The Night House, Jo Nesbo
The Night House, Jo Nesbo
List: $20.00 | Sale: $14.00
Club: $10.00

The Night House
A novel

Author: Jo Nesbo, Neil Smith

Narrator: Michael Crouch

Unabridged: 6 hr 24 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 10/03/2023


Synopsis

From the internationally best-selling author, a chilling fresh spin on the classic horror novel • When the voices call, don't answer.

“In The Night House, the horror begins immediately. And it only keeps calling from there.”—Josh Malerman, New York Times best-selling author of Bird Box and Spin a Black Yarn

In the wake of his parents’ tragic deaths in a house fire, fourteen-year-old Richard Elauved has been sent to live with his aunt and uncle in the remote, insular town of Ballantyne. Richard quickly earns a reputation as an outcast, and when a classmate named Tom goes missing, everyone suspects the new, angry boy is responsible for his disappearance. No one believes him when he says the telephone booth out by the edge of the woods sucked Tom into the receiver like something out of a horror movie. No one, that is, except Karen, a beguiling fellow outsider who encourages Richard to pursue clues the police refuse to investigate. He traces the number that Tom prank-called from the phone booth to an abandoned house in the Mirror Forest. There he catches a glimpse of a terrifying face in the window. And then the voices begin to whisper in his ear . . . 

She’s going to burn. The girl you love is going to burn. There’s nothing you can do about it.

When another classmate disappears, Richard must find a way to prove his innocence—and preserve his sanity—as he grapples with the dark magic that is possessing Ballantyne and pursuing his destruction.

Then again, Richard may not be the most reliable narrator of his own story . . .

About Jo Nesbo

Norwegian born Jo Nesbo is multi-talented. He was born in Oslo in 1960, growing up in Molde. He received his degree in Economics and Business Administration from the Norwegian School of Economics. He played football and had aspirations of playing professionally, but a serious knee injury destroyed those dreams. He served in the military, then formed a band called Di derre (Them There), who topped the charts in Norway. He kept his number crunching job during the day and his band performed at night.

The band was popular enough for a publisher to ask Nesbo to write a memoir about his life on the road with a band. For some reason, he instead came up with his first plot for what became his signature series with Inspector Harry Hole. The Bat was his first novel in that series.

So, you have a writer, musician, and economic analyst selling more than 3 million copies of his novels by 2014. Then, an astounding 33 million copies worldwide by 2017....... that is some impressive number crunching.

Nesbo has had one children's book (English translation) Doctor Proctor's Fart Powder, and also had one of his novels (Hodejegerne) made into a film, Headhunters.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Jesse (JesseTheReader) on February 12, 2024

(1.5) This was a disaster. Okay okay okay... one positive note: There were a few really well written scenes sprinkled throughout the book, but they were few and far between. The book at times feels incredibly outdated with it's fatphobic remarks and it's comments drenched in misogyny. The story itse......more

Goodreads review by Ceecee on July 27, 2023

4.5 stars If you’re expecting a crime Harry Hole type novel then think again as one of my favourite authors takes us in a different direction here. After his parents tragically die in a house fire, Richard Elauved is sent to live in rural, remote Ballatyne with his aunt and uncle. Richard becomes an o......more

Goodreads review by Mai on December 31, 2024

Spooky Season I enjoyed, in varying degrees, the Harry Hole series 1-10. After that, it dwindles in excitement for me. And while I know these are very different genres, for an author I once adored, this reads terribly. I had hoped for horror. Part 1 was mostly that, and it was fine. I disliked Part 2.......more

Goodreads review by JaymeO on October 08, 2023

Surprising and disturbing! The Night House initially captured my attention with its incredibly spooky cover. What gorgeous artwork! I hadn’t read a book by this author yet, so I wanted to give it a try. Then I read some less than stellar reviews. Still unsure if this book was for me, I decided to lis......more

Goodreads review by Alex.andthebooks on June 22, 2023

Omg, ta książka tak mi się kojarzy z „Ostatnim domem na zapomnianej ulicy”! Do tego ten klimat — totalnie Kingowski!......more


Quotes

“Nesbø doesn’t spend any time fiddling about, building up, or misdirecting. In The Night House, the horror begins immediately. And it only keeps calling from there. There are lessons to be learned here: who to believe and what to believe in. And how a person can change, when the impossible turns possible and the unimaginable is laid bare. This horror fan loved it.”
—Josh Malerman, New York Times best-selling author of Bird Box and Spin a Black Yarn

The Night House begins like something from the mind of H.P. Lovecraft… And then at a little over the halfway mark of this slim horror novel, Nesbø begins 'Part Two' and readers are forced to rethink everything they just read. It’s a remarkable about-face…. After readers turn the final page of the book, it’s fun going back and picking up all the foreshadowing.”
Associated Press

“Nesbø deftly guides readers on a journey much larger than many will expect from the slim volume . . . Expectations of genre, setting, and mood are subverted as a simple horror novel unfolds into a story that encompasses grief, mid-life crises, and more.”
Library Journal

"Scary fun that won’t cause nightmares—or will it?"
—Kirkus Reviews

“Wild and ambitious . . . Nesbø shows a sure hand at crafting moments of terror.”
Publishers Weekly

“A fast-paced escape of a book . . . Nesbø skillfully keeps the reader wondering where the story is going to go next and when, if ever, the main character will reach his happy ending—or if, in fact, he deserves to reach one at all.”                                                                                   
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