THE NIGHT HOUSE - Jo Nesbo
One day Richard convinces another boy to join him and make a prank telephone call to a random number in the phone book. Using a phone booth at the edge of town (and dating the story) Richard pushes the boy (Tom) to make the call but is then horrified as Tom is slowly sucked into the phone, bloody and screaming.
Richard traces the number that was called to an old, abandoned house in the woods and, along with another frightened school boy, go off to investigate. But that boy is transformed into an insect and burrows into the dirt at Richard's feet.
Being the last person known to be with the missing boys, Richard is suspected of foul play by the police. But telling the truth does no good because no one will believe him. No one, that is, except for another school outcast, Karen, with whom Richard will need to investigate - even if it's just so that he can sleep again at night.
I am slightly familiar with author Jo Nesbo, having read a couple of his mysteries with detective Harry Hole (which I was only moderately interested in, but it was at a time before I really appreciated mysteries) and I could see that this was NOT one of the Harry Hole stories, so I thought it might be a good time to try this author again. What I was not expecting was that this was going to be a horror novel.
Fortunately I like horror novels.
This read like a classic 1980's/90's horror novel ala King, Straub, Etchison, or Coyne. You could almost feel the Stranger Things vibe, but without the likable characters.
Let me expound on that. I know I've written before about liking or not liking a book because of the 'likability' of a character. Richard is not a likable person, but we rally around him, despite his being someone that we wouldn't want hanging around us or with our children. We know the situation is not of his own making - he's a victim here, almost as much as the two boys who disappear/die.
Is he a reliable narrator? Hmm. The story is deeper than what I've summed up (there are two short parts to the book that take place years later as Richard is still trying to come to terms with what's happened. Or is he? Is this the story of an addled mind? The twists and turns, on top of the horror and fear really make this compelling.
Richard is likable in that we know that he's probably the only one who is going to make sense of what's going on and that probably he's going to be a changed person. Karen, and her strength, is also likable, and since she likes Richard, we tend to go along with her. But Karen is unlikely to be changed at the end of the story, at least not in the same way that Richard will be - or at least that's the impression we get as we read.
There are some suggestions of romance between Richard and Karen which is mostly subtle and very appropriate for the average school-age loner. Still, it slowed the story down and was completely unnecessary from this reader's point of view.
It still surprises me that this was a Jo Nesbo novel. The author of Scandinavian noir mysteries is the author of a dark, 80's-style horror novel? Did the galleys get mixed up at the publisher's office and this is really Stephen King or Grady Hendrix? I'm impressed and more interested in reading more Nesbo.
Looking for a good book? If you think Jo Nesbo only writes mysteries you're in for a surprise. His novel The Night House is a physical and psychological horror story. Fans of the genre will enjoy this.
I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.
4 stars
* * * * * *
The Night House
author: Jo Nesbo
publisher: Knopf
ISBN: 9780593537169
hardcover, 245 pages
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