Rating: 
Summary: Stir of Nothing
Review: This book has accomplished something that few 200 some odd page do - make it feel like a 500 page book. The main problem I have is that for most of the book is that hardly anything happens. This book neither captivates you with a plot, develops any characters, or immerses you in a setting. Basically, a man gets hypnotized and starts reading peoples minds and predicting the future. He sees a ghost, reads a neighbor's mind, has an encounter with a baby sitter, and fights with his wife. That's the first ninety percent of the book. Matheson probably realized that nothing happened, so he threw in some hackneyed plot twist to add some excitement. Needless to say, it doesn't work. Another problem I had with this book is the flow and language structure. He likes throwing brief tidbits of conversation, which annoyed me to death. Many times I had to re-read paragraphs due to the fact that he omitted context and who said it. Ignore all those people who say that this delves into great psychological terror. Nope, it deals with a boring man with a boring gift living a boring place. Silence of the Lambs this ain't. What makes a good book? Not being able to put it down. What makes a bad book? Not being able to pick it up. This book is boring and tedious - the only reason why I finished it is because I actually spent my hard earned money on it.
Rating: 
Summary: captivating! Must read!
Review: This book is full of wondeful surprises. It hooked me on the first page, and did not let me go until I finished it the next day. The story is fantastic and original. I can not wait to see the movie and read "I am Legend". Stir of echoes is not only thrilling, but makes reading fun!
Rating: 
Summary: I can't believe I wasted the money...
Review: This book was absolutely one of the worst excuses for literary effort since Cather in the Rye (yes, that's an insult). It saddens me that a theme with such potential could be so maliciously bastardized by an author who had obviously little business tackling the whole concept. I think the worst thing about the whole book was how unreal the characters were. It's like, TOM: Honeey, I'm psychic. ANNIE: My God, you're right! That's pretty much the first 100 pages in a nutshell. The character's actions are completely unfounded, and I thought the work was little more than something to keep the coffee table level. I did give it one star however, but not for the book. I feel that the poor guy sho drew the short straw and had to type up the damned thing ought to get some credit.
Rating: 
Summary: interesting story
Review: This book was an interesting story and hard to put down. I did feel, however, that the frightened reaction of Tom's wife was somewhat overdone as well as Tom's naivity of psychic phenomenon. In spite of that, I enjoyed the story, especially the suspense and surprizing ending.
Rating: 
Summary: Stir of Echoes
Review: This book was my introduction to the Richard Matheson world, and i enjoyed every second. I decided to read it after i saw (and enjoyed) the movie. They should both be viewed as seperate items with little connention to each other. Anyways, this book is one of those rare reads that just makes you think about what is going on beneath the story and in a sense makes you a co-author molding details to how you interpret them. Not how you are forced to interpret them in some other books. I also like this topic of hypnotism, a lot of what Matheson talks about and the ideas behind it are still considered fresh today even though the book was published in the 1950's. I guess i would give a reccomendation to anyone, but a stronger reccomendation to people who are sick of conventional paranormal books, or people who are intrested in entering the genre.
Rating:
Summary: Stir Your Mind
Review: This book, written nearly 45 years before the production of the movie has many differences than the movie it's based. The plot is basically the same but their are different charecters and such. The cool part is that Tom's mind can be explored more indepth. I read 190 of the 211 pages in a single day. A real page turner.
Rating:
Summary: A Precursor to Stephen King
Review: This is a really well-written, extremely gripping little horror novel. If you've never read Richard Matheson before, get this book--you'll be glad you did. Stephen King has often cited Matheson as one of his main influences, and this book clearly shows why. Matheson tells the story of Tom Wallace, a decent everyday blue collar guy (not unlike Richard Dreyfus's character in "Close Encounters") who, after being hypnotized, is able to read the darker thoughts lying under his neighbors' smiling exteriors. This is a horror novel that truly works because it deals with very human horrors-the darkness hides inside us all. It is also a very entertaining novel. The characters and dialogue feel right. You can see echoes of this novel in many of much of King's writing, particularly The Shining, and later books such as Needful Things and The Green Mile. If you like Stephen King, you should definitely give Matheson a try.
Rating:
Summary: A Precursor to Stephen King
Review: This is a really well-written, extremely gripping little horror novel. If you've never read Richard Matheson before, get this book--you'll be glad you did. Stephen King has often cited Matheson as one of his main influences, and this book clearly shows why. Matheson tells the story of Tom Wallace, a decent everyday blue collar guy (not unlike Richard Dreyfus's character in "Close Encounters") who, after being hypnotized, is able to read the darker thoughts lying under his neighbors' smiling exteriors. This is a horror novel that truly works because it deals with very human horrors-the darkness hides inside us all. It is also a very entertaining novel. The characters and dialogue feel right. You can see echoes of this novel in many of much of King's writing, particularly The Shining, and later books such as Needful Things and The Green Mile. If you like Stephen King, you should definitely give Matheson a try.
Rating:
Summary: A Gripping Story
Review: This is another novel written in its time, although Mr. Matheson does better with the characters in this story. I liked all of them, even the seedy ones like Frank and Elsie. After he is hypnotized by his brother-in-law, Tom Holland begins to experience all sorts of stranger -than-fiction phenomena. Imagine walking into your living room and finding the ghost of the former tenant? Imagine returning a pie pan to your next door neighbor and seeing into her lurid, sex-crazed mind. Imagine looking into the heart of your best friend and seeing the worst possible human being you can imagine. There are other creepy things, but I won't spoil them by listing them. This is a very good book. Buy a copy if you are a fan of the paranormal.
Rating:
Summary: One of his best; different from the movie
Review: This is another terrific thriller from Richard Matheson. When the film version came out a few years ago, it was instantly dismissed as a rip-off of The Sixth Sense -- a difficult feat considering that the novel that was the source of the film was written over forty years prior. As a fan of the film (it is highly underrated and will definitely provide entertainment for fans of the genre), and of Richard Matheson's work, I felt I owed it to myself to check out the original: A Stir of Echoes (What, a definite article is good enough for The Sixth Sense, but not for Stir of Echoes? I'll never understand Hollywood). When Tom Wallace is hypnotized at a party by his brother-in-law, he turns out to be a surprisingly good subject. Afterwards, he is told how malleable he was, and a good laugh is had at his expense when he unwittingly performs a post-hypnotic suggestion. But afterwards things aren't the same for Tom: he begins having dreams that a woman in black is in his house, and then realizes that he is able to read people's minds. This comes in handy on more than one occasion, but generally appears to be a nuisance, especially to Tom's wife, Anne, who wants him to see a doctor. Given what I have read of Matheson, I wasn't surprised by the level of quality presented in the story. What did surprise me, however, was that A Stir of Echoes, although first published in 1958, is not at all dated; it could have just as easily been written today, Matheson's story and characters are so "modern" and timeless. This is particularly true given the modern atmosphere of being more accepting to the idea of spirits "crossing over" from another plane. As the story progresses, the tension ratchets higher and higher. Matheson hardly lets up, steadily adding more complications to the plot until the surprise revelation. This is one of the reasons that I like Matheson's work so much: the knowledge that I am always in for a ride. (Fans of the movie please note: the plot of A Stir of Echoes differs from the film in many details. The base story is, of course, the same, but the identities of the participants -- the alleged ghost, the alleged killer -- are different, which allows for a novel experience in reading a book you think you're already familiar with.)
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