screaming her heart out in a particularly jarring scene.

And I'm pretty sure she did the screaming herself. Well, after reading this book, I hope she did.

Anyway. The Invention of Sound was extremely interesting. I learned a crap tonne on a topic I actually find really interesting, and I have been left with a sense that I'll never be able to watch another movie or series again without assessing the foley effects in depth (I actually have a few pet-peeve foley effects that are overused and drive me up the walls, so hopefully I'll be able to hear more of the better ones after reading this).

What's more, I think the book shows a level of genius for hard-hitting themes and subversive exposition from Chuck Palahniuk that seems to surpass even his own genius of previous works. I have personally not read an author that can do quite what he does.

This personal progression from the author is also evident in that this book is extremely sad. Not tear-jerker sad, but rather "Man, that's bleak" sad. It's an unrelentingly harsh ride through the worst facets of the human condition, and it leaves you feeling despondent and empty.

But, how is that different from what he's done in previous books, given that none of them can be classified as particularly happy-go-lucky? To me, the difference lies in the trademark gallows humour he uses in his first few novels, which undercuts the sheer shittyness of the themes and topics he so loves to explore - and we so love him for exploring. That's lacking in this one. Granted, I haven't read any of his books in a while, and I'm sure this subtle progression from tongue-in-cheek spotlights on what's dirty in this world to deep, philosophical commentary on why we're all screwed would be more evident to someone who was along for the ride, but to me, it came as a bit of a shock. I've always appreciated that humour from him, and I still need to adjust to the darker path he's taken with this book.

A lot of reviewers note that the book's particularly gory and nauseating - I get that, I really do (the subject matter alone?!) - but everything I explain above negated that to the point where I barely even noticed the gore and squeam-inducing descriptions. This meant that while the book was really unsettling (my shoulder muscles were bunched up all through reading it), it never moved over into horror territory for me.

On plot and depth alone, I could happily give this book a solid 4-star rating, but there's some lacking in the writing for me, the worst of which was the Yoda-like backwards sentences. I can't know the author's mind (thank goodness), so while he must have had his reasons for the weird sentence structure every now and again, it just hindered my reading experience, and I found myself playing a kind of bingo to spot them throughout the book.

Sound can be powerful, get the tone right or the volume loud enough and you can cause real damage. There are skyscrapers that have been built that hum when the wind perfectly hits the building to make it vibrate. The worse thing that happens here is an annoying sound when the wind blows in the wrong direction and a few confused birds. It does not cause dogs to howl and people to scream. It does not make the walls shake and the roof collapse. It does not make ears bleed and brains explode. Only a twisted mind like Chuck Palahniuk could invent that type of sound.

Mitzi is a Foley Artist, a hidden auteur who influences the movies by sound. Her job is to match the what people are seeing, with what they think they should be hearing. Her speciality is screams; powerful, visceral, realistic. Her work is so good that secret bidding wars among producers will break out should a particularly good holler come to the market. A scream such as one that evoked the Walls of Jericho. A sound so haunting it can kill. Meanwhile Foster Gates is a broken man whose daughter went missing decades earlier. During a film he hears a scream he believes sounds familiar. Foster goes out to hunt down the hidden Foley Artist to try and discover what screams are made of.

I have read almost all of Palahniuk’s output and each time you must gird your loins. The Invention of Sound is no different as it cuts so close to the bone that it hits the marrow. The main characters of Foster and Mitzi are the typical broken people that Palahniuk specialises in. One is haunted by the mistake he made that lost his daughter, while the other lives in a drug induced neverland undertaking sick experiments that she cannot even remember. If you have empathy with either character, the book can be hard to read in places. Abuse and the death of a child are explored. As a parent or victim, this writing will hit home hard.

Palahniuk sets out to provoke and create a react and this is certainly the case. It is part of what makes his books so compelling and different to read. He is also happy to play with the medium. Known for general fiction, Palahniuk has played with fantasy and science fiction elements before. Sound has this strange and ethereal element to the book that is pure horror. What if someone invented a sound so pure that it caused others to join in the harmony. These combined voices create vibrations that destroy and kill. This is pure speculative fiction, but all played through the prism of the author’s style. The matter is not tackled head on, but implied and talked around. It makes for a very disturbing and interesting read as you try and figure out what is going on.

Even more than other books by Palahniuk, Sound is a book that concentrates on characters and not the narrative. Fans of the traditional form will become frustrated with the meandering start and middle, but if you allow yourself to appreciate the atmosphere there is a lot here to enjoy. If enjoy is the right word. The book is packed full of ideas and concepts that will make you think. These will be uncomfortable at times, but so many books come and go. Sound lacks the solid core of the very best that the author has written, but still has plenty of merit, especially for a fan. If you are interested in a supernatural tale from the author, I recommend the sublime Lullaby, a book that still haunts me almost twenty years after reading it for the first time.

Wow, Chuck is back with a bang! I’ve read all of his books and found the last few very disappointing but this is back to what I love. It doesn’t make much sense as you go along, but you know it will all add up to a massive finale of absolute chaos. Very dark themes and characters, with a shining light on the horrors of Hollywood. Great stuff

This was my first foray into the twisted mind of Palahniuk, and what a fascinating and disturbing place it is! This tells the dual stories of Mitzi Ives, an incredibly talented foley artist hunting for the perfect scream using particularly gruesome methods, and Gates Foster, a man destroyed by the disappearance of his daughter many years ago who spends his time scrolling the dark web looking for paedophiles. These two seemingly disparate stories intertwine so skillfully that it was a real joy to see the dominoes fall into place, one by one. With a wry tone, Palahniuk creates wholly unpleasant individuals and yet somehow their motivations seem valid, or at least, understandable, which is very impressive. The tension and action winds up to such a level, that the end is a welcome release and ties up all of the various threads in a satisfying bow. Overall, I was really pleasantly surprised by this novel, which I thoroughly enjoyed and will now definitely be picking up some more of Palahniuk's works.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

A father searching for his missing daughter is suddenly given hope when a major clue is discovered, but learning the truth could shatter the seemingly perfect image Hollywood is desperate to uphold. Gates Foster lost his daughter, Lucy, seventeen years ago. He’s never stopped searching. Suddenly, a shocking new development provides Foster with his first major lead in over a decade, and he may finally be on the verge of discovering the awful truth. Meanwhile, Mitzi Ives has carved out a space among the Foley artists creating the immersive sounds giving Hollywood films their authenticity. Using the same secret techniques as her father before her, she’s become an industry-leading expert in the sound of violence and horror, creating screams so bone-chilling, they may as well be real. Soon Foster and Ives find themselves on a collision course that threatens to expose the violence hidden beneath Hollywood’s glamorous façade. A grim and disturbing reflection on the commodification of suffering and the dangerous power of art, The Invention of Sound is Chuck Palahniuk at the peak of his literary powers — his most suspenseful, most daring, and most genre-defying work yet.

I always eagerly anticipate a new Palahniuk novel as, quite simply, you can't get this brand of horror anywhere else. His offerings are always so imaginative and fizzing with originality, The invention of Sound is no exception, and he's a writer whose work I can say is truly unique. This story is almost nihilistic and the dark, gritty and disturbing plot had me hooked right from the opening scenes. It's a genre-defying novel that puts a sick and seedy spin on the processes behind horror filmmaking which was enthralling, to say the least. Once you pick this up putting it down comes with great difficulty as the unpredictable nature of the plot has you fully absorbed and wanting to know how everything turns out. I savoured every word of this deliciously disturbing read but be warned it is not for the faint-hearted. This is a book you experience rather than read and the chilling and compulsive narrative really gets under your skin from the word go. His characters are always flawed and broken people just trying to get by in life any way they can and for that reason, you can relate to them and become invested in their individual stories. A twisty mystery with plenty of dark humour and sardonicism. Many thanks to Corsair for an ARC.

“Do you know what the Wilhelm scream is, dear? You’ve heard it, the Wilhelm scream.” It was a man’s scream first recorded in 1951 and has been used in more than four hundred feature films, television projects and video games since.

It's Mitzi's job to create the dubbed screams used in horror films and action movies. She's the best at what she does. What no one in Hollywood knows is the screams Mitzi produces are harvested from the real, horror-filled, blood-chilling screams of people in their death throes--a technique first employed by Mitzi's father and one she continues on in his memory--a deeply conflicted serial killer compelled beyond her understanding to honour her father's chilling legacy. Private detective Foster Gates is a father is in search of his missing daughter, and Mitzi harbors a secret that may help him solve the case.

I’m a huge Chuck Palahniuk fan. Diary has been my favourite book for the last 15+ years. His more recent novels have fallen short for me. The Invention Of Sound sees him back to his original form though.

Like all of Palahniuk books, this is not for the squeamish or faint hearted. He is so good at writing uncomfortable, disorientating, disgusting, gut-wrenching stories. His unique suspenseful writing style of short sentences and punchy metaphors makes for such good dark atmospheric horror reading.

I received my advanced copy from Netgalley and Corsair to review.

Even if it's well written and it features the typical Palahniuk's style I couldn't connect to the story as I found it confusing and a bit slow.
Not my cup of tea.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

It takes a special talent to take this tale, interweaving the woman who tortures and kills people to get the ideal sound FX for Hollywood's next big film, and some bloke trawling the dark web and kiddy porn because his daughter went missing nearly a generation ago, and turn it into something so boring. I was skim-reading this from about the 10 per cent mark, for this really wasn't up to Mr Chuck's normal standard, by a long way. Copious extraneous details, and a lumpen, deadpan style really made me think I was wasting my time. Although I did learn what an orchiectomy is. One and a half stars.

Gates Fosters daughter, Lucy went missing seventeen years ago. He's never stopped looking for her. He's just found a new major lead in over ten years. He might now find out the truth.

Mitzi Ives has carved out space among the Foley artists creating the immersive sounds giving Hollywood films their authenticity. She uses the same techniques as her father before her, becoming a leading expert in the sound of violence and horror.

Gates Fosters need to find hid daughter has him crossing paths with Mitzi. This is a dark novel with flawed characters and it's quite perverted and sick to read. It's also kind of weird. This is a quick book to read as there is just over 200 pages. The ending is satisfying.

I would like to thank #NetGalley, #LittleBrownBookGroupUK and the author #ChuckPalahniuk for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The gist: Just putting this out there front and centre, consider it a disclaimer of sorts, but Palahniuk’s writing is largely responsible for me getting back into both reading and writing many moons ago. That may or may not be a good thing, depending on your point of view. For clarity’s sake, for me that was a bloody fine thing indeed. And for reference, the specific book was Invisible Monsters and it’s basically one of my all-time favourite books ever.
But I digress.
The Invention of Sound is dark, disturbing, punchy, gritty. All the things you’d likely expect from a Palahniuk book. It’s a pacy read that takes you through a whirlwind of little strange things turning into big strange things turning into gory strange things turning into what-the-fuck-just-happened-there strange things. Things that start off as believable and end up as believable despite the weirdness, with many stages in between that push you there.
It’s an interesting thing, because my other half studied sound engineering back in the day, and I remember sitting in recording studios helping to create the soundscapes for clips and idents. I never had to do a scream though and turns out THAT’S PROBABLY FOR THE BEST.
This book has the grit and the twists and the turns that you’d expect from Palahniuk, along with satirical commentary on the entertainment business and the machine that grinds the sheen. He writes with a razor’s edge eye on the world as it is. Step by step, he takes you to something extreme and horrific, but however unlikely the outcome might be it’s normally something with its roots in the real.
Favourite line: Hollywood had never lacked new ways to take pretty girls apart.
Read if: You want Palahniuk’s trademark writing style to take you to a dark and seedy underworld of Hollywood
Will be posting the review to www.thedustlounge.com in about 2 weeks

3.5 rounded up.
I loved that this felt like the old stuff! Quirky and dark and original. However I just don’t think it completely came together and actually at times I was rather confused.
I’d say it was worth reading if you liked Chuck’s earlier stuff.

You kind of know what you're getting when reading Palahniuk. It's going to be dark, pacey and pretty messed up. Years ago, I loved Diary and Lullaby so couldn't resist requesting when I saw this on Netgalley.

This book follows the stories of Gates Foster, father of a long missing daughter who has never given up his search, and Mitzi Ives, heir to the family foley studio business that provides scream soundtracks to Hollywood.
Their stories overlap and intertwine as the book builds to it's explosive end.

In places, I struggled with the constantly switching stories and had to skip back to reread once I'd realised the protagonist had changed - I dont think this detracts from the book, however, it's almost to be expected that some elements will leave you lost and floundering.

This is quite unlike everything else I usually read nowadays and makes an amazing literary palette cleanser. Palahniuk is unapologetically boisterous and violent. The characters have no moral comeuppance but simply roll with the choices they make as they fall through the rabbit holes of their lives. Once again, Palahniuk has delivered an intense, pacey read. It goes without saying that this is not for the faint hearted.

I love Chuck Palahniuk, It's been a while since I've read any of his books but I jumped at the chance to get an ARC of "The Invention of Sound" It did not disappoint.

"A father's decades-long search for a missing daughter.
A young woman about to perfect the darkest art.
The most dangerous secret Hollywood has ever kept."

This story has two main characters, Gates Foster, his daughter was abducted years ago and ever since, he has been chasing people who might be connected to child abduction, still clinging to the hope that his daughter is alive.
Mitzi Ives, her job is to record the most screams that get used in Hollywood movies. the story flicks between these two and it seems they are destined to cross paths eventually.

This book is not for the squeamish or faint hearted, a very dark and intense story that fits right in with Palahniuk's other novels. This book will take you to darker places than you thought possible, barely letting you breath for air before you're onto the next horror.

I did find parts of this book confusing as you seemed to be dropped right into the middle of the story lots of the time, but the more you read the clearer it gets, which isn't always a good thing when you realise what's happening.

I would absolutely recommend this book, especially if you enjoy dark thrillers or have read Palahniuk's other work.

The Invention of Sound is, as expected from Palahniuk, a dark story of a dangerous scream, a desperate father searching for his missing daughter, and a foley artist using more than effects. Foster Gates' daughter went missing years ago, and he still clings to the thought he can find the truth, at his support group and on the dark web. Mitzi Ives is a famed foley artist with a difference, known for creating the screams needed for Hollywood films, but this comes at a price: the screamer's life. When Foster hears a scream that sounds like his daughter's, their paths are set to collide, but at the same time Mitzi is losing control, and has created a scream with larger power than expected.

I haven't read any of Palahniuk's books in a while (apart from a reread of Fight Club), mostly having read them during a teenage love of reading stuff with shock value like him and Bret Easton Ellis, and I found this one gripping and readable, with a sharply honed narrative. The twists and horror of the novel worked well (a foley artist that uses real death screams is a great concept, but even more so when it's a reluctant family business) and, without wanting to give anything away, Foster's story is tied in nicely. The opening was confusing, which tends to be the case with any Palahniuk novel, but this one felt easier to get into quickly and figure out what you needed to know, and the short length kept it sharp and distinctly not sweet.

This is a great Palahniuk novel, with a lot of elements that might be expected—fame, violence, questions over what is real or not, and some dark topics—but without becoming too horrific. It all comes together in a satisfying way and has a sense of control and precision. And finally, it seems silly to put this in a review of a Chuck Palahniuk novel, but obviously, this isn't for the faint-hearted.