Rating: 
Summary: A must read
Review: Peter Blauner is clearly one of the most talented writers to come of age in the 90's. If it is important for you to become immersed in the characters, their lives and their personas, then don't miss the first (and best) of the Blauner writings.
Rating:
Summary: The Best
Review: The best things about this book are how, despite its simplicity of circumstance, its main characters are richly three-dimensional and movingly shaded: John G., the raving homeless man who sets the plot in motion through his therapeutic obsession with Jakes' wife Dana is an extremely empathetic recovering heroin addict whose own family has been torn apart by violence - there has not been an urban homeless character more engaging since the titular fellow of 1993's Free by Todd Komarnicki (Doubleday); Phil is a Brooklyn tough who poorly harbors a guilt-inducing secret; and the book's greatest character, New York City itself, is drawn with a deft versimilitude, full of subtly etched class, race and sex distinctions.The latter is no surprise coming from Blauner, whose finely textured and harrowing 1992 debut, Slow Motion Riot won that year's Edgar Allen Poe Award for Best First Novel. Blauner's books are as much about sociological observation as about thrills-and-chills. His keen journalist's eye and psychological insight make for terrifically pungent prose. Tricks of social perception amongst the characters make there be not one titular intruder in this book, but at least three as Jake, Phillip and John join in a dance that finds them accidentally and purposely stepping on each others' turf and toes.
Rating: 
Summary: PSYCHOLOGICAL REALITY MAKES THIS THRILLER MORE THRILLING
Review: The best things about this book are how, despite its simplicity of circumstance, its main characters are richly three-dimensional and movingly shaded: John G., the raving homeless man who sets the plot in motion through his therapeutic obsession with Jakes' wife Dana is an extremely empathetic recovering heroin addict whose own family has been torn apart by violence - there has not been an urban homeless character more engaging since the titular fellow of 1993's Free by Todd Komarnicki (Doubleday); Phil is a Brooklyn tough who poorly harbors a guilt-inducing secret; and the book's greatest character, New York City itself, is drawn with a deft versimilitude, full of subtly etched class, race and sex distinctions. The latter is no surprise coming from Blauner, whose finely textured and harrowing 1992 debut, Slow Motion Riot won that year's Edgar Allen Poe Award for Best First Novel. Blauner's books are as much about sociological observation as about thrills-and-chills. His keen journalist's eye and psychological insight make for terrifically pungent prose. Tricks of social perception amongst the characters make there be not one titular intruder in this book, but at least three as Jake, Phillip and John join in a dance that finds them accidentally and purposely stepping on each others' turf and toes.
Rating:
Summary: A Book You'll Never Forget
Review: The Intruder by Peter Blauner is the absolute best book I've EVER read. Even though it sounds like a typical storyline, Blauner twists and turns it so there is nothing typical about it. The story brought many thoughts into my head: what if that homeless guy was once happy, but lost his family? What if he was an everyday normal guy? What if that fancy lawyer was involved in a murder? What if.....they just kept coming with no end. It helped me try to think past the appearance and what's inside. It helped to think about morality. It has defiantely changed my outlook on everyone, maybe even myself. This ones a definite reader and keeper.
Rating: 
Summary: A Put-Downable Book
Review: The Intruder was billed to be an "un-putdownable" book by Stephen King. I completely disagree. I expected to find a gripping tale of a family's struggle to rid themselves of a threatening individual. Instead, I was greeted with a lackluster story with bland characters caught up in the legal system as well as rehab programs. What a disappointment! Not only was it quite "put-downable", I had a hard time deciding wheather or not to finish it. I hope Stephen King thinks twice before putting his name on another person's cover
Rating:
Summary: Lots of plot twists
Review: The title to this book is interesting and serves as a decent introduction to the story. Ostensibly, the Intruder in the story is the homeless man who fixates on Jake Schiff and determines, through his crack-induced haze, that Jake Schiff has somehow stolen his family and his home. But, as you read you notice that there are actually lots of intruders. Jake Schiff is a Jewish lawyer from a rough Brooklyn neighborhood who doesn't quite fit in with his WASP law firm and their snooty ways. His wife is a social worker who is an intruder in her work world because she cares more about the clients than the bureaucracy. There's a mobster named Phillip who is an intruder in his world because he's hiding his homosexual feelings in the very, very macho world of the mafia. He's also an intruder in Jake's world as he forces Jake to deal violently with the homeless madman who has laid siege to his life.
But, then again, maybe I'm reading symbolism in to places where it doesn't belong. What the heck, it's fun. This book is a good read and has enough plot twists to satisfy all but the most jaded of readers.
Rating: 
Summary: Awful...
Review: There is some originality in Blauner's subject matter. Blauners tale would have made an excellent low-grade, realistic,
daylight horror short story. Unfortunately the desire for sensationalistic hero gets the bad guy takes over and spoils the read. The book begins with the thoughtful and sometimes heartbreaking description of the downward spiral of a train conductor into homelessness, then crescendos into the thrilling tale of a couple being terrorized by this man who has begun to fixate on them. Just when you think this story is going somewhere, Blauner adds in a stereotyped Mafioso in the mix for some bizarre reason and this ultimately takes the story in a
completely uninteresting direction. Overall, I believe the first half book is worth reading. Once mafia guy enters the picture - feel safe in closing the book and calling it a day.
Rating: 
Summary: There have been better, there have been worse..
Review: There is some originality in Blauner's subject matter. Blauners tale would have made an excellent low-grade, realistic,
daylight horror short story. Unfortunately the desire for sensationalistic hero gets the bad guy takes over and spoils the read. The book begins with the thoughtful and sometimes heartbreaking description of the downward spiral of a train conductor into homelessness, then crescendos into the thrilling tale of a couple being terrorized by this man who has begun to fixate on them. Just when you think this story is going somewhere, Blauner adds in a stereotyped Mafioso in the mix for some bizarre reason and this ultimately takes the story in a
completely uninteresting direction. Overall, I believe the first half book is worth reading. Once mafia guy enters the picture - feel safe in closing the book and calling it a day.
Rating:
Summary: This book stinks
Review: This book stinks, stinks, stinks. Maudlin, contrived, cliched characters, and wretched similes.
Here's a good one for you. The broken-hearted, AIDS infested, crack-smoking homeless guy describing his now deceased daughter.
"She looked like a fairy princess and wrestled like a seminole alligator." Are you kidding me?
I was going to stop after the homeless guy kept mumbling about "the molecules." (Like wow. That's deep dude.)
I finally pitched it when the generic mafia character started a very long, slow shakedown in the hero's office. Did this guy eventually blurt out "I'm going to make you an offer you can't refuse."? Don't tell me. I don't want know.
Rating:
Summary: A truly amazing book.
Review: This book was just too damned good. Brilliant writing style, and the character evolution was incredible. I still think about this book, and I finished it a month ago. The final chapter sneaks back around and bites you in the a**. Masterful-buy this book! (As noted in some of the above reviews, there are some morons reading this book. This book is not for morons.)
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