The Night Strangers

A Novel

By: Chris Bohjalian

Narrated by: Alison Fraser, Mark Bramhall

Length: 14 hrs and 7 mins

Publisher's summary

From the bestselling author of The Double Bind, Skeletons at the Feast, and Secrets of Eden, comes a riveting and dramatic ghost story.

In a dusty corner of a basement in a rambling Victorian house in northern New Hampshire, a door has long been sealed shut with 39 six-inch-long carriage bolts.

The home's new owners are Chip and Emily Linton and their twin ten-year-old daughters. Together they hope to rebuild their lives there after Chip, an airline pilot, has to ditch his 70-seat regional jet in Lake Champlain after double engine failure. Unlike the Miracle on the Hudson, however, most of the passengers aboard Flight 1611 die on impact or drown. The body count? Thirty-nine – a coincidence not lost on Chip when he discovers the number of bolts in that basement door. Meanwhile, Emily finds herself wondering about the women in this sparsely populated White Mountain village – self-proclaimed herbalists – and their interest in her fifth-grade daughters. Are the women mad? Or is it her husband, in the wake of the tragedy, whose grip on sanity has become desperately tenuous?

The result is a poignant and powerful ghost story with all the hallmarks readers have come to expect from bestselling novelist Chris Bohjalian: a palpable sense of place, an unerring sense of the demons that drive us, and characters we care about deeply.

The difference this time? Some of those characters are dead.

©2011 Chris Bohjalian (P)2011 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"A page-turner of uncommon depth. Guilt, egotism, and fear all play parts in the genre-bending novel." (Booklist)

“The Night Strangers boasts all the trappings of a classic Gothic horror story, reminiscent in places of the spousal secrets in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s ‘Young Goodman Brown,’ the thrills of ‘Rosemary’s Baby,’ and the psychological frights of Daphne du Maurier. . .A perfect book for Halloween. . .That thump thump you hear as you read is only your heart leaping from your chest.” (Keith Donohue, Washington Post)

"Echoes of Rosemary's Baby and The Shining. . .Read if you dare, but keep an extra light on, and make sure your seat is in the full upright and locked position.” (USA Today)

Narrative

lots and lots of narrative. It is appropriate in the beginning and through out certain areas of the book but of the 14+ hours of the book about 2 hours were all narrative.

Now forgive me if I'm wrong because if I am it's because it felt like 2 whole hours. Then I started to wonder if the entire book was written this way. The dialogue does begin but it's pretty sparse in starting.

Otherwise, it was entertaining and an interesting premise. The author spins a few surprises to keep the listener engaged. I do think some of the characters needed more development especially since one of the main characters gets a lot more time than the others. Overall a good read.

Meh…

Not up to his usual standards. While I love this author and most all of his other books I really did not care for this tale of supernatural horror.

...and just in time for Halloween!

As usual with Bohjalian's work, this is a compelling listen. Once the reader suspends disbelief and gets into the "genre-bending" plot arcs, the story is grabs you and won't let go. The characters are relatable and the geography and story location are palpable, supplying the primary ambiance of the narrative.

I loved the use of mixed-person narration, second person for one of the protagonists. It's not exactly a new narrative hook, but the technique works particularly well for this story and with this narrator.

Can't say more without spoiling, but suffice it to say that the twists and turns in "The Night Strangers" are delightfully unpredictable.

Eh

I really, really wanted to like this book. Given that it takes place in towns and cities somewhat local to me, and I love a good, creepy story, I thought that I had no choice but to love it. But I was wrong. As was mentioned before, this book's two distinct plot lines really could have been two separate books. As far as what actually happened in the book- I did not find it frightening or spooky in the least, obnoxious would be a better word. The characters were all one-dimensional bad guys or unbelievably stupid "good guys". I'm disappointed.

Great book!

I listened to the Audible free preview of this book and couldn't wait to buy it. I'm a Bohjalian fan anyway (except for Trans-sistor Radio, which was nothing short of silly) so I knew it would be a worthy listen. I wasn't wrong. It's a genre-bender, as someone noted. Not quite supernatural, not quite horror, not quite a standard work of suspense, but a little bit of all three. For sure, it's one of those books where you'll find yourself looking for more things to do, so you can keep on listening. There's simply no good place to stop.

Especially interesting is the interview with Chris Bohjalian at the very end. Up until I heard that, I was thinking that Bohjalian was channeling Stephen King in this book -- much of the weird stuff is worthy of the master. But after listening to how the author came upon the story, the very personal story of where the tale had its origins, I decided that wasn't quite fair -- Bohjalian wrote his own book, not channeling anyone. It's his and his alone.

One thing though -- and listen up, Audible! In that interview, Bohjalian cites two audiobooks that were his favorites of all time, the great listens that hooked him on listening to books in addition to reading them. One was "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer and the other was Sebastian Junger's magnificent "The Perfect Storm". Bohjalian described at some length how rivited he was, when listening to these two fine books. He tweeked my interest.

As it happens, I've read both those books and I agree -- I loved them, especially "Perfect Storm", which is on my top ten list of all-time favorites. I'd never seen them as audiobooks, though, so I went to look for Audible copies -- and guess what? Neither is available.

C'mon, Audible. Find these two wonderful audiobooks and make them available to your listeners...

Great Narration, good story

Both narrators were impressive and the story was genuinely scary in a few spots. Overall, enjoyable read....reminded me of Rosemary's baby.

SURPRISE, SURPRISE, SURPRISE END, THAT IS

Woe, I didn't see that coming!!! This was a great book to listen to and if you have listen to any of Mr. Bohjalian's other books you know he doesn't give you a typical "skipping away with daisies, la, la, la, la, la" ending. I love it when an author can jolt me with an ending!!!

Just ok

Well, it started out promising and I enjoyed first part very much - 2 great readers btw - but then it dragged on and on with witchcraft group of townswomen - storyline got very predictable and not well written at that point. It's ok, that's all I can say. I like the format in which it is read and like the point of view changing back and forth but story couldn't hold up.

I doid not care for story

It became so bizarre after starting out interesting. I love this author as a rule and was disappointed by this one.

Night Strangers

Loved it! Perfect for listening during late fall in the north country. The ending came too quickly though.