Lullaby

Lullaby is a departure from the other two novels I've read from Chuck Palaniuk; it's the first one that is a fantasy book, dealing directly with the supernatural. And he pulls it off well.The basic premise is a reporter stumbles upon a very unlikely reason behind a lot of unexplained infant deaths (SIDS), years after his wife and young son passed away unexpectedly in the night: a culling song. This song, when read, renders anyone within earshot dead by the next morning. The narrator first tests out his poem on his unsuspecting editor, but then becomes so proficient and adept at the song that all he has to do is think the song in someone's general direction and they drop-dead, quicker than an instinct.

One of the more interesting themes that Palaniuk explores with the song is the potential death of civilization with the demise of communication. He postulates that if the song became public knowledge, it would work like a lethal virus on all our current communications methods. You could never again pick up the phone, watch TV, or talk to anyone you didn't completely trust.

As with his other works, all the characters are flawed, some of the situations are gory, ridiculous, and funny all at once, and the prose is short and tight. I like this one best out of Fight Club and Choke, the latter of which has wrapped post-production filming.