Mr. X

Rating:
Summary: Mr. X is an unknown exotic adventure.
Review: For those unfortunates who've never read a Lovecraft story before -- or their pastiches by wanna-be writers -- this is a good introduction to the mythological tripe that Lovecraft and his followers expound. Straub pokes fun at the inordinate seriousness many horror editors and writers seem to embrace when reading and writing Lovecraftian tales. Pete would have gotten a five-star recommendation, if not for the fact that his main character is a dweeb, a do-nothing know-nothing weakling. Though I'll have to admit that Mr. Straub does attempt to write a healthy romance and does include capable women in the formula, along with interesting shadowy histories of the supernatural Dunstan family. However, it would have done Pete better if he didn't use such a formulaic response in the unlikely and inept hero that we're seeing too much of in recent novels and movies. Yuck! The original, tongue-in-cheek allusions to Lovecraft claptrap is also a delight. Which gave an originally rated three-star novel its four-star rating. However, if you want to read a much, much finer handling of the Lovecraft mythos, along with terrific satire, read "Resume With Monsters," by William Browning Spencer. And though Spencer's character is likewise a dweeb in that story, the author uses it to maximum effectiveness by playing up the dweeb factor with many hilarious observations. Which makes it read like a hallucinatory P.K. Dick tale, only loaded with belly laughs galore. Mr. Straub has some hints of that too, only it appears as if the author is barely aware of these golden nuggets of humorous opportunities that he has written into the story, and thus is not fully able to exploit them so as to turn the story into a hipper, funnier read.

Rating:
Summary: Padded, ponderous, pretentious, preposterous pulp.
Review: Straub seems to have reached the point where he or his publishers feel that every book MUST be big to be a bestseller. We are treated to lengthy descriptions of the frying of bacon and okra, serving no other point in the plot than to demonstrate that the protagonist's aunts are healthy eaters. You can almost sense him thinking, "Well, at least I'm filling pages!" The best scenes seem borrowed from MYSTERY, and nothing has the eerie resonance of his best work. A huge disappointment that never convinces for an instant. When I idly glanced at the next book in my stack (Graham Joyce's THE TOOTH FAIRY) and encountered economical, witty, sinewy prose, I knew I was never going to finish MR. X.

Rating:
Summary: Wish I hadn't wasted the money.
Review: Overlong, overloaded with extraneous subplots, utterly lacking in fantasy, magic OR horror, redundant and repetitious, I dragged myself through this one. Don't tell me it's subtle, either; it's not, it's just not very good. A good author on a bad outing. Reread KOKO instead.

Rating:
Summary: disappointing
Review: But not really unexpected. I had already read Mystery years earlier and been surprised at how bad that one was. That could have been a fluke, though, so I decided to risk it again. If anything else, I liked the title. I have a copy of Shadowland I bought years ago but never read. Do I dare risk it?

Rating:
Summary: Challenging, well-written, a delight
Review: After four mystery-thrillers ("Koko", "Mystery", "The Throat", and "The Hellfire Club"), "Mr. X" marks Peter's return to the domain of supernatural/psychological horror. This is one of his best horror books, second only to "Shadowland". The dialogue is flawless, the characters are as real as one could ask for, and the horror itself is subtle and surreal. The story is about an Illinois family whose members manifest strange powers. It's about a particular member of this dynasty -- Ned Dunstan -- and his doppleganger twin. It's about the twins' disturbed father who knows that he is the center of the world, and his purpose is to kill. It's about Ned Dunstan, at long last, returning home to Illinois and coming to terms with his bizarre heritage.

In a way, "Mr. X" combines features of the author's later mystery-thrillers and earlier horror books. Straub is a first-rate writer who refuses to supply us with Harlequin-horror. He towers above authors like Stephen King and Clive Barker. He makes authors like Dean Koontz and John Saul unworthy of mention.

Rating:
Summary: Straub does it again.
Review: The classic horror novels convince us that the author is well and truly a sublimated axe murderer, who but for his ability to write cogent periodic sentences would be sleeping where they keep the lights on all the time. I'm in the middle of this crazy novel, it keeps grabbing at me against my better judgement, and don't see how Straub's wife and children manage to stay in the same house with him.

Rating:
Summary: One of Straub's best
Review: If you are a Straub fan you will love this book. If you are not a Straub fan you will be. Apparently two things need to happen first. One, ignore Booklist, they're never right. Two, don't move to Cleveland. Frank, better not give up your day job or whatever.

Rating:
Summary: For "lumbering, ramshackle" read "penetrating, complex"
Review: For those of us who appreciated such lumbering, ramshackle novels as Melville's MOBY DICK or Gaddis' RECOGNITIONS, the derogatory adjectives of the Booklist review should be recognized as compliments.

Straub refuses to be pigeonholed, or to write in a "genre," or ever to repeat himself, and what he has tried to do in MR. X is thoroughly orginal and unconventional. Like anything new, it can offput Philistines looking for handles. There are no handles to MR. X, just the pleasure of holding it and reading it

Rating:
Summary: A Doppleganger among us
Review: Shame on you Putney Swope. I belive your relationship is mush deeper than childhood freind". I't obvious you have never met Mr. Straub ..nor do you ever dare to.. lol

Rating:
Summary: Straub's best!
Review: I've always been a big admirer of Straub's writing since If You Could See Me Now, and the collaboration with King produced one of my favorite books The Talisman. NPR has given this book a rave review, perhaps his magnum opus. This frank from cleveland person sounds like my english teacher, a remarkably prissy man who should be composing cliff notes instead of pretending that his limp imagination possesses the ability to appreciate fine art.