Rating: 
Summary: Bring on the mystery
Review: "The Throat" is by far my favorite Peter Straub novel. It is actually the third in a loose trilogy dubbed Blue Rose. The other novels include "Koko" and "Mystery". The protagonist of the novel is Tim Underhill, a Vietnam vet turned author who is obbsessed with the childhood murder of his sister. Now, in the present, the murderer seems to have come back from the dead and is killing people according to the Blue Rose murders of the past. His ally in the case is Tom Pasmore, a modern day Sherlock Holms. The cast of charaters is very rich and well thought out. I thought all the people (not characters) from Tim Underhill and Tom Pasmore all the way to the most periferal folks seem very real and three dementional. The action and details are so authentic and seemed so realistic that at time I had to wonder if it was real or not. I would love to explain about the killer, but I would hate to accidentally give away who the killer is. All I can say is that the killer is one of the most realistic villian in moderen literature, second only to Stephen King's Pennywise from "It". The novel is very deep, it works on many levels; literal, mental, even on a mystical plain. I loved this book, it had no flaws. It is a mystery, a horror novel, a sharp satire on the media, a look at mob psychology, and a look at the fractured psyche of Vietnam vets.
Rating:
Summary: Bring on the mystery
Review: "The Throat" is by far my favorite Peter Straub novel. It is actually the third in a loose trilogy dubbed Blue Rose. The other novels include "Koko" and "Mystery". The protagonist of the novel is Tim Underhill, a Vietnam vet turned author who is obbsessed with the childhood murder of his sister. Now, in the present, the murderer seems to have come back from the dead and is killing people according to the Blue Rose murders of the past. His ally in the case is Tom Pasmore, a modern day Sherlock Holms. The cast of charaters is very rich and well thought out. I thought all the people (not characters) from Tim Underhill and Tom Pasmore all the way to the most periferal folks seem very real and three dementional. The action and details are so authentic and seemed so realistic that at time I had to wonder if it was real or not. I would love to explain about the killer, but I would hate to accidentally give away who the killer is. All I can say is that the killer is one of the most realistic villian in moderen literature, second only to Stephen King's Pennywise from "It". The novel is very deep, it works on many levels; literal, mental, even on a mystical plain. I loved this book, it had no flaws. It is a mystery, a horror novel, a sharp satire on the media, a look at mob psychology, and a look at the fractured psyche of Vietnam vets.
Rating:
Summary: so much more rewarding than king or koontz
Review: I often see reviews that compare the writing of Peter Straub to that of Stephen King (for obvious reasons) and of Dean Koontz (purely because of the horror genre as far as I am aware). But to me they are illogical comparisons. If you want a contrived plot where man meets woman and they both find salvation from their past horrors through love for each other, read Koontz. If you want to slip into reading something that feels as comfortable as an old slipper, beacuse you've read the same story 10 times before, only in different guises, read King.However, if you want to read intelligent novels with characters that you care for and who develop over the course of the trilogy, read Koko, Mystery and the Throat - All completely different to each other, yet interlinked beautifully. I am the first to admit that sometimes Straub's writing can be difficult to get into - it took me 3 attempts over a few years before I was able to finish Mystery for the first time, but now i regularly re read all of Straub's novels (apart from If you could see me now, which is the only one I've not yet been able to get into) and look forward to doing so - to entering the worlds that he creates (even though I am left cold by the constant jazz references!). Basically, if you're tiring of King and Koontz, finding them too simplistic - read Straub.
Rating: 
Summary: The End of a Decent Trilogy
Review: I read both "KOKO" & "MYSTERY" a few years back and never got around to "THE THROAT" until just recently, mostly because "MYSTERY" was some-what of a chore to finish. Nevertheless, I was glad to have the return of Tim Underhill and Tom Passmore (quite possibly the best amatuer detective duo of our time). Much like Hitchcock, Straub's raw talent for creating elaborate thrillers with completely plausible twist endings is incredible. What seperates the author, however, is his meandering prose which is filled with enough detail to possibly fill another novel. I sometimes found myself a little bored with a few of the chapters (more specifically, the excerpts from a fictional Vietnam War novel about Franklin Bachelor) but ultimately enjoyed the story as a whole. My only major disappointment is knowing that "THE THROAT" marks the end of a good series.
Rating: 
Summary: What the...?
Review: I read Mystery and thought, "how disappointing", because I've read Straub before and was impressed by his wordplay. I then discovered that it was part of a trilogy and started scouting my library. I haven't read Koko (the first book) yet, but managed to get The Throat, the final book of the series. It's awful. Fifty pages into it, I was tempted to get out a pad and pen and start again, making notes of all the characters and trying to figure out who the narrator actually was in the context of the events in Mystery, to which he kept referring. The narrator claims to be the author of the events in Mystery, but had written it as fiction - he then goes on to give an account of being hit by a car (as did the major character in Mystery), but under COMPLETELY different circumstances than in the first book and... I give up. It was just far too convoluted for enjoyment.
Rating:
Summary: What the...?
Review: I read Mystery and thought, "how disappointing", because I've read Straub before and was impressed by his wordplay. I then discovered that it was part of a trilogy and started scouting my library. I haven't read Koko (the first book) yet, but managed to get The Throat, the final book of the series. It's awful. Fifty pages into it, I was tempted to get out a pad and pen and start again, making notes of all the characters and trying to figure out who the narrator actually was in the context of the events in Mystery, to which he kept referring. The narrator claims to be the author of the events in Mystery, but had written it as fiction - he then goes on to give an account of being hit by a car (as did the major character in Mystery), but under COMPLETELY different circumstances than in the first book and... I give up. It was just far too convoluted for enjoyment.
Rating:
Summary: A Deft Braintwister
Review: In this sequel to MYSTERY Straub writes a complex, riveting tale rich in atmosphere in which past crimes return to plague the present. Straub is a master at making us see a character with only one brilliantly worded sentence.. The characters of Tim Underhill and Tom Pasmore are unforgettable, as is the remarkable and elusive "Blue Rose Murderer.". I have read the book three times and each time find something new. This is not a book for readers who like to "figure out" who the killer is by the mddle of the story. I consider it a classic of the genre.
Rating:
Summary: A Textbook for Creative Writing
Review: Seldom does one encounter such an exquisitly constructed novel, wherein a myriad of individual vignettes are woven together with a central focus. The Throat is a masterpiece of writing proficiency combined with a talent for good, old-fashioned story telling. The novel trancends genre and stands as an example of how books should be written.
Rating:
Summary: Quite A Climb, But Worth the View
Review: The last, longest, and best of Straub's "Blue Rose" murder mysteries is also the most involving read, wrapping up all that has come before, and then some. The three books might almost be looked upon as single acts in an overarching drama, and appropriately, the last act finishes up the grandest. Of the three books, The Throat is the one probably most accessible to the average reader as a stand-alone. The characters are rich, the plot clever (if a bit contrived at times), and - as always - Straub's writing is superior. Be warned, however, it is very, very long. Straub could write many of his novels just as well at shorter length, this one included, but for whatever reason has a tendency to really run with the written word. Fortunately, he is one of the best writers around, and every sentence is a sheer joy to devour. If you want a literary feast, The Throat will satisfy. If you'd prefer a nice hors d'ouevre, you'll choke on it.
Rating:
Summary: Great conclusion to a great series
Review: The Throat is by far the most complex of the three Blue Rose books and rightfully so. For a serious a marvouslly twisted as this you would expect nothing less then a thrilling conclusion. The Throat does not dissapoint. In it Straub brings back charechters we met in the previous to books and melds them together into a perfectly confusing mystery. In my opinion The Throat is not quite at the level of Mystery. THis is not much of a complaint as i would rank Mystery as one of the best novels I have ever read. Even though it isn't quite at that level it is very very close and at times even surpasses it's two predecessors. And speaking of those previous two readers need to be warned that reading KoKo and Mystery is an absolutle must before beginning the Throat. I tried reading the Throat a few months back not realizing it was part of a trilogy. I didn't get far before I realized I had to give up temporarilly and go back to read the other two. I am glad I did and you will be too if you read this excellent series of literature.
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