MR. X

Peter Straub remains the closest you get to Stephen King, however Straub does excell in an edge for an eerier atmoshere ! Mr X has a creepy dark element througout. Straubs literary style of first person , description and sleek metaphors and similies spot on. The story made up with poweful flashbacks as Ned Dunston returns as a grown man from New York to his small town backwater birthplace Edgerton. to his mother Star's deathbed. Eerie horrific details and experiences of his families existence and heritage are unfolded!Straub remains in peak form as he merges fantasy, paranormal, detective crime and horror. Mr X's 1999 Bram Stoker award Ihave mixed feelings about as I've read better Straub novels. I found Mr X qute a challenging read and quite confusing, with to many characters, to many plots and sub plots. Also at over 600pages some what lengthy, yet Straubs talent for compulsion shone through for me to complete it. If you are looking for a slightly bizarre angle to your horror give Mr X a chance. However do look out for other Straub books as Mr X isn't the easiest read.

This book is many things, part labyrinthian murder mystery,part horror story which evokes the ghost of H.P Lovecraft , part fantasy tale which not surprisingly reminded me of the Straub /King collaboration , 'Black House'.I enjoyed it ,but at times found it hard going, however, it was very well written and almost as enjoyable as Straub's finest book , 'Ghost Story'.The characters were memorable , but I sometimes felt that there were too many of them , and I struggled with that. Otherwise , its worth a look!.

I have just finished reading the paperback of this story and it's a wild ride of insanity mixed with secrets, lies and the supernatural.The characters are enigmatic, each playing a weird part that make up the eerie puzzle. Ned is intriguing and somewhat laidback and certainly accepting of the weird goings on. The most intriguing and interesting character is the child genius - a story about him would be better.It is atmospheric, chilling and odd. I m not sure about the ending or the unexpected revelation of an additional (spooky and sad) character.Great writing.Recommended.

Peter Straub has had me hooked since I first read Ghost Story in 1979. Since then he has moved seamlessly from horror to paranormal crime, to straight crime and now what goes around has finally come back around - a supernatural tale.Mr X is vintage Straub; characters so artfully constructed that you can feel their emotions; locations so graphically depicted you can not only SEE them, but actually SENSE their dark mood. The central character, enigmatic Ned Dunstan, who has a more than mysterious past, feels drawn back to his mother's home town. Here he becomes caught up in plots and sub-plots with various shadowy parties all with their own very hidden agenda. Lurking behind the entire story is a strange and increasingly imminent supernatural menace.As always Straub occassionally gives his hapless reader a few small pices of the jigsaw, but doesn't show you the picture of what it should look like until the very end - leaving you breathless and with more nagging questions than the answers he has given you - "what if...", "how about...","why did...".Mr X is a hugely welcome return by Straub to the supernatural genre and is a terrific read. If you liked Ghost Story, Shadowland and Floating Dragon - you'll LOVE this.

Reading the synopsis to this book, you get very excited and await a chilling horror story. It even helps that the author is endorsed by none other than his writing colleague, Stephen King. It starts off strongly, and there is a kind of eerie unease about the novel and its enigma, Mr. X. But as the plot develops, it turns into more of a detective novel with a science fiction twist than a horror story. The storyline becomes a little convoluted and confusing. The idea of the Mr. X, which I won't mention as it will spoil the book, is an original one which does have some interest, but at the end of it, it's probably not worth the effort. Once you finish the book, you'll have wished you had chosen something else instead.