• In the Night Room

  • A Novel
  • By: Peter Straub
  • Narrated by: Scott Brick
  • Length: 10 hrs and 47 mins
  • 3.4 out of 5 stars (195 ratings)

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In the Night Room  By  cover art

In the Night Room

By: Peter Straub
Narrated by: Scott Brick
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Publisher's summary

Willy Patrick, the author of the Caldecott-winning young-adult novel In the Night Room, thinks she is losing her mind again. Two weeks before her second marriage, on her way home one day, Willy is drawn into the parking lot of a warehouse. Knowing that her daughter, Holly, is being held in that building, she wants to rescue her. But what she knows is impossible, for her daughter is dead.

On the same day, author Timothy Underhill, struggling with a new book about a troubled young woman, is confronted with the ghost of his 9-year-old sister, April. Soon after, Underhill begins to receive eerie, fragmented e-mails that he finally realizes are from dead people whom he knew in his youth. Like his sister, they want to tell him something. When Willy and Timothy meet, they recognize each other, realizing that they must join forces to confront the evils surrounding them.

©2004 Peter Straub (P)2004 Books on Tape, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Moving briskly while ranging from high humor to the blackest dread, this is an original, astonishingly smart and expertly entertaining meditation on imagination and its powers; one of the very finest works of Straub's long career." (Publishers Weekly)

What listeners say about In the Night Room

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 3.5 out of 5 stars
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Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

In the night room

I almost didn't get this book because of the review I read. I am not quite certain what his problem was but I found this book rather good and entertaining. The first 45 minutes to an hour, one had to follow closly but all came clear and became more and more engrossing.
I am happy that I relied upon past experience with this author and not the listener review.

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23 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

The Perfect Book

It took a little while to get into really confusing at first. Then I became totally engrossed. I don't want to give anything away, just get it. Get it now! Before someone tells you about it and messes up all the surprises.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Having read 'The Talisman' and 'Black House'....

....and simply adoring those books I was excited to jump into this book knowing that Peter Straub was the author....

Unfortunately.....this book was nowhere near the incredible stories of the above mentioned books (along with the help of Stephen King these 2 books are fantastic). The story was at times confusing and hard to follow.....there were some pretty entertaining parts such as the mass amounts of chocolate, Coca-Cola, and sugar needed to save Willy from perishing but the continuous use of "Butt-Sex" as the nickname for Timothy Underhill by his so-called 'spiritual advisor' Syrex was just annoying and a bit offensive.

The supernatural aspect of the book started out as a great concept but never did hash out to anything spectacular or fascinating. The book-within-a-book concept was also great in the beginning but ended up just fizzling out with a less than climactic ending.

I really want to read something else of Peter Straub's to find out how his writing can really reach out and grab you.....it just wasn't this book......but I am willing to give him another chance.....'Ghost Story' will probably be the book to do it for me.....

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Read It Again

I almost didn't purchase this book because of the other reviews. At first I was wondering 'what is going to happen'; When 'it' happened it was done masterfully. This story is a roller coaster ride and definitely worth a re-read if you thought it wasn't a great book. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and cannot wait to read Straub's other book.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Awful!

I was dissappointed since I enjoyed Straub's other works so much. I thought this was just strange and boring. I was left very unsatisfied. Sorry Mr. Straub.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

Plodding and hard to follow

This story dragged and was hard to follow in its own right. The narrator's inflectionless reading makes it even worse. Save the credit.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

Disjointed

I haven't actually picked up a Straub book to read in over 20 years. But whether it was the reader or the author, I couldn't stick with this more than 5 minutes without tuning it out. It seemed very disjointed and the reader talked like he was a semi-automatic so I didn't get a feel for anyone's character. I never made it beyond 30 minutes on this audio before giving up. Anyone out there think it's worth it for me to go further??

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Fantastic (except for the ending)

This book was incredible. The storyline drew me in and never let me go. I couldn't hardly stand to put it down. I fell in love with the characters and the story was presented perfectly. I was very disappointed with the ending. I felt it all got wrapped up too nicely and in about 2 minutes. I invested so much time (and it was absolutely worth it), but the ending left a lot to be desired.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderfully Meta

This was the first Peter Straub book I had ever read, and having gone through “Lost Boy, Lost Girl”, I decided I would revisit this. It certainly did not disappoint, and while I had read the two books separately, and in opposite order, it really is important to read “Lost Boy, Lost Girl” first.

Scott Brick’s performance was adequate, and I particularly thought he was able to speak the Willy Patrick character (female) quite seamlessly. Some other characters I thought were a mixed bag, and not how I would have imagined them to sound, but that criticism is merely subjective.

I don’t want to spoil anything about this book, but if you’re into stories that unapologetically break the rules a bit, you’ll love it. I enjoyed this much more after reading Lost Boy, Lost Girl, and I think it’s essential to read it to fully appreciate this one, though I will say that they are very very different from each other—and I say that as a good thing. The relationship to authors and their characters is a supremely complicated one, and I absolutely love how well Straub is able to convey that throughout this book.

Lastly, I will say this is art for artists, and while I totally click with that, it might not grab everyone; but if you have put your all into any kind of art, to the point that the art shapes your life in extreme ways, this allegorically captures it so well, while also playing up a good degree of realism to foil the aspects that are fantastical.

I absolutely recommend this to anyone who appreciates stories that aren’t shy to break the rules. It’s seriously a lot of fun about it.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Lost momentum

This story started out interestingly enough, and had a unique plot twist, however I feel as though it was rushed at the end which left me disappointed in the book.

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