This story weaves together the lives of a middle-aged, gay author, Tim Underhill, who is struggling with his newest novel, and the life of a woman author, Willy Patrick, haunted by visions of her dead daughter.

The book got weirder and weirder as it progressed, and when the two authors finally hook up in the middle of the novel, I had to suspend my disbelief when the gay man falls in love with the woman novelist. I don't think he matched the charm of the BBC series Bob and Rose in that respect.

I also figured out some of the twists of the plot pretty early on and so it didn't hold a lot of suspense for me.

This was the first book of Straub's that I've finished and I would only give it an average rating. ( )

This was enjoyable, but not a patch on Lost Boy Lost Girl. ( )

Only a very small gap exists between the world of sanity and madness. Tim Underhill, a successful novelist, has bridged that gap on more than one occassion in his life. His writing often allows him the tools to save his mind and battle the demons dwelling in his psyche. Several of Peter Straub's other stories have followed Underhill's exploits, dating back to his days in Vietnam (Koko) and, most recently, the death of his nephew at the hands of a serial killer (lost boy lost girl). This novel pierces that fragile gap between sanity and madness at the same time a killer pierces the gap between the real world and the world of fiction.

The framework for Straub's stories sometimes mirror Underhill's own writing and publication. So, this book picks up following the publication of lost boy lost girl in Underhill's world. He begins receiving unusual email messges which he soon learns are from recently deceased friends and acquaintances. Soon, Underhill is contacted by a long dead spirit, residing in a sort of purgatory, who informs him that, in writing his last novel, he offended the spirit of the serial killer who killed his nephew. The offense lies in Underhill's speculation that the serial killer abused and murdered his own daughter. Because of the offense, the killer has slipped through to the real world and is pursuing Underhill. Willy, the heroine of Underhill's new book, In the Night Room, also escaped the world of fiction along with the killer. Underhill soon learns that Willy is a character embodying the killer's daughter who survived his abuse. Underhill must help Willy travel to the home where the killer's daughter suffered her father's abuse and face the the night room where that terror played out in the real world. In his efforts to help Willy, Underhill also faces his own troubled past and his own inner struggles to overcome evil.

Straub's writing is often too dense for my tastes. He strings together overly complicated sentences with intricate language. And I have never been a great fan of Underhill. So, my feelings about this novel were somewhat lukewarm. That said, there were several passages, most notably Underhill's reunion with an estranged borther and Underhill's interview of the fosterparent to the killer's daughter, which broke through. The story was always readable and enjoyable but only those few passages were notable for me. During those passages, it seemed that Straub was able to shed the dense language and the plot framework and allow the characters to connect to the reader.

3 bones!!!

For a classic horror story, I would highly recommend Straub's Ghost Story! ( )

If you like chaotic, strange rides, then this is the book for you. It is pretty much the strange story of an author and a woman and how they come together, yet it is so much more. I have to say it is a good read, and Straub does not dissappoint with the cleverly woven tale. ( )

I immediately found myself very much engaged in this book. Though it didn't have quite the same effect on me as "lost boy, lost girl", I enjoyed it a lot and had a hard time putting it down. I particularly loved the twist in the relationship between Tim Underhill and Willy Patrick. Good suspense with some creepy bits! ( )