Night Chill

By: Jeff Gunhus

Narrated by: James Lewis

Length: 13 hrs and 41 mins

Publisher's Summary

Jack Tremont moves his family to the quiet mountains of Western Maryland hoping to leave behind a troubled past and restart his life. Instead, he finds himself caught up in a nightmare when his daughter Sarah is targeted by Nate Huckley, a mysterious and horrifying stranger driven by a dark power that will stop at nothing to possess Sarah. When Sarah goes missing, suspicion falls on Jack and he must uncover the secrets of the small mountain town of Prescott City and face the evil secret hidden there. As he digs further, he learns the conspiracy reaches more deeply than he could have imagined. Finally, he will have to face the question, What is a father willing to do to save his child? The answer? Anything. Anything at all.

©2012 Jeff Gunhus (P)2013 Jeff Gunhus

If you like Koontz...

Night Chill had great imagination. The plot opened up quite masterfully and I enjoyed finding things out as the main characters did and guessing along the way. James Lewis' performance was very strong...reminded me a bit of George Guidall, a very good thing to me.

Beyond just the main plot, you have a pretty interesting sub plot as you learn about Jack's past. That part was a little predictable but not everything has to be this huge mystery. Bottom line: I was freaked enough that I didn't want to listen in my room alone at night and yet enthralled highly so that I couldn't pull the ear buds out! This was a really fun story and I'm glad I took a chance on it!

"The Place Where Nightmares are Born"

There are many twists and what-the-heck? moments in this story especially early on. If you are looking for a listen that will keep you on the edge of your seat, make you yell in frustration and chew your nails in suspense, this is it. Fans of Dean Koontz will enjoy this unexpected gem.

More Frustrating Than Frightening

“Night Chills” wasn’t a horrible story, but I did do a lot of eye-rolling listening to it.

One of the fiction writer’s credos is “only trouble is interesting.” But when the trouble comes about because of your character’s asinine decisions or forced and inexplicable circumstances, then the trouble is more frustrating and less interesting. Here is an example: You’re at a public rest stop. Your kids are in the car with you and you need a pay phone. You spot one some distance from where you’re parked, but instead of driving closer to the phone, you decide to get out and walk to it leaving your kids alone in the unlocked car. Oh, and this just after you’ve gotten a creepy message telling you that someone wanted to hurt one of your kids. So, of course, while you’re on the phone, you turn around to see a creepy man chatting up your daughters in the backseat. My first thought was, “dude, you didn’t see this coming? You’re in a public rest stop! Nothing good ever happens in a public rest stop,” and I rolled my eyes.

Here’s another one: Your young daughter is lost in a hospital. To help find her you’ve enlisted a couple of orderlies to wander the halls calling her name. It occurs to you that your daughter might not respond to a couple of strange men shouting after her, and so you conclude that she must be hiding. I’m thinking, “hospital is big enough for a child to get lost in but not big enough to have a PA system? Get on the PA and let her hear her mother’s voice,” but this wouldn’t have worked for the story as written. Child stays lost, story moves on, and I rolled my eyes.

The story’s interesting MacGuffin isn’t revealed until the last third of the novel, and then it’s not fully explored, which makes me think there might be a book 2 on the way. If so, I just hope that Gunhus can make his plot devices a bit more believable.

James Lewis didn’t do a bad job. In fact he did a great job. He has the wonderfully deep basso voice of a TV news anchor, great for reading the news but doesn’t allow for a wide range in personality and characterization.

A bit of Koontz & King!

If you could sum up Night Chill in three words, what would they be?

Supernatural, thriller, interesting

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

The plot ended up being a little over the top, but it did hold my interest. It reminded me of Dean Koontz's older books (which in my opinion were much better than his newer ones). The book moves along at a quick pace - no filler and not an excessive amount of detail as so many books have.

What about James Lewis’s performance did you like?

Just the right amount of drama, inflection and clarity

Any additional comments?

The ending leaves room for a follow-up. I'm looking forward to reading more from this author. I like his writing style.

A Good Listen

I really enjoyed listening to this book. I found it in my library one day and don't recall getting it. It was probably on sale. The voice was great. The story was fun to listen to. I had a genuine care for the characters.I really enjoyed the ending. I'd totally listen to this book again.

Bob @ Platypire Reviews

#AudibleVersion

This was intense! The plot felt like it was well thought out and put together, and the characters were engaging, save for a couple of things I found annoying. Personal issues, I'm sure. A few twists here and there, and I listened to this straight through to the end, only pausing for my mommy duties. But man, it's not like I need to go to sleep after that ending, right? I don't need to go to bed. In the dark. Psh! Sleep is overrated, anyway.

Bob says: 4.5 Platypires!

AWESOME

This was an extra ordinary book. Really kept me listening. Great ending. the narrator did a good job on the characters

The first book I've ever quit without finishing

I just simply could not finish this book. I made a decision that life is simply too short to waste it on a book that seems to pride itself on its characters making the dumbest decisions possible each and every chapter. They also seem to have absolutely no memory or recall as to what they experienced in previous chapters. The two parents have to be the absolute worst and most ignorant parents on earth.

The author clearly needed certain plot points to happen and unfortunately completely discredits his characters time and again in order to do so. Avoid. This. Book.

The premise was excellent

I liked the concept of this book, but unfortunately the author’s work needed some polishing and the narrator was kind of wooden. The best thing about this book though was that the audio didn’t skip. And after returning several that I was eager to listen to, but skipped terribly, this book’s audio quality made me stick through to the end of the story.

Gripping story

this was a great listen. this kept you on the edge of your seat and will appeal to both lovers of horror and history.

painfully boring.

God it was tedious, hoping to get a credit back as gave it an hour but couldn't take any more.