Treasure Box

By: Orson Scott Card

Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki

Length: 9 hrs and 41 mins

Publisher's summary

A shattering childhood tragedy left Quentin Fears devastated and unable to cope with the world and its citizens. It didn't, however, prevent him from making millions through brilliant investments. And now the enigmatic recluse has experienced the extraordinarily unexpected: love at first sight.

But a whirlwind courtship and marriage to Madeleine - beautiful, witty, and equally ill-at-ease with reality - is bringing Quentin something other than the bliss he anticipated, for now he must meet his new wife's family.

A bizarre, dysfunctional collection of extreme characters, they are guarding a secret both shocking and terrifying, as is Madeleine herself. And suddenly Quentin Fears must prevent his dream woman from unleashing an ageless malevolence intent on ruling the world.

©1996 Orson Scott Card (P)2006 Audible Inc.

Critic reviews

"Enthrallingly entertaining." (Booklist)

This story didn't know what it was

At first I thought it was about a child dealing with grief, then I thought it was a love story. Once it settled on being a ghost story, it was good and disturbing at times, but not Card's best work.

Another tantalizing winner

I absolutely loved it. Orson Scott Card never fails to bring my imagination to life,

decent

It took a while to get the story rolling, but it ended up being pretty great.

Not Card's best

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Probably not.
The book started off really good and I really enjoyed it. But the ending just, well it just ended. There was all this build up and then a standard ending. It was kind of like going through a haunted house room by room and in the end, being confronted by a helium balloon in a white sheet.

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

I enjoyed the whole performance. It was well read and kept you very engrossed in the book.

Any additional comments?

The first book I read of Card was Lost Gate. I loved it. I was going to try the second book but it got some really poor reviews. I looked at this one because it had lots of great reviews for it so I gave it a try, I was surprised how different the story writing was.

There be Witches

A bit of a slow start, until they visit the Family home on the Hudson. Then it is a thrill ride to the end. A horror story set in 1996 when it was written.

Just didn't do it for me

This book just didn't do it for me. While I loved Ender's Game and Lost Boys, and enjoyed Homebody, this story just seemed a bit...off. Really hard to maintain a sense of "suspended disbelief" -- I found myself wondering what was going on in the author's life that made him choose the story line and word choices that he did. Wish I'd used my credits elsewhere.

Weird

Treasure Box is a fascinating supernatural thriller about a naive millionaire who meets and marries the love of his life, only to find that she is not what she seems. Card steps out of his usual SF/F genre and into horror. The first third sets the stage and during it, I began to wonder why I'm reading this book. In the middle, it shifts into weird moder, then at the end, a twist is revealed and you think OMG, not her/it?

can't beat Orson's character development

I wish they made TV shows of Orson's books like they do with Steven King's

A fantastic book.

This was a departure from what I am used to from Card but it was just as fantastic as his other works.

Amazing

Simply amazing. Couldn’t put it down. Orson Scott Card can’t write a book that isn’t amazing. It just isn’t in him to do it.