One of Peter Straub's later books: a review.

I was a huge fan of Peter Straub’s horror novels back in the day. Reading GHOST STORY and FLOATING DRAGON were incredible experiences, and his collaborations with Stephen King, THE TALISMAN and BLACK HOUSE, are must reads for anyone who loves horror and fantasy. I also very much enjoyed Straub’s earlier forays into the supernatural, JULIA and IF YOU COULD SEE ME NOW. The man had a way with words that really pulled a reader into his world, and unlike most authors in the genre back during the horror novel boom of the ‘80s, he did not go in for the grue and gore prevalent in most of the paperbacks on the shelf in the drug store book rack; Straub didn’t rely on such tropes as the “creature on the loose” or the “evil child.” Instead, his horror was more subtle and supernatural; his books were filled with vengeful ghosts, and malevolent entities whose nature could not quite be determined except that they held a grudge against the living. His best stories were puzzle pieces where the legacy of some crime or atrocity in the past collides with the present day. Where his friend, Stephen King, was clearly influenced by the old EC horror comics of the ‘50s, Straub’s inspirations were Poe, Hawthorne, and Henry James. In the ‘90s, Straub shifted gears somewhat, and began writing thrillers and mysteries where there were hints of horror, but it was not the primary focus. Most of these books had the central character of Tim Underhill, a Vietnam veteran and bestselling author. In all honesty, I can’t say I liked the Underhill books as well as his earlier horror works.

LOST BOY LOST GIRL is a Tim Underhill book which came out in the early 2000s, the last decade of Straub’s writing career and it sat on my shelf for quite awhile before I got around to reading it. I was prompted to pick it up after all this time because unlike the other Underhill books, this one had a much more distinct supernatural element to the story. The book is set in the small mid-western town of Millhaven, the place where Tim and his brother grew up, and where his sibling and his family still live. Tim returns to his boyhood home when his sister-in-law, Nancy, commits suicide, quickly followed by the disappearance of his fifteen year old nephew, Mark. The disappearance of Mark is the mystery Tim tries to solve, and compounding the problem is a serial killer on the loose whose victims are young boys.

My feelings on the book: There is a narrative that jumps from one POV to another, including that of Mark, and it sometimes requires attention as to who is speaking at any certain point in the story. Also, information is given to the reader outside of chronological order, which also demands attention. Some familiar tropes and themes from Straub’s earlier work appear, including heinous crimes committed decades in the past that were covered up or just unknown, an old house filled with grisly secrets, inquisitive teenage boys, an apparition that appears to some people and not to others, and who might be The Big Bad. Straub has a knack for crating distinctly unsympathetic characters, like Tim’s brother, who could easily win a Bad Husband and Dad of the Year contest, and is equally at adept portraying teenagers such as Mark, and his best friend, Jimbo. Some of the plotting feels lifted from Serial Killer 101, and the police seem to be particularly dense when it comes to an important clue that would have easily put them on the trail of the killer. As has been noted in other reviews, Straub is not much on giving women prominent voices in his narratives, and this book is no different, though I take exception to those who called him a misogynist. As with any contemporary book written in the early years of the 21st Century, some of the tech used is now totally obsolete. My paperback copy comes in at 336 pages, so this is a fairly short read, and some other reviewers have expressed that they wish it was longer, and delved into the back story more, and expanded on the conclusion. And the finale might be a bone of contention for some, as it does suggest a strong supernatural element with the existence not only of ghosts, but of other realms and worlds beyond this one. A number of things are left unexplained, so much so that a reader might surmise that we have been left with the words of an “unreliable narrator” and that there is another explanation of events altogether.

But that is what makes reading Peter Straub both interesting and challenging. At his best, I thought his horror writing actually surpassed Stephen King, and I’m sorry they never got to collaborate on a third book. On the cover of LOST BOY LOST GIRL, King provided a blurb that stated he thought it “May be the best book of his career.” I would not go that far, but still concede that LOST BOY LOST GIRL contains many of the elements that drew us to Straub in the first place, and is well worth reading.

My book, BIG CRIMSON 1: THERE'S A NEW VAMPIRE IN TOWN, can be found on Amazon at: https://amzn.to/3GsBh2E
and on Smashwords at: https://bit.ly/3kIfrAb

My alternate history novel ALL THE WAY WITH JFK: AN ALTERNATE HISTORY OF 1964 can be found on Amazon at: http://amzn.to/2jVkW9m
and on Smashwords at: http://bit.ly/2kAoiAH

Visit my Goodreads author's page at:
http://bit.ly/2nxmg

Visit my Amazon author's page at: https://amzn.to/3nK6Yxv