The Cypress House

By: Michael Koryta

Narrated by: Robert Petkoff

Length: 11 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's summary

A journey to Florida's coast becomes an inescapable nightmare in this supernatural thriller from international bestselling author Michael Koryta.

Arlen Wagner has seen it in men before: a trace of smoke in their eyes that promises imminent death. He is never wrong.

When Arlen awakens on a train one hot Florida night and sees death's telltale sign in the eyes of his fellow passengers, he tries to warn them. Only 19-year-old Paul Brickhill believes him, and the two abandon the train, hoping to escape certain death. They continue south, but soon are stranded at the Cypress House—an isolated Gulf Coast boarding house run by the beautiful Rebecca Cady—directly in the path of an approaching hurricane.

The storm isn't the only approaching danger, though. A much deadlier force controls the county and everyone living in it, and Arlen wants out—fast. But Paul refuses to abandon Rebecca to face the threats alone, even though Arlen's eerie gift warns that if they stay too long they may never leave. From its chilling beginning to terrifying end, The Cypress House is a story of relentless suspense from "one of the best of the best" (Michael Connelly).

©2011 Michael Koryta (P)2011 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"Michael Koryta is one of our new dynamos in the world of books, and in The Cypress House he spreads his range, wedding suspense with the supernatural in the eeriness of 1930s Florida. He uses the psychology of place to penetrate the human heart and delivers his tale of hurricanes and love and hauntings with great narrative force. Koryta's becoming a wonder we'll appreciate for a long time."—Daniel Woodrell, author of Winter's Bone

"The Cypress House is a dazzling blend of suspense, the supernatural, and superb storytelling. What a gifted writer. Michael Koryta is the real deal."—Ron Rash, author of Serena

"Koryta's masterful follow-up to So Cold the River effectively combines supernatural terror with the suffocating fatalism of classic American noir....Koryta excels at describing both scenery and his characters' inner landscapes. It's hard to think of another book with equal appeal to Stephen King and Cornell Woolrich fans."—Publishers Weekly

Great listening!

When I read that Dean Koontz loves this authors books I had to try them and I was not disappointed! Really intense characters, great plot and the actors portraying the parts did a really good job! Michael Koryta is definately on my must read list from now on!

Riveting

Would you listen to The Cypress House again? Why?

This is my first Koryta novel, but it won't be my last. I loved the performance, the style in which it was written and the book overall. This book caught my attention from the first and kept it going. I could not wait to listen to it after work, in the car, before I went to work. My husband asked if I would ever take the buds out of my ears. Cypress House was just that good to me. I liked the way the characters were built, capturing their essence was not hard to do. And while there were some things I expected, there were a lot that I didn't. Thanks for writing such a good Book Mr. Koryta.

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

yes. It was not hard to keep up with, which made the book most enjoyable. Once I had an idea of the danger the charaters were in, it was easier to find characters more likable.

What about Robert Petkoff’s performance did you like?

What I truly enjoyed was the way he did the various voices. None were a stretch for me to imagine. Even Ms. Katie's voice was good, not too falsetto the way some male performers do female voices. And while this isn't really about his performance, I liked the way the additional sounds worked within the story. It was a great blend to listen too.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

I was especially moved when Wagoner understood his father and went to visit him

Any additional comments?

If you like a good suspense, I suggest this one,

Well, It was a good premise!

I did like the underlying premise of seeing/talking with the dead as it was unusual for this genre but would have been interesting in a science fiction story as well as a mystery. The mysterious boarding house at a remote Gulf Coast seaside in the mid 30's was also quite nice and added to the drama. What I found frustrating, and at times quite so, was the seemingly out of character response/reactions of the lead character. I recall shutting down the Ipod while listening to the story on my trip only to have to turn it back on again because I hadn't loaded another book. My mistake! I don't know if the responses might have "sounded" more realistic had a different tone been used by the narrater but even if that were true it would not have made up for some of the reactions scripted by the author for the main character. Overall, in my mind the book had a much better than average premise and location but a main character who did not seem to react in character much of the time.

Love Lingers

Again, Robert is a great narrator. He brings all of the characters to life. He also keeps the action rolling along.
This is my go to author right now. He really has picked up Koontz’ mantle. He provides excellent characters that you can relate to, they are flawed but basically good or evil. He intertwines a small amount of the supernatural/spiritual to emphasize how interconnected we all are. He isn’t preachy. In other words, he tells a great story with just the right amount of character development and action to propel the plot to a satisfactory ending.

This story is about a loner with no ties that can tell if people are about to die. He takes up with other hurting loners and ? It takes place in the past, but it does not detract from the story.

Give Koryta a try.

Well written, suspenseful

This is one of my favorite audible books to date. The narrator did a nice job with the plot and characters. Kept my interest though out and kept me guessing.Highly recommended.

neat ideas if you can look past the b-movie feel

This is the second Koryta book I have read and unfortunately they carry a B-movie feel. The dialogue is a little forced and the characters are unrealistic. The narrator doesn't help either. It makes it hard to 'buying in' to the story, when you have to look past the eye-rollingly awkward points. The author has imaginative ideas and good twists... I just wish he would partner with another writer to round off the edges. I liked 'The Ridge' better. Worth the listen if you're in the mood for something different.

only okay for my tastes

Would you try another book from Michael Koryta and/or Robert Petkoff?

I do like Michael Koryta. I just didn't enjoy this book as much as most others seemed to.

If you’ve listened to books by Michael Koryta before, how does this one compare?

To me, I just thought it was a bit slow.

Which character – as performed by Robert Petkoff – was your favorite?

I don't know.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

probably not.

Didn't want the book to end

Michael Koryta can weave a great story and Robert Petkoff is the man to narrate it. As much as I wanted this book to never end, I couldn't stop listening to it so here I am writing a review. The story takes place after WWI ended and The Great Depression had begun. Generally, this is not my favorite time period but the well-written characters, the touch of paranormal and the wonderful voice of the narrator drew me in. One person who reviewed this book said that it was boring and held no surprises. I guess I am not that astute because it held lots of surprises for me. It is a little bit paranormal, a little bit romance, and a lota bit mystery. The characters were well fleshed out with both good and bad traits. They didn't always make the best choices but then who does? The main character could see a person's impending death in their eyes. What an interesting thing to insert into a murder mystery. That touch of the paranormal added to the story. Another thing that added to the story was the narrator.I noticed that he narrates almost all of Michael Koryta's books which is brilliant. My next Audible choice will be another book by Michael Koryta because I like his style and I miss Robert Petkoff's voice. Thanks to you both.

Bizarre look at love, trust, regret, and death

This is the first audiobook I've heard in which sounds/music are insterted at specific points for dramatic effect. It was a little odd and distracting, but didn't ruin the story. The characters grew on me and I listened straight through, finishing it in two days, because I wanted to know what happened to them. That tells you a lot right there. The "bad guys" in the story are very evil indeed, while the "good guys" are normal, flawed individuals just trying to find their way to a little happiness in life. The protagonist's strange "gift" of knowing when someone is going to die adds a supernatural level; a gimmick to make the story work.

Reminds me of a B&W

Story reminds me of an old classic B&W 'Noir' movie. I'm fond of those movies.