Psycho II

The Psycho Trilogy, Book 2

By: Robert Bloch

Narrated by: Richard Powers

Length: 8 hrs and 15 mins

Publisher's summary

You remember Norman Bates, the shy motel manager with the fatal mother fixation. Now, years after his horrific bout of butchery, Norman is at large again. Breaking free from the psycho ward, he cuts a shocking swath of blood all the way to Hollywood - where, it so happens, they are making a movie about Norman’s life and crimes. A movie that suddenly and terrifyingly becomes a lot like real life.

©1982 Robert Bloch (P)2008 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

“Perhaps the finest psychological horror writer…and never in finer form.” (Stephen King)

Was great until...

I love the narrator! He has great voices, inflections, and tempo. I wish he had done Sanitarium!

Honestly, I was all on board and enjoying the story, the character development, and even the writing (even though the prose and grammar all feel archaic), until...

The plot twist at the end.

I don't give spoilers, so all I'll say is it doesn't happen until literally the very end and it completely ruined the book for me. It's just so out of left field and feels so contrived (and like it was done purely for the sake of having a twist), I just can't respect the book after that.

Don't bother

This book is so boring I could not even finish it. Norman's not even in the book after the first couple of chapter and it's all about Norman's psychiatrist and the actors in a movie. Trust me, watch the movie Psycho II its so much better then this book.

Not my Psycho

With all due respect to the man who created the franchise, Robert Bloch, this book in no way inhabits the world that attracted the world to Psycho in the beginning. It is more social commentary and a dissection of Hollywood than it is a story about horror, suspense or psychology. Filled with characters that I have no interest in... How can you make a Psycho story where Norman Bates is absent throughout almost the entire piece? The movies did a great job at continuing the Psycho story, but unfortunately this book does not.

Really really bad.

Paul Michael Garcia is my new favorite narrator. in fact his narration was the only thing that helped me keep listening. i really struggled to finish this. I had read Hitchcock, about how the original Psycho book was adapted. then i read the original psycho. I LOVED both books and will listen to them again. so when i saw this sequel i was SO EXCITED! It starts like a b horror movie sequal. but that didnt bother me. i actually really enjoyed the begining. but then it pulls an Alien 3. (that's all ill say, so i dont spoil anything.) then goes full on stephen king. bad stephen king. too many side characters. too much pointless back story. randomly bizarre, perverse, and perverted scenes. a convoluted plot. a story that breaks numerous, basic "how to tell a good story" rules. just bad. through all of this, the great narration and entertaining opening chapters convinced me i should stick with it. I hoped there would be a redeeming ending that would make it all worth it. I never guess an ending, but this time i did. in the middle of the book, i briefly guessed an ending, but immediately pushed the thought aside. I thought, "No way the author would do that. it's just too silly..." Then that ending actually happened. PARTS of the ending actually surprised me. however, the final payoff left me angry and wishing i could go back in time and re-read the first book instead. Like i said, this book started good , but pulled an Alien 3. by this, i mean that it moved away from characters and elements i enjoyed about the previous book, and actually ruined a lot of them. There is actually a third (maybe fourth?) book in the psycho series, which i had planned on reading. after this disappointment, i doubt i'll read them.

if only the movie...

had followed this story instead of what actually was fillmed, it would make a great bundle! the story as it is...is a typical yet entertaining sequel. i enjoyed it.

Suppressing Expectations.

Psycho 2 was an interesting book, it's fun and even suspenseful. The book goes in a different direction than you'd expect but I enjoyed it all the way through.

Great Sequel

I read Psycho having not seen the movie or knowing what happens. In that book the twist became apparent to me. This great sequel is as fun to read with many more twists and turns. Paul Michael Garcia does a great job narrating this thrilling book. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys the psychological thrill genre or the original Psycho novel.

A story that diverges from the films

This story is amazing as well as original. Norman’s madness is treated as a sort of infectious disease. A must listen/read for fans of Robert Bloch’s first novel. The narrator of the audiobook does a good job portraying different character voices as well. This story has nothing to do with the film Psycho II and is it’s own chilling original story. The books and films divert after the first one.

Decent read but not on the same level as the original

I presume Bloch was trying to compete with the over-the-top depictions of sexually explicit material found in early Stephen King novels and similar works, but he went overboard with some of his backstories and descriptions of sex acts. I was not able to suspend belief enough to see the way he portrayed police in this story as believable. No self-respecting detective would avoid following a lead like those given to police in this book.

That said, while this book fails to capture the aura of ‘Psycho’ overall it still presented a nice twist and was a good next step in the Psycho series. Bloch also breaches the subject of the moral depravity in Hollywood well before concerns about the “casting couch” came to public attention. A decent read, but not on the level of the original.

Enjoyed it though it’s a big swing that will alienate many

I’m a massive Robert Bloch fan and I fell in love with the original Psycho novel when I was twelve. This book I read around the same time and it was very perplexing. Now being a 30 something adult, I have to say this book is pretty brilliant. There’s some very harrowing scenes and maybe the most shocking bit is how little Norman’s actually featured. The twist is similar to the original (which I won’t spoil) but I’m quite surprised how angry this book made some of the reviewers. Was well worth my revisit and I hope they do a read of Night World some time.