Peter Straub's Mr. X is an enthralling, complex tale of a decent young man troubled since childhood by barely understood flashes of precogni...
read full description
reviews
Dec 03, 2011
Paul
rated it: 
This is one of the most difficult books I have read. When reading it I struggled at points to follow it but the last paragraph of the book made perfect sense and I realised that it was possibly the way the book was intended. A few years after reading I am still perplexed by this novel.
How good can a story be if you struggle to read it but then are left unable to stop thinking about it. I have come to the conclusion that Peter Straub is the best writer I have ever read. Ghost story More...
How good can a story be if you struggle to read it but then are left unable to stop thinking about it. I have come to the conclusion that Peter Straub is the best writer I have ever read. Ghost story More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Jan 08, 2009
Lila
rated it: 
Even though Peter Straub is considered a contemporary horror fiction writer, I would not call Mr. X a typical horror (if there even is such a thing). It is a story told by Ned Dunstan, who on his every birthday experiences seizures during which he witnesses gory murders committed by Mr. X. As Ned's next birthday approaches, his mother dies and his own death is knocking on Ned's door. In a short span of time Ned also finds out there's his doppelganger lurking in shadows. He sets out on a quest to
More...
Oct 16, 2008
Sabella
rated it: 
Although there was some wonderful writing in this book, overall it fell flat for me. Too many characters, too much "hopping" about, too little of the truly interesting Mr X, and much too much of the other, not very intriguing cast members. Also, it took a long time and a ridiculous amount of self-impressed exposition to finally get to the point of the story. The book was about 1/3 longer than it should have been, and frustrating and tedious to read in points because of this.
0 comments
like
(3 people liked it)
Mar 25, 2010
Kevin
rated it:
I'm not typically one that gets scared by books. Films tend to scare me more. This book is no exception. It wasn't really "scary" at all.
That said, I really enjoyed the characters. I found this book INCREDIBLY difficult to read. As much as I wanted to get into it, and really enjoy it, I couldn't. The narrative was jumbled, especially Mr. X's chapters. The last 80 pages of the book was akin to the end of a James Bond film, where everything gets explained in dialogue More...
That said, I really enjoyed the characters. I found this book INCREDIBLY difficult to read. As much as I wanted to get into it, and really enjoy it, I couldn't. The narrative was jumbled, especially Mr. X's chapters. The last 80 pages of the book was akin to the end of a James Bond film, where everything gets explained in dialogue More...
Jul 25, 2011
Sasha
rated it:
I give this book a 3.5.
It was an enjoyable experience listening to it, but having finished it and looking back it was more than a little convoluted and indulgent. The characters themselves were the highlight, the kooky family, the small town heavies and the seedy underclass of Hatchtown. But the plot itself wasn't quite what it need to be and having the anti-climactic climax happen so long before the end of the book was an odd choice. I may just have not caught on to it enough but t More...
It was an enjoyable experience listening to it, but having finished it and looking back it was more than a little convoluted and indulgent. The characters themselves were the highlight, the kooky family, the small town heavies and the seedy underclass of Hatchtown. But the plot itself wasn't quite what it need to be and having the anti-climactic climax happen so long before the end of the book was an odd choice. I may just have not caught on to it enough but t More...
Aug 12, 2009
Belinda
rated it: 
I am a big Straub fan to begin with--have enjoyed nearly all of his books--despite his work with Stephen King, I think he is quite different. This book was particularly enjoyable to me as I am a huge Lovecraft fan and this is clearly his love letter to Lovecraft. Great fun for Lovecraft fans in picking out the Lovecraftian imagery, names of books and characters scattered throughout the story---all the while winking wildly at the fans--no attempts at imitation, just sincere flattery and making
More...
0 comments
like
(2 people liked it)
Mar 05, 2008
Cody
rated it:
Oh man this book is awesome. It's like Peter Straub and Lovecraft had a baby and it was this book.
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
May 04, 2011
Ian
rated it:
The plot of this novel focuses on Ned Dunstan (born June 25, 1958), who has had precognitive visions since childhood and returns home to Edgerton, Illinois from New York after anticipating that his mother, Star Dunstan, is dying. As Star lays dying in the Intensive Care Unit after suffering a stroke, she reveals the name of the Ned's father, the mysterious Edward Rinehart. Following his mother's death, Ned begins to trace his paternal lineage with the help of his great aunts Nettie, May, and J
More...
Feb 23, 2010
Tim
rated it:
I thought "The Throat" was one of the best-written novels ever published, lots of complexity, mysteries within mysteries, satisfying ending, finely drawn characters, all over a fun experience. My impression of "The Talisman" and "Black House," collaborations with Stephen King, was that they were superb. "Shadowlands" was a confusing miasma but had an interesting premise.
(update several days later) To tell you the truth, I went online to see i More...
(update several days later) To tell you the truth, I went online to see i More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Jul 20, 2010
Personhead
rated it:
Like all of Straub's best, this book simply grabbed me and would not let me go. Straub has a way of writing... I'm not sure how to describe it, but it may put some people off to begin with. But persevere and the rewards are there. The narrative he weaves here is becomes so increasingly layered and complicated it's hard to believe it can ever tie up all it's loose ends. But it does, in this compelling, thrilling and very strange story.
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Dec 15, 2008
Ejl
rated it:
Straub's "Ghost Story" is a contemporary classic of horror fiction, but this novel doesn't pass muster. It seems too wrapped up in the maliciousness of the title character. And I don't quite get the Lovecraft connection - slight echoes of "The Dunwich Horror" I suppose, but for what purpose? Overlong and lacking any relatable characters for me.
I listened to this book as a book-on-tape.
I listened to this book as a book-on-tape.
Oct 02, 2010
Derek
rated it:
I'm not that big a Straub fan in general. I like oblique horror writers, but he's often a little too oblique. Not here.
The viscerally skewed town he creates, where both the mental and physical geometry expands and collapses like a bad dream, goes to the root of what is unsettling in life. Horror? Yes, but something far better, an unsettling sense that the world could be ... waiting.
The viscerally skewed town he creates, where both the mental and physical geometry expands and collapses like a bad dream, goes to the root of what is unsettling in life. Horror? Yes, but something far better, an unsettling sense that the world could be ... waiting.
Mar 14, 2011
Risa
rated it:
This is certainly not the best of Mr. Straub's work, but it definitely contains surprises and keeps the reader guessing. It pulled me effortlessly from cover to cover, and the only reason it gets 3 stars vs. 4 is because I was confused and disappointed with particular aspects of the ending. That said, I would, without question, read it again. (and again. and again.)
Jul 27, 2011
Jane
rated it: 
Plot didn't hold together for me. But depiction of small-town, middle-aged fuddy duddies rang true. Parts that made whole thing worthwhile for me were the 2 brief sections where protagonist GOES BACK IN TIME in the town he was visiting! Saw hoboes and bar ruffians of the time! YOWZAH!
Sep 23, 2009
Peter Straub, co-author of two books with King and a Horror author in his own right, should also be mentioned. Like King, he focuses on characters, finds Horror in the everyday, and fills his works with ghost stories and nightmares, as well as psychological undertones.
Jul 27, 2011
The scenes of main character when he goes back in time were gasp-worthy. Imagine his being on a brick-lane old alley, viewing denizens of a bar in 1880 or so. Or approaching a group of hard-luck hoboes during the Depression. Shivers!
Sep 07, 2011
Elizabeth
rated it:
Sorry, this book might be good and I'm sure that it is original and imaginitive but I couldn't get passed the gruesome image of the baby with its hands cut off and eyes cut out. More than I can handle!
Feb 22, 2011
RUSA
rated it:
This is a Read-Alike title for Heart-Shaped Box, the Reading List winner in the Horror category for 2008. For the complete list, go to http://ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/rusa/award...
Aug 30, 2010
Sarah
rated it:
I wanted to like this book. I loved the concept. I have seen the author speak and I really like him as well. After 4 days I was only 100 pages in and kept falling asleep while reading.
Feb 21, 2009
Ilham
rated it:
It is the kind of twisted story you might not like for that same reason, but you admit is really good even though you think the author has issues.
Oct 19, 2009
Joe
rated it:
I was a little confused with characters and the role they played in this book. I didn't understand how Laurie could have raised Ned, and then been widowed, and then re-married and still been young enough to have kids.
Oct 15, 2011
Ryan
rated it:
Challenging at times, of interest though because of its overlaying narratives... Lots of characters and description. Kept going back to the reading spot for two weeks to get to the end of Mr. X
Not my favorite of his writings.
Not my favorite of his writings.
Jun 20, 2011
Andrew
rated it:
An Ok book but meandering and a little too clever for it's own good..a doppelganger story really alike sya King's 'The Dark half' though ultimately not as good..will read more Straub in the future however as it wasn't all bad..just not compelling
Aug 08, 2011
Tanvir
rated it:
Good one, but works better as a tribute to Lovecroft's style of mythical horror.
May 29, 2010
Erick
rated it:
If you like illogical twists that aren't tied together, then you would like Straub.
Aug 28, 2009
Leona
rated it:
Lots of plot twists and complicated caracters. A supernatural thriller I enjoyed reading
Oct 22, 2009
Ashley
rated it:
So far so good lol. I dont actually know whats going on at this point, but then I rarely do with Peter Straub until about midway through when all the pieces come together.
