Sometimes I'm baffled by the average scores on goodreads--this is one of those times. I only finished this awful book just to unleash a rare one star review!

This was just terrible, from start to finish, which was kind of a surprise because I've read a few other Berger books (Being Invisible, Neighbors, Little Big Man) and enjoyed those a lot. Same direct Berger style but the story of a man who is accidentally drawn into a hellish day of crime he can't get out of absolutely drove me crazy.

Frank More...

Meeting Evil is a breathless, suburban horror story, in which husband, father, and Real-Estate salesman, John Felton finds himself suddenly "the best friend" of Richie, a man with a decidedly bent sense of the way the world should be. In one very long day-from-hell, John goes from feeding his children and folding laundry to making life-or-death decisions, all the while contemplating his motivations for his life.

Presented in what amounts to acts, Meeting Evil is a thrill ride. The white-knuckle More...

A freaky, disturbing thriller about an everyday man who is kidnapped by a seemingly cold-blooded and thoughtless maniac who eventually reveals his intellectual stance on his behavior. This book, which takes place over the course of a single evening, is gut-wrenching, unbearable to read in places, but nonetheless captivating and thoroughly engrossing. Berger is an author of almost unequal intelligence gifted with a supreme high brow humor which he often employs to skewer middle class values. It's More...

According to Jonathan Lethem, Thomas Berger is “one of America’s three or four greatest living novelists.” I’d never heard of him when I added Meeting Evil to my tbr list, then shelf – where it languished for several years before I finally got around to reading it.

Meeting Evil is the story of John Felton, a young real estate agent suffering through the downturn in the American economy. He’s married to Joanie, father to Melanie and Philip and his life is about to get very complicated. It’s Monda More...

It’s a normal morning when John Felton answers a knock at the door of his family’s home. Standing on the doorstep is a stranger who claims that he’s having car trouble and would like help pushing his car down the road towards the nearest service station. John, a middle class Real Estate agent with a wife and 2 children likes to think that he is a nice, helpful, and polite guy so he agrees to help the stranger. This decision is the first of many that make John’s day go totally off track into dan More...

Just like that annoying song on the radio that you can't help singing along to, this novel is truy infuriating yet totally compelling. I wanted to reach into the pages and wring the neck of the main character who stumbled from one bad decision to another. Berger did somehow catch the flawed thinking, vulnerability, and self-doubt that we all experience at times quite masterfully. You will have to judge this one for yourself!

This is part 2 of my descent into literary psychopath stories. Berger is a top-notch writer. I plowed through the book in a day. It's also darkly funny, in a way that surprises. At first I thought the main character was idiotic in an extreme way that I found unbelievable. But as the novel progressed, he started reminding me of a few people I have know. Idiotic and believable.

From the very beginning my basic reaction was just, "really?...really?...REALLY?". I haven't read a book that I have disliked more in a long long time and regret even spending $2.99 on it at a used book store. If this review was too vague to deter you from wanting to read 'Meeting Evil' then refer to the first review on the page.

Una novela de Berger llena de una tensión que no termina hasta la última página. Rivalidad, brochazos de emociones encontradas, frialdad y calidez, deseo incontenible y miedo de actuar. Una narración que contiene lo necesario para tener al lector en una montaña de expectativas, ilusiones y desilusiones. Mayo 2013

Berger's story of an ordinary man pulled into a series of criminal misadventures by a rogue he tries to help is generally involving and entertaining. It's nothing extraordinary — it's no "Little Big Man," to be sure — but I was not disappointed.

This book was awful. The premise was beyond ridiculous and the writing was terrible. I read it because I heard it was made into a Sam Jackson movie and I'm a fan. Sam should've passed on this stinker.

Stupid, poorly written, not good Period

It took me such a long time to read this book. I read it in spurts. It was disturbing in the sense that you're annoyed at everything that the main character does, doesn't do, says, doesn't say...everything snowballs and you're watching (reading) it all happen and want to say 'I told you so, stupid'. I thought this book would be a little creepier than it was, and I would say that it was not a page turner.

Me esperaba y no lo que encontré en el libro.

I'm excited to read something else by the author, but I just couldn't commit 100% to Meeting Evil. It's like the movie Very Bad Things, except not quite as believable. Maybe I needed to read it differently, but I didn't buy all the motivations. Even still, it was entertaining and a fast read.