I partly read and partly listen to the audio version of this book. And, I'm of glad that I did listen to much of the book at work because I found the story to be very dry. It was easier to do something and listen at the same time, rather than it would have been to read it all. I would say that 95% of the story of the book is pretty bland, and it's not until the end that something really happens. And, it's the ending that I like about the book. It's a memorable ending that gets you thinking. But, still, this story, for the most part, is so utterly bland that I can't say that I enjoyed listening/reading to the book. What kept me going was the fact that it was so short.

Foe was quite an enjoyable read. It is a quasi sci-fi, quasi post-apocalyptic story of a couple who has chosen to live in a remote location and one day receive an unexpected visit that is bound to change their lives forever.

It is quite an introspective novel that focuses on relationships and how they can be affected by change.

Light yet deep. Recommended.

Complex, drawn out and peculiar. It's very difficult to review this book without any plot spoilers. The reader is led to believe that the MC is preparing for a massive life change. The reality is that this is both the truth, and not the truth. This is a short novel and I spent much of the time thinking that the pace was too slow. I liked the two surprises at the ending and this was perhaps the best bit of the novel.

You can hardly tell something about the plot without giving too much away. There is a couple living on a remote farm in the near (or far) future. One night they get an unexpected visitor. And that’s it. That’s all you should know when you dive into this chilling and disturbing tale.

The story reminded me of one of the episodes of the fantastic Netflix show “Black Mirror”. Ian Reid delivers another unusual book after his debut “I am thinking of ending things”. His books may not be for everybody. But I like his style and how unique his stories are. “Foe” is mysterious and captivating. I was wondering all the time what was going on. The twist at the end left me breathless and I immediately went back to the beginning and read the first chapter again. It sent shivers down my spine.

As I said, this book may not be for everybody but I enjoyed it immensely. I liked it even more than Reid’s first book. It has a slightly dystopian touch which I am usually not so keen of. But the focus of the story is on Hen and Junior and their relationship and what makes them who they are. I highly recommend this disturbing and eerie book and I am sure I will read everything Ian Reid will write in the future.

Junior and Hen are a married couple who live on an isolated farm well away from the city lights, and that’s just the way they like it, until late one night when a stranger turns up and brings news that will turn both of their lives upside down.

The stranger (Terrance) claims to be working in collaboration with the government, and tells Junior that he’s been chosen to go on a long journey - a journey into space no less! He explains that it will eventually help mankind. In preparation for this journey, Terrance makes numerous visits to their home, carrying out tests on Junior and asking him deep and personal questions about every aspect of his life. However, Junior begins to resent Terrance, who seems to have taken over his life, and he suspects that something isn’t right and he’s not being told the whole truth.

My, this was a strange one and I’m still not entirely sure how I feel about it. It’s sci-fi that’s set in the near future, and is primarily about relationships, and in particular Junior and Hen’s relationship, and how this upcoming journey will affect the both of them, and although I enjoyed it to a certain degree, I figured the twist out pretty early on, so when it was finally revealed I wasn’t in the least bit surprised - and I do love a surprise! A decent enough read, but on some level I just didn’t connect.

Foe delivers a story that is subtle, thought-provoking and entrancing. It is more than it seems and left me pondering its deeper meaning since finishing. I cannot stop thinking about that ending.

In Foe, Junior and Hen are married and live a secluded life in an old farm house surrounded by canola fields. They never get visitors but one night Terrance stops in to tell them Junior has won a lottery to go away for a few years to work on a space installation, leaving Hen at home with a replacement version of him. This, as you might expect, unsettles both of them and so the drama begins.

It's hard to describe the feeling and emotion this book invokes. It is so smooth and consistent yet there is a tangible tension that arrives with Terrance and builds steadily throughout the book. Such small things make large ripples in this story and the relationship between Hen and Junior is a great barometer. I loved the interplay between the characters and the sense of wrongness that grows with the tension. There is much to be observed here and worthy of reflection.

I loved Foe. It left me unsure of what was happening and feeling anxious on behalf of Hen and Junior. The twists, when they come, are so well delivered it's hard to grasp them. It's quite a body blow. This was a great read that left me feeling discombobulated in a way that is rare and disquieting.

I was given a copy of this book by the publisher for an honest review. This is the first book of Ian Reid's I have read and not my usual genre.

The story is about Hen and Junior who live an a remote farm, they see very few people. When a stranger turns up telling Junior he has been relected to go on a trip to a new settlement on a spaceship it affects their vlose relationship.

This is a promising story but didn't keep my interest. Like others have said Junior doesn't really question what the stranger has to say and doesn't really think about the effect on hen.

I really enjoyed this story in the end, but it took me a while to get into, as the style was not particularly fluent, and I didn't particularly like the voice of the narrating character (or the way that none of what he said was put in speech marks - why not?).

In addition, I felt there were a lot of questions not properly addressed. I suppose the ending resolved these to some extent (eg - spoiler alert - because it was revealed later why he didn't have any memories before the story began), but at the time it just felt like poor writing. For example -

At the beginning I wondered - where were they living? Why were they so isolated? What were their jobs and who else did they know (no other characters were mentioned at all until we got to the mill)? The story can progress without these facts, but it just felt a bit like the author hadn't thought it through.

With reference to the main plot: what was the 'world' the author was trying to build? - was it our world in the future or were we somewhere else? What was the installation exactly? Why didn't Junior put up more of a fight about going to it - it wasn't really made clear that it was/why it was compulsory for him to go.

During the novel: what happened when he was at the fire? This seemed like a really significant moment, but it was never fully explained, and then forgotten about, it seemed. I could make something up that fits, but it would have been nice for this to have been explained by the author.

Having said all this, I absolutely loved the ending - the part from when we get back to Junior and Hen 'as normal' to the end was fab. But I think I only enjoyed it because I 'got it', and I hadn't really enjoyed all the learning that enabled me to get to that point. But the ending was five stars!

Overall I would say that this book has a lot of promise, but I felt it needed a lot of work and wasn't really ready to be published: it reminded me of the sort of thing I give feedback on in my writers' group. I'm not sure who the publisher is (I've not researched them) but perhaps they do not do much editing?

What would you do if some rodent-like penpusher came late one night to your remote farm and told you that you were chosen to live in on their company’s space station? And, by the way, the “fortuitous conscription” is meant just for one of you. That’s right: you’d tell him where to get off.
I persevered a quarter into the book, then I was so annoyed at the absurdity of the plot and that “Junior” and “Hen” didn’t simply say NO to Terrance’s attempt to coerce them - I just had to quit reading. Sci-Fi or not - t’wasn’t for me.

I love si fi and psychological thrillers so this one hti both nerves, all though not quite brilliantly on either. I missed the suspense, and the imaginative leaps that both genres can supply. but i also really did enjoy this. So 3.5-4 stars

I had read Reid’s I’m Thinking of Ending Things earlier this year and it melted my brain, so I was intrigued to see what Foe would bring. Something about this one appealed to my new found enjoyment of sci-fi kinds of books and that was what I was expecting when I started reading. However, Foe was definitely not what I was expecting. It was quite an odd read, claustrophobic even, and with only three characters, it became a bit repetitive. I had high hopes for Foe, but it went a little wide of the mark for me I’m afraid.

This was my first Ian Reid and I wasn’t greatly impressed. I was intrigued by the blurb on the plot but the actual story just left me feeling let down a bit. I think the genre isn’t my favourite so perhaps that’s partly why I wasn’t too keen but I found the characters flat and the story too predictable.

Hugely original and deeply surprising, while maintaining a thought-provoking dread throughout. Highly recommended.

Junior and Hen live on a remote farm in the country. Junior is selected in a random lottery to head into space to help set up/install a habitable community for future settlers. A lot of time is spent preparing Junior and Hen for the trip. He is expected to be gone a couple of years and his wife, Hen (Henrietta) is expected to wait for him, only she won't be alone. This book is probably classed as a sci-fi thriller. It is set in the near future and is a meaty character-driven book, exploring marriage, beauty, dependency on another and what it means to be human. Little happens by way of a plot. I didn't rush to pick it up but when I was reading it I didn't want to put it down. I wasn't expecting the ending and thought it was very good.

Junior and Henrietta live at one end of the field, a place where there are no visitors. One fine day they have a strange visitor with a strange news. Junior is part of a space program that will require him to leave his wife and home for a few years, and in his place, will live a replacement. A replacement that looks and talks like him, a replacement that his wife Hen will be living with.

The worth of the book lies in the writing style. Ian Reid presents us with a puzzled, troubled mind of a husband and a wife. The plot challenges their individuality, thereby turning them into a complex being. As a reader, it was very important to monitor everything they said or did, because that’s what the story is all about. The plot also explores what it means to have a meaningful existence and how people only realize that when they are facing a crisis. The pace is somewhat decent and most of the story chooses its own direction, making it unpredictable.

Throughout the book, I wondered what could be the purpose of this book. The answer lies in the latter half of the book, where the author drops one tiny bomb and that’s the BIG climax I was expecting. ‘Foe’ is ‘impressive’ followed by ‘monotonous’ and finally ‘pointless’.

'Foe’ is a strange book. Maybe some of you love books that give you information about the characters behaviors where you are supposed to notice minor changes but I find it extremely frustrating.

‘Foe’ is for the readers who excel in character study and would be thrilled to get into their head and just explore.

"We don’t get visitors. Not out here. We never have."

Junior and Henrietta (Hen) live in the middle of nowhere...One day a man called Terrence arrives. He's from a company working with the government. He declares himself as the bringer of good news. Oh, annoying he seems, he speaks professionally. He knows the best.

Junior has been selected/long listed as a possible candidate to go to space to start installation of a new settlement. This will take a long time, if he actually gets selected. So he will need to leave Hen alone. But they've thought everything. They have a solution for Hen, so that she doesn't feel lonely.

Oh, god this was such a good read. Spot on to say it's for fans of Black Mirror, so true. Even the names of the characters are beautifully put, Hen(!) and Junior.

It's not an eventful book, but a psychological and philosophical story set between 3 characters, a touch of science fiction but not heavy on sci-fi side at all. Could easily be adapted to a theatre play. There are a few surprises in the end, which you can actually guess if you read really carefully.

I love it when a writer captures a situation in 250-ish pages, not using one unnecessary word. This is one of the short and powerful books.

I am happy to discover Iain Reid, will be reading more from him in the future.

Thanks for the publisher, and NetGalley for this copy in exchange for an honest review.

Following on from his wonderfully unsettling I'm Thinking of Ending Things comes Iain Reid's new novel Foe - another example of a strange situation in which nothing is as it seems.
in the near future, Junior and Hen live quietly in a remote rural area when their simple life is thrown awry by the arrival of Terrence. He informs them that Junior is on the shortlist to visit space and that tests are required before he can leave.
Reid has a real skill in creating a creeping sense of dread. The reader knows something isn't right, but can't quite put the finger on what.
Little happens in Foe, but it is a real page turner, right up to an explosive and shocking finale.
Excellent.

Oooh I liked this one... despite it being a little uncomfortable to read... because you knew something was coming... 
I also felt uncomfortable at the ease with which Terrance story was accepted and he was let into their home and they just did what he asked.
All the clues were there,there was nothing surprising about the reveal... but it was done well. 
Not an author I've read before,but definitely one I'll look for again.
A book that on surface level doesn't have a lot goung on,but actually leaves you thinking on it a lot.

After being visited by a stranger one night, Junior and Hen’s lives change. Junior has been randomly selected by the Government to live on a man-made planet for years. Terrance, the visitor disrupts their lives as soon as he drives up to their house. Hardly any information is given, he avoids their questions, the only thing he does make clear is that when Junior is gone… Hen won’t have to be alone, there will be a “replacement”. As soon as he leaves Hen just wants to be alone, the thoughts of her husband going away for years just like that, is unexpected and big news to take in, she becomes uneasy and anxious. As time goes by they hear nothing from Terrance, their lives go back to normal, Hen goes back to normal, until one day he drives up to the farm again, to disrupt their idyllic lives once more.

I kept thinking to myself who even is this man? Why do they believe a stranger? He hardly tells them anything, yet they believe everything he does say. Is he just messing with their minds? Why has he waited all these years to return?

Terrance makes Hen, Junior and you as a reader uncomfortable and anxious. As the novel goes on his intentions and agenda become more intense, he follows Junior everywhere, he knows his every move, constantly asks him very personal questions, records his answers to thigs, takes photos of him. He slowly takes over their lives and becomes suffocating. Every time Junior wakes up the first thing he sees is Terrance staring down at him evading his personal space, evading his home, evading his relationship with his wife. How much information does this stranger need?

This novel is haunting and thought provoking, I loved how it made you think about and question marriage, relationships, loneliness, desires, future dreams and love. It wasn’t your average sci-fi novel, it made me really think and question things, I love it when books do that to you. My mind was constantly trying to rationalise what was going to happen, who was this Terrance guy, what is happening to this couples pretty “perfect” life? Is it a social experiment? My mind was working overtime and I just needed to know what was going on.

I don’t want to give too much of the book away all I can say is it had me on the edge of my seat throughout, Foe was a creative, eerie, surreal psychological thriller and I enjoyed it very much. If you like the programme Black Mirror or the book 1984 this is for you. Reid is certainly a superb storyteller, the writing was dark, edgy, full of twists and tension and I lapped up every page. As uneasy as this book made me feel, I didn’t want it to end.

Foe comes out in the UK on 24th January 2019. I urge you to read this novel, even if you are not a huge sci-fi fan this is a brilliant and unique story. You can get the Canadian edition on Amazon following this link. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

*Thank you NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Fiction for an ARC in exchange for my fair and honest review.*

Was looking forward to getting my hands on the next Iain Reid book, and thankfully this didn’t disappoint at all. Very quick and absorbing read. Almost reads like an episode of the Twilight Zone.

Foe comes in a sci-fi coating but I’d hesitate to classify it as such because at its heart it’s much more of a drama about relationships and the human condition itself. As with Reid’s previous novel, there is a sense of unease running throughout the story which builds nicely towards the conclusion. Most people will see where the plot is going but as with I’m Thinking of Ending Things, it’s the journey there that is the most important and compelling part.

Think the story will stay with me a good long while.

This was a ARC from NetGalley and Simon and Schuster UK Fiction. Kind thanks to both.