Rating: 
Summary: All Hail a Literary Master in a Rarely Literary Genre
Review: Horror, like romance, often gets a bad rap as being poorly written, unliterary fiction. In this book lies proof that such stereotype cannot only be overcome, but shattered; Straub can write circles around most, if not all of his contemporaries, in horror and outside of it. The talent and strength of his writing deserves to be revered with such masters as John Irving. This is not the type of review introduction I ever imagined myself giving to a writer whoes primary horror influence is H. P. Lovecraft. I myself am a fan of Lovecraft, but he i not a writer to be held in a very high literary esteem. And this is a good place to note that anyone interested in getting the most out of this book is recomended to first read a volume of Lovecraft (with special attention to The Dunwich Horror, Call of Cthulu, and Shunned House). The character in this story is fleshed out more than any other I've ever read in the genre. The mastery Straub has over words is hypnotic, powerful, and beautiful. The plot keeps you guessing until the end; Straub does not let you figure it all out until he reveals it. The constant element of the mysterious is very rivetting. At no point did I feel I was wading through slush to get back on track of the exiting plot. All leads to a satisfying climax and a final paragraph that will leave your spine tingling and leave you feeling greatly disturbed for a good while. In other words, read this book. The only book I have ever read that felt up to the quality of this book in most aspects was Sacrament by Clive Barker.
Rating: 
Summary: good read
Review: i enjoy stephen king, dean koonz and then there is peter straub. he always has a good story to tell and this one, while not full of surprises has excellent writing. the book is about a young boy who grows up (we read his story in snapshots of events that are shocking) who thinks he has a shadow. while reading, you get the feeling that maybe this is the dark side of the main character. the book is rounded out by a supportive cast, who may or may not mean well and the main character is forced to absorb behavior that is not always to his liking. Peter Straub is never easy to get into, however, the writing style is effortless and once in, you do want to finish the book. and admire his artistic talent.
Rating:
Summary: good story
Review: next to stephen king and dean koonz, peter straub has a place in my heart for his dark stories regarding ghosts. this is a story about a man, who from the beginning has a shadow, there is a duality - is this shadow real? or is it the main characters other dark half? i could not decide. but i enjoyed the twisted way people were murdered, the in your face shake me til i'm gonna drop dead violence was well-written. i like a good scary story - and that is what peter delivers. what i did not like was the question at the end. peter is not easy to read, you have to force yourself to hang there, but as soon as the story starts to gel, you can appreciate the descriptiveness of given events. not a must read, but a good lesson in literary genius.
Rating:
Summary: not as disturbing as his best work
Review: for the record, the ending of this book is one of its strengths; and furthermore it's not a 'clive barker ending' but more of a 'ramsey campbell ending'. peter straub is much more a writer for for fans of ramsey campbell (and clive barker) than pulp writers like dean koontz, or, worst of the worst, john saul. read these authors if you want a neat plot wrapped up predictably and completely, leaving nothing to think about and be disturbed by. the ambiguity, not only of straub's endings but of his prose style in general, is his main strength as primarily a writer of psychological horror and mystery-horror. his short story collection 'houses without doors' is his most disturbing work, and his most poetically stylized and ambiguous, and his most brilliant for the most part. and the endings of straub's stories and novels are always the most poetic part of them; he is capable of evoking powerful feelings, as can only the other two writers i mentioned in this mass market genre. in mr. x straub stitches together brilliantly but yet not quite seamlessly, a horror novel and a mystery novel of his usual style...along with a fair dose of black comedy, which goes with the horror novel part of it. the comedy, eg. the lovecraft parody/tribute, is both an entertainingly surreal take on the old 'picture of psychopathic madness from within' thing and works to make the book seem more real, and thus paradoxically, more disturbing. (although part of which effect is that we don't know at first whether the cthulu mythos is in fact true or not in this story).... though this is his most unreal-seeming book, not because of the supernatural elements but because the main character is such the archetypal hero who does everything right. so that's a slight mark against it, along with the somewhat messy stitching (for example, some things we are led to believe have some ominous horror-explanation in fact have a disappointingly mystery-explanation, like the main reason for ned's aunts' secret-keeping). all in all, refreshing to see straub having fun and doing something a bit different.
Rating:
Summary: Cthulhu Lives - or does he?
Review: Straub's prose continues to challenge and entertain. In Mr. X, He melds an intricate plot with a Lovecraftian atmosphere. The vast, formless things lurk in the threshold where they belong while the principal characters move the scenery to and fro in a most competent manner. The opening pages threaten yet another tired journey to the Plain of Armageddon and the reader is relieved when the union of Leviathan and Lovecraft gives way to a much more original plot. The villain, possessed with a formidable array of supernatural powers and inspired by a grandiose sense of personal destiny, has built his house on sand and will have to confront the unraveling of his most deeply held beliefs. The hero faces multiple challenges apart from the question of his own survival. These include mysteries of his own nature and lineage as well as the veiled motives of those around him. Through it all, the Dunstan heir, is unerringly ethical and self contained. Compaired to these attributes, his paranormal abilities are mere tools-iceing on the cake. When, eventually the banality of those around him becomes clear, these traits will stand him in good stead. The progressive revelation of the plot and the players put Mr.X on the short list of the best creative literary work of the year. All but one of the major questions are answered in a most satisfying manner. A mystery remains but the reader is in possession of all the tools needed to resolve it.
Rating: 
Summary: Not quite a return to form
Review: About 100 pages too long and with a "Clive Barker ending" (which is not a true ending at all but a cheat) Mr. X disappoints. The start is truly interesting but by the time we get involved with a combination of Lovecraft and unexplained special powers you no longer care. I made it to the end because I found the beginning so gripping but I did not feel it was worth the effort. Straub has written much better books and they are well worth reading, but this and The Hellfire Club are misses.
Rating:
Summary: Hugely entertaining idea rich mystery thriller!
Review: Mr. X delivers the Straub goods and then some in the most intriguing page turner I've read this year. Rich with superbly defined characters, excellent writing and powerful scenes of dark fantasy, Mr. X zaps you again and again as the plot twists roar forth with ever increasing shock value as the pages joyfully fly by. Then comes the end and . . . boomtown! I was howling at the moon with mad joy!
Rating:
Summary: Not worth it
Review: I like thrillers. I like mysteries. I like almost anything so long as it is well-written and interesting. I did not like this book. After reading this novel, I was left with several unanswered questions and a feeling of dissatisfied confusion. Were Ned's family the descendants of former gods and demons, or just your average psychic inbreeders? Did he have a twin brother? Who and what exactly is Mr. X? Should I care? From reading the other posted reviews, I'm guessing that this is a book you either love or hate. I didn't care for this story, but that doesn't mean I prefer "book candy" and wouldn't know a good book if it bit me in the a**. I prefer a story with a good plot that grabs your attention and won't let go, not a story that is laid out in a confusing manner, jumps back and forth, and then abruptly ends. My opinion is that Peter Straub needs to stop being so impressed with his talent as a writer and get back to basics. Maybe a new editor to gently coax him back into telling good stories instead of showing off. Just my two cents, but this book is not worth wasting your time.
Rating: 
Summary: What is this, a rough draft?
Review: Don't waste your time and money on this wreckage. It's the sloppiest piece of work I can remember encountering between two covers, and an insult to the reading public. Don't believe those who defend this book as scary or well-written or wonderfully complex. It's none of the above. If you want a good, contemporary scare, read Hannibal. If you want excruciatingly beautiful writing and a plot that makes you dizzy, read The Big Sleep. But do yourself a favor and pass on this one, please.
Rating:
Summary: The Jazz Artist Interprets Lovecraft
Review: Not unlike a jazz musician taking "Love for Sale" and shaking it out, turning it backwards and upside down, Peter Straub's "Mr. X" grabs the gothic generally and the works of Mr. H.P. Lovecraft specifically and creates a long sustained beauty of a novel that, like the best jazz, will probably make 80% of those who encounter it sigh with exasperation and dismissiveness. Possibly the most deadpan tongue-in-cheek formalist since Nabokov, Straub crafts an epic tale of a man and a veritable murder of Doppelgangers. "Once you are you," Straub's narrator announces at the beginning of the book, "that's who you are, and you have to pay the price." The narrator and the captive reader then spends the next several hundred pages trying to figure out just who, precisely, the narrator is, and what the price of that answer will be. Straub keeps us guessing for well over three-fourths of the book and for many, the final quarter will be the area most lacking. It's a tough call whether Straub is mocking both the Gothic and the mystery's eye for minutiae by spending as much time on what the "Knacker" is as he does the fate of the ultimate, or perhaps penultimate, Doppelganger. Or maybe Straub actually thinks the reader will find both of equal importance. Either way, the reader is threatened with thinking the book either more petty or picayune than it actually is. Just as a jazz player's worth is in his playing, the real meat of "Mr. X" is in the writing--beautiful turns of phrase, great dialogue, mercilessly witty pastiches and satires of the Great Master Lovecraft himself. At one point, the narrator's mother describes a life-changing jazz solo; "He just touched that melody for a second before he lifted off and began climbing and climbing, and everything he played linked up, one step after another, like a story." Similarly, everything in Straub's "Mr. X" links up, frequently with a dizzying display of intelligence, wit and nuance. Those who pick up the book for its melody may be disappointed, but those who read "Mr. X" for the bravura musicianship will probably be delighted.
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