At heart this dark fantasy novel is about the twisted truths that lie at the heart of one's family history and whether it's better to leave secrets buried or dig them up. Peter Straub does an amazing job of unraveling pieces of information that slowly form into at larger picture. His characters are complex and fascinating, which makes the story absolutely compelling with an ending that kind of blew my mind and makes me want to go back and read it again. Fantastic book.

A 'really cryptic and pulsating supernatural thriller, involving the lives of a community that has been close knit for centuries' was my one sentence review in 2008, when I originally read this, a summary that inconveniently excludes any references to the main protagonist or Mr X himself! This is one of my fave Straub reads, with its possibly unreliable narrators, a rather large cast and an engaging storyline. As a big Stephen King fan myself, I found the over plotting and overwriting quite welc...

A nice piece of psychological horror from a master.

Mister X is an ambitious and often maddening work that straddles several sub-genres within the horror category, perhaps disappointing several readers who were expecting this to be more frightening. It certainly starts out that way. The back-cover description and the beginning chapters of this book seemingly set-up the reader for a thrill-ride with lots of grisly murders and scary occurrences. Mister X is told in first person and each chapter rotates between two characters, one seemingly grounde

This provided a counterpart to my other Lovecraftian read from this week, but this was certainly the weaker of the two. I really enjoyed some scenes in here, but I felt like there were a lot of missed chances and a lack of characterisation of most of the people. I really liked the Mr X parts of this book, but to be honest, there was very little scare and a lot of family politics. I think the scene with the army cadets was one of those pivotal points where you do get a sense of the kind of horror...

This has taken me so long to get through. I feel like I was just plowing through page after page without really registering what I was reading. It's a very complicated family history and the way the layers are sllllooooowly peeled back makes you feel like you have to keep going back and rereading just to figure out what's going on. The most endearing characters are killed off and the more annoying leeching ones stick through to the end. I think. I don't know because hit the "climax" and still ha...

I like the idea of this story, but the book itself.....just didn't fill me with joy. I can't put my finger on what I didn't enjoy exactly, and there were parts that I certainly enjoyed, but it just left me unfulfilled in the end.

Wow. I had some idea that Peter Straub could write, having read his co-authoring of The Talisman many years ago. There's no question he is a great talent - maybe too much so for me. Either this book is lacking a great editor or I didn't eat enough blueberries and carrots in the last week, because I constantly had to keep thinking back about this strange Dunstan family and how they seem to have...unusual connections to half of a small southern Illinois town. Some passages were terrific, and blaze...

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 was good with...

This book is a slow beginning. Some of the back and forth a little confusing but if you stick to it it picks up with a bang! Good so far. I finished the book and it confused me greatly. Still a good read I liked it but not as much as some of his other novels.

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.

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.

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 if I could make sense of my confusion regarding "Mr. X...

I was keen to read Straub because he co-wrote The Talisman with Stephen King, a big favourite of mine. My copy of Mr.X also had an endorsement from King on the cover. Sadly I felt no connection with Straub's writing and had a hard time getting into the book.

Although I loved the Blue Rose series and The Hellfire Club, my favorite works by Straub are those that focus on paranormal plot lines, like Ghost Story, Shadowland (my favorite!) and Floating Dragon. When I picked up Mr. X, I was delighted to find that Straub had returned to his paranormal past.The story was fresh and the writing tight and captivating. The plot itself was highly original, and the working in of Lovecraft was brilliant. I hadn't read "The Dunwich Horror," and when I realized how

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 us...

Not nearly as satisfying as the Lovecraft stories it tries to embody. A cool premise, characters with telekinetic powers, time travel, and an obsession with H.P. Lovecraft cannot save this novel from being nearly indecipherable. I've found this book on several internet lists of "difficult reads" -- that, I believe, is something of an understatement.This novel is complex, convoluted, fast-moving, and just plain strange. It takes an enormous amount of concentration and analysis to follow the plot

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.

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 Joy...

....thinking the stuff is heavy to bear and to write down the story still more sucking it is a prelaude to the author to have accomplished his task leaving the readers public the choice between the unknown shadows of the backyard alley or the 'between-the-curtains-eye' by the tiny invisisble 'spot-with-the-little tissue-piece'. Might be both the possiblities open a scenery, the suspense quickly closes them to take us with to the dangers of mr. X'...his life, his weaknesses, his likes....and we e...