In the Night Room Audiobook By Peter Straub cover art

In the Night Room

A Novel

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In the Night Room

By: Peter Straub
Narrated by: Scott Brick
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Willy Patrick, the author of the Caldecott-winning young-adult novel In the Night Room, thinks she is losing her mind again. Two weeks before her second marriage, on her way home one day, Willy is drawn into the parking lot of a warehouse. Knowing that her daughter, Holly, is being held in that building, she wants to rescue her. But what she knows is impossible, for her daughter is dead.

On the same day, author Timothy Underhill, struggling with a new book about a troubled young woman, is confronted with the ghost of his 9-year-old sister, April. Soon after, Underhill begins to receive eerie, fragmented e-mails that he finally realizes are from dead people whom he knew in his youth. Like his sister, they want to tell him something. When Willy and Timothy meet, they recognize each other, realizing that they must join forces to confront the evils surrounding them.

©2004 Peter Straub (P)2004 Books on Tape, Inc. Horror Scary

Critic reviews

"Moving briskly while ranging from high humor to the blackest dread, this is an original, astonishingly smart and expertly entertaining meditation on imagination and its powers; one of the very finest works of Straub's long career." (Publishers Weekly)
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I almost didn't purchase this book because of the other reviews. At first I was wondering 'what is going to happen'; When 'it' happened it was done masterfully. This story is a roller coaster ride and definitely worth a re-read if you thought it wasn't a great book. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and cannot wait to read Straub's other book.

Read It Again

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This story started out interestingly enough, and had a unique plot twist, however I feel as though it was rushed at the end which left me disappointed in the book.

Lost momentum

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I almost didn't get this book because of the review I read. I am not quite certain what his problem was but I found this book rather good and entertaining. The first 45 minutes to an hour, one had to follow closly but all came clear and became more and more engrossing.
I am happy that I relied upon past experience with this author and not the listener review.

In the night room

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I really liked this book. At least I really liked the story, but it was really hard to stay focused on the writing what with the narrator, Scott Brick, treating every sentence as a dramatic reading. I had to keep backing up to re-hear passages since in my annoyance I would start thinking of how a normal person would narrate it. What a Drama Queen he is. Author and story were great though. I would have given more stars if it were a better narrator.

Good story – terrible narrator

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It took a little while to get into really confusing at first. Then I became totally engrossed. I don't want to give anything away, just get it. Get it now! Before someone tells you about it and messes up all the surprises.

The Perfect Book

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This book was incredible. The storyline drew me in and never let me go. I couldn't hardly stand to put it down. I fell in love with the characters and the story was presented perfectly. I was very disappointed with the ending. I felt it all got wrapped up too nicely and in about 2 minutes. I invested so much time (and it was absolutely worth it), but the ending left a lot to be desired.

Fantastic (except for the ending)

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I was dissappointed since I enjoyed Straub's other works so much. I thought this was just strange and boring. I was left very unsatisfied. Sorry Mr. Straub.

Awful!

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This was the first Peter Straub book I had ever read, and having gone through “Lost Boy, Lost Girl”, I decided I would revisit this. It certainly did not disappoint, and while I had read the two books separately, and in opposite order, it really is important to read “Lost Boy, Lost Girl” first.

Scott Brick’s performance was adequate, and I particularly thought he was able to speak the Willy Patrick character (female) quite seamlessly. Some other characters I thought were a mixed bag, and not how I would have imagined them to sound, but that criticism is merely subjective.

I don’t want to spoil anything about this book, but if you’re into stories that unapologetically break the rules a bit, you’ll love it. I enjoyed this much more after reading Lost Boy, Lost Girl, and I think it’s essential to read it to fully appreciate this one, though I will say that they are very very different from each other—and I say that as a good thing. The relationship to authors and their characters is a supremely complicated one, and I absolutely love how well Straub is able to convey that throughout this book.

Lastly, I will say this is art for artists, and while I totally click with that, it might not grab everyone; but if you have put your all into any kind of art, to the point that the art shapes your life in extreme ways, this allegorically captures it so well, while also playing up a good degree of realism to foil the aspects that are fantastical.

I absolutely recommend this to anyone who appreciates stories that aren’t shy to break the rules. It’s seriously a lot of fun about it.

Wonderfully Meta

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This was yet another masterpiece by Straub, I’m hard to please when it comes to books, but Straub fills that need with everything he writes!!!!!!!!

All Consuming

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This story dragged and was hard to follow in its own right. The narrator's inflectionless reading makes it even worse. Save the credit.

Plodding and hard to follow

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