Treasure Box

By: Orson Scott Card

Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki

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.

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?