Read Mr. X Online

Authors: Peter Straub

Mr. X

BOOK: Mr. X
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“AN IRRESISTIBLE TALE
with surprising twists right up to the last sentence … Peter Straub is a master at keeping secrets…. He lures his reader into a complex plot, replete with dark undercurrents [and] sinister ghostly figures.”


St. Louis Post-Dispatch


Mr. X
marks Straub’s triumphant return to the tale of the paranormal and the supernatural…. The plot is challenging, the characters are intriguing in their complexity, and the language is a delight.”


S
TEPHEN
K
ING

“There’s no shortage of memorable players in [Straub’s] latest effort,
Mr. X
…. A classic doppelgänger tale with supernatural elements, passages of H. P. Lovecraft parody, and an unexpected stable of wickedly droll oddball characters.”


Entertainment Weekly

A Main Selection of the
Book-of-the-Month Club

“PETER STRAUB IS A
NATIONAL TREASURE.”


L
AWRENCE
B
LOCK

“A continually surprising narrative … [Straub] caps it off with a wonderfully devious final sentence that makes you question everything you’ve just read and almost makes you want to go back and start from the beginning.”


The Miami Herald

“I loved this book….
Mr. X
is a fun romp through the roots of supernatural horror.”


Rocky Mountain News

“PETER STRAUB IS A FINE STORYTELLER.”


The Washington Post

“One of the most invigorating horror reads of the year … Straub has specialized in macabre mysteries dense with the details of small-town life and cast with ordinary people who find that the extraordinary crimes they investigate raise doubts about their own moral integrity. In this bravura new outing, he returns to his horror roots, lacing an ingenious whodunit with an intoxicating shot of the supernatural…. Discerning readers will recognize this surprise-filled tale of tortuous family relationships as a modern variation on Lovecraft’s classic shocker
The Dunwich Horror
. But Straub turns his pulp model inside out, transforming its vast cosmic mystery into an ingrown odyssey of self-discovery and a probing study of human nature.”


Publishers Weekly
(starred review)

“[An] impressive new novel … As crafty as it is well-crafted,
Mr. X
soars.”


LOCUS

“Compelling … Straub is worthy of his reputation as a master of horror.”


Library Journal

Also by Peter Straub:

Novels

Marriages

Under Venus

Julia

If You Could See Me Now
*

Ghost Story

Shadowland

Floating Dragon

The Talisman (with Stephen King)

Koko

Mystery

Mrs. God

The Throat

The Hellfire Club
*

Poetry

Open Air

Leeson Park & Belsize Square

Collections

Wild Animals

Houses Without Doors

Peter Straub’s Ghosts (editor)

Magic Terror

*
Published by Ballantine Books

Books published by The Random House Publishing Group are available at quantity discounts on bulk purchases for premium, educational, fund-raising, and special sales use. For details, please call 1-800-733-3000.

For my brothers, John and Gordon Straub

I could not weigh myself—Myself—

My size felt small—to me—I read your Chapter in the Atlantic—and experienced honor for you—I was sure you would not reject a confiding question—

Is this—Sir—what you asked me to tell you?

    E—Dickinson

    —Emily Dickinson,
        letter to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, April 25, 1862

1
HOW I CAME HOME, AND WHY
1
BOOK: Mr. X
2.34Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
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