Mr. X by Peter Straub

Mr. X Reviews

• 
  Dave Edmunds

  
  
  "During my rambles I avoid street lamps, though regardless of the season I am dressed in a black coat and hat - a moving shadow, invisible in the darkness."
  
  Initial Thoughts
  
  Mr X by Peter Straub is a special book for me. I've been taking part in a challenge in a Facebook group (The Night Shift Horror Group if you're interested in joining the party) and this was the book to complete it. I needed a book that I'd previously DNF'd (did not finish) and had tried this one in my teens (roughly a hundred years ago), giving up after a few pages. With me being on a mission to read the majority of this author's books there really was no other choice.
  
  I've been a huge fan of Peter Straub since I read the magnificent, the brilliant, the stupendousGhost Story, which takes its place amongst my favourite books. If you want to read a well crafted horror tale then look no further than that piece of literary geniusness. Did I just make up a new word? But after reading a few more like Koko and Mystery I realised that he was not simply a master of horror and was quite hard to place in a particular genre.
  
  Anything else? This book won the 1999 Bram Stoker award for best novel. Talk about setting the bar high. Did I really DNF a Bram Stoker winner? Shame on me!
  
  It's also heavily inspired by that cornerstone of cosmic horror HP Lovecraft himself. Yes, Straub was a massive fan and since I recently got acquainted with HP after reading Whisperer in Darkness I couldn't wait to see exactly what those influences were. Care to join me? Let's go.
  
  
  
  Howard Phillips Lovecraft
  
  The Story
  
  This one begins with chief protagonist Ned Dunston returning to his hometown of Edgerton, Illinois, after years away in the big city of New York. The reason is that he's had an unsettling premonition that his mother, Star, is dying and he arrives to find his family gathered around her deathbed at the local hospital.
  
  We soon find out that Ned has a somewhat mysterious past and is plagued by seizures that only hit on his birthday. During these moments he seems to be transported to another place to witness some horrifying and grizzly murders committed by a terrifying figure. Mr X is the name that Ned gives to this maniac.
  
  "Don't trust anyone but your kin and don't trust them all that much, because you'll be lucky if some night I don't come along and split your head open with an axe."
  
  As the story unfolds we discover what is behind the seizures and what links the two characters. And that is all your getting for now as there's a lot you need to figure out here and you're not getting any help from me.
  
  The Writing
  
  If nothing else Peter Straub's prose are worth the admission price alone. It's very unusual to find someone writing in the horror genre with such eloquence and the ability to articulate scenes of suspense and terror.
  
  But I've got to say straight-up that Mr X is not really a horror. In fact it mixes a lot of genres, which really does tend to be this author's style. Certainly not one to constrain his imagination in such a narrow box. In this one we have elements of fantasy, family drama, crime and the supernatural set within the confines of a small town. There's a number of narrative threads and Straub has the skill to pull this altogether, presenting it in a realistic way. But does it make for an effective story? Well yes and no.
  
  It certainly is a wild ride where I never new exactly which way the narrative was going to go. Which is a good thing. But after a fantastic opening, containing some fascinating flashbacks, the novel did start to get bogged down in certain aspects and it did effect the pacing. I'm hardly ever critical of Straub, but it did feel like the plot was getting stretched out at times and could have done with some ruthless editing.
  
  In fact Mr X felt less composed than Ghost Story and Koko, which were earlier novels from Straub. Don't get me wrong, it does contain all the Straub trademark's including his subtle wit and insight into what makes us human. Plus his ability to build atmosphere and that unsettling feeling of impending dread. But even for Straub it does take a long time to get moving as the separate narratives begin to get tangled up. And I consider myself a fairly patient reader. So just be warned if you're expecting a shock every minute you'll soon be joining me in the "DNF club."
  
  The Characters
  
  "the plot is challenging, the characters are intriguing in their complexity." - Stephen King
  
  Stephen King could not be more right when he made that statement. This author creates a wide range of characters that are fascinating in their complexity. In Mr X each character has a degree of mystery to them that requires you to look twice. I really do love that, although it does make you feel the need for a family tree to keep track of who's who. It's obvious that a lot of time and effort went into constructing each of them and their distinct personalities allowing them to interact in superb fashion. They really do put those contained in your average horror novel to complete shame.
  
  First up is Ned Dunston who is intriguing and somewhat laidback, but integral to everything that's going on. I found him easy to relate to and his relationship with the antagonist (Mr X) is at times captivating.
  
  And while we're on the subject of Mr X, the early parts of the book when I was discovering more about him and what he's about, plus his borderline obsession with Lovecraft, was for me the best part. The flashbacks are done really well and certainly don't slow down the pace of the novel. It's the other sub plots that are responsible for that hellish crime.
  
  But I can't stop there as each supporting character is worth a mention including the loveable Aunt May who has a penchant for theft, stepfather Toby Kraft who has one hell of a personality and some shocking secrets to tell, as well as the quick witted lawyer C. Clayton Creech. It does start to make me wonder if all these fantastic characters explain the slower pacing while they're getting established and I'm being a little bit harsh on my main man Straub. I'm probably just jealous of his literary ability like a lot of other wannabe writers!
  
  "Grief is an industrial strength emotion, that's all I can say. Grief takes care of business and tells you where you are."
  
  Final Thoughts
  
  So certainly not the best book I've read from this author. It's a challenging read that can become confusing at some points with the number of characters and sub plots. Plus how surreal it gets at times. But as I discussed with my friend Corey Woodcock, maybe Straub wants his reader confused at those points so the reveals have even more impact. He certainly never gives you all the pieces and you have to work to complete the full picture and that's something I appreciate.
  
  The ending itself is very satisfying and a touch emotional. It kind of reminded me of Stephen King's 11-22-63. It certainly was satisfying, as were the links to Lovecraft. It's great to see authors pay homage to those that influenced them and Peter certainly does that as it's all fundamental to what's going on in this novel. In fact there's a real life case where a man actually believed the works of HP were real that inspired this very story. It's certainly inspired me to delve further into Lovecraft's work as I begin on the road to becoming a Cthulu disciple. Next up for me is The Dunwich Horror which appears in this story numerous times. But I'm rambling.
  
  So all in all an entertaining read that wasn't perfect, but I certainly did enjoy. If you like a slow burn that delves into the supernatural and gets a touch bizarre at times then I'd definitely give it a try. But if you're new to Straub then Ghost Story or Koko for you and thank me later.
  
  And I'll thank you for reading this long-winded review...cheers!
• 
  Baba

  A 'really cryptic and pulsating supernatural thriller, involving the lives of a community that has been close knit for centuries' was my one sentence review in 2008, when I originally read this, a summary that inconveniently excludes any references to the main protagonist or Mr X himself! This is one of my fave Straub reads, with its possibly unreliable narrators, a rather large cast and an engaging storyline. As a big Stephen King fan myself, I found the over plotting and overwriting quite welcome, but some may not like it as much as I did 8 out of 12.
  
  2008 read
• 
  Badseedgirl

  1999 winner Bram Stoker Awards for Superior Achievement
  2001 August Derleth Award Nominee (The British Fantasy Society Awards) Their horror award, in case you wanted to know!
  
  I gotta be honest with you readers, I probably would have DNF'ed this book if it had not been a Stoker Award winner, and I have made a solemn oath to get this self imposed challenge completed. That challenge being to read all the Bram Stoker award winning novels.
  
  I really did not see where this book was going in the first 100-150 pages. I'm sorry, but I am like a trained monkey that bites the face off their owner when asked to do too many tricks in a row. I need a hook to catch me to a book, and this book was giving me gleaming monkey eyes and a jaw that was flexing. But then all of a sudden, I found myself hooked. I don't know how Peter Straub did it, but all of a sudden I liked Ned Dunsten and his cast of wacky family members.
  
  It also helps that although I'm not particularly a fan of H.P. Lovecraft, I tend to enjoy stories inspired by the problematic author. Mr Straub was able to weave Mr. Lovecraft's works into his own in an organic matter.
  
  I'm ever so grateful my OCD would not allow a Stoker Novel to go unread.
• 
  Tim

  I thought "The Throat" was one of the best-written novels ever published, lots of complexity, mysteries within mysteries, satisfying ending, finely drawn characters, all over a fun experience. My impression of "The Talisman" and "Black House," collaborations with Stephen King, was that they were superb. "Shadowlands" was a confusing miasma but had an interesting premise.
  
  (update several days later) To tell you the truth, I went online to see if I could make sense of my confusion regarding "Mr. X." . Turns out, after all, I wasn't too far off the mark regarding the major characters and events and underpinnings. OK, more stuff:
  
  "Mr. X" was along the same lines as "Shadowlands," confusing and difficult to read in many spots. However, that said, I must state that this work is peopled with some of the quirkiest characters I've seen in a novel. This is true mostly of the protagonist, Ned Dunstan's, extended family, one wackier than the rest, and some with some parapsychological....well, I'll let you discover that for yourselves. A major minor character who comes along in the second half of the book is a crusty old attorney with great senses and an extremely unflappable nature, who seems to know all about the families and their strange, complex natures, as well as the small town they inhabit. One of my favorites! We all could use someone like that in our corner.
  
  (further update, which I forgot to add earlier. This getting older is REALLY inocnvenient!) Much of the book's basis relates to "The Dunwich Horror," which was written by H. P. Lovecraft in the 20's and relates to a theory that there are "the Old Ones" who are aliens from another planet who influence and are personified in some contemporary people. I saw the movie when it came out in the 70's and enjoyed it, and I have also read some other Lovecraft. It's neat to see Straub have some fun iwth Lovecraft, but unfortunately it doesn't save the work.
  
  Sooooo, even with my misgivings, this one doesn't turn me away from Mr. Straub (after all, I've also read some clunkers by Messrs. Koontz and King and I still come back for more). I believe "Julia" and "The Hellfire Club" have gotten good reviews, so I'll get to them in due time.
• 
  Jade

  I am a big Straub fan to begin with--have enjoyed nearly all of his books--despite his work with Stephen King, I think he is quite different. This book was particularly enjoyable to me as I am a huge Lovecraft fan and this is clearly his love letter to Lovecraft. Great fun for Lovecraft fans in picking out the Lovecraftian imagery, names of books and characters scattered throughout the story---all the while winking wildly at the fans--no attempts at imitation, just sincere flattery and making use of a terrifying and wonderful mythos. Also a fun and in depth mystery, plenty of raffish characters to love and Straub's weirdly cool style. Highly recommend--I hated the title--does not describe the book accurately at all--otherwise, kudos!
• 
  Tamar Love

  Although I loved the Blue Rose series and The Hellfire Club, my favorite works by Straub are those that focus on paranormal plot lines, like Ghost Story, Shadowland (my favorite!) and Floating Dragon. When I picked up Mr. X, I was delighted to find that Straub had returned to his paranormal past.
  
  The story was fresh and the writing tight and captivating. The plot itself was highly original, and the working in of Lovecraft was brilliant. I hadn't read "The Dunwich Horror," and when I realized how integral it was to Mr. X, I set down the book and picked up my Lovecraft anthology. Something a bit spooky happened -- I set down Mr. X at page 89, and "The Dunwich Horror" began on page 89 of the Lovecraft anthology! Of course, this has nothing to do with anything, but I found it amusing nonetheless. I'm glad I read the Lovecraft story, as it gave a great many hints to the inner workings of Mr. X. If you haven't read "The Dunwich Horror," it's advisable to do so before beginning Mr. X.
  
  After reading the other reviews, I wondered if the negative reviewers had read the same book. Straub left no questions unanswered -- perhaps those reviewers just didn't understand what happened? Mr. X was perfectly characterized, and his diary was consistent with his mental state. Ned was my favorite kind of character: flawed, but likeable, as were most of the characters in the book (with the exception, of course, of Mr. X).
  
  My only real criticism is that Straub isn't particularly good at writing women, a flaw that's consistent throughout his writing. His women are either kooky, whore-ish or angelic -- although the "angel" in this story is a little more rounded than the "angels" in his other books. The various female family members were nicely written, though.
  
  Straub didn't write in a single event that wasn't necessary to the story. Every loose end was wrapped up, and every character and scene essential to the plot. The various mystery elements were revealed at exactly the right time and place, and although some things were easy to guess for Lovecraft readers, there were enough surprises to satisfy me, and I'm an extremely critical reader of mysteries and crime fiction.
  
  To sum up my review, if you love Straub, you'll love this book. Happy reading!
• 
  Paul James

  This is one of the most difficult books I have read. When reading it I struggled at points to follow it but the last paragraph of the book made perfect sense and I realised that it was possibly the way the book was intended. A few years after reading I am still perplexed by this novel.
  
  How good can a story be if you struggle to read it but then are left unable to stop thinking about it. I have come to the conclusion that Peter Straub is the best writer I have ever read. Ghost story was good with more characters but X is better I think. However I have since read Dark Matter and it is my favourite read ever.
• 
  Olethros

  -¿El autor debe gustarse a sí mismo o al lector?.-
  
  Género. Narrativa Fantástica.
  
  Lo que nos cuenta. Ned tiene visiones de los crímenes de alguien a quien llama Míster X. Cuando se desplaza hasta la localidad en la que su madre está muriendo, ella le da más datos sobre su padre, al que no conoció, y decide averiguar más sobre él. Pero los asesinatos de Míster X se acercan tanto a Ned que él mismo termina en el punto de mira de los policías encargados de la investigación, mientras averigua que él no es el único de la familia con capacidades poco comunes.
  
  ¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:
  
  
  http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com....
• 
  Amanda

  I like the idea of this story, but the book itself.....just didn't fill me with joy. I can't put my finger on what I didn't enjoy exactly, and there were parts that I certainly enjoyed, but it just left me unfulfilled in the end.
• 
  Mr. Gottshalk

  Wow. I had some idea that Peter Straub could write, having read his co-authoring of The Talisman many years ago. There's no question he is a great talent - maybe too much so for me.
  Either this book is lacking a great editor or I didn't eat enough blueberries and carrots in the last week, because I constantly had to keep thinking back about this strange Dunstan family and how they seem to have...unusual connections to half of a small southern Illinois town. Some passages were terrific, and blazed wonderfully wicked or surreal images in my head, and others were downright overwritten and confusing. I will not give up on this author - I want to read Ghost Story and Koko for sure, but Mr. X missed the mark on the whole for me.
• 
  Krystelle Fitzpatrick

  This provided a counterpart to my other Lovecraftian read from this week, but this was certainly the weaker of the two. I really enjoyed some scenes in here, but I felt like there were a lot of missed chances and a lack of characterisation of most of the people. I really liked the Mr X parts of this book, but to be honest, there was very little scare and a lot of family politics.
  
  I think the scene with the army cadets was one of those pivotal points where you do get a sense of the kind of horror writer Straub really is- it was a perfect mix of gross, sexual, violent, and just plain evil. That was the kind of stuff I wish the rest of the book did, but realistically, there wasn’t even a real climax to it. I’m sure his other books pack more of punch but this one wasn’t it.
• 
  Andrea Blythe

  At heart this dark fantasy novel is about the twisted truths that lie at the heart of one's family history and whether it's better to leave secrets buried or dig them up. Peter Straub does an amazing job of unraveling pieces of information that slowly form into at larger picture. His characters are complex and fascinating, which makes the story absolutely compelling with an ending that kind of blew my mind and makes me want to go back and read it again. Fantastic book.
• 
  Brian

  A nice piece of psychological horror from a master.
• 
  Michael J.

  Mister X is an ambitious and often maddening work that straddles several sub-genres within the horror category, perhaps disappointing several readers who were expecting this to be more frightening. It certainly starts out that way. The back-cover description and the beginning chapters of this book seemingly set-up the reader for a thrill-ride with lots of grisly murders and scary occurrences. Mister X is told in first person and each chapter rotates between two characters, one seemingly grounded in reality (Ned) and the other (X) operating on a different ethereal plane.
  Chapter One takes only five pages to introduce us main character Ned Dunstan and get to the beginning conflict. With a modicum of words and references author Straub takes the first-person narration and makes Ned likable, also causing us to emphasize within a few pages.
  Ned's a hard-luck case - - abandoned by his mother at an early age, not able to be cared for by other family members, and rotating from one foster family to another. The problem is his troubling annual premonitions that result in epileptic fits. Now a recent college grad or still a senior (Straub only hints at his actual age, perhaps on purpose), Ned is hitch-hiking home to visit his mother Star on her deathbed.
  Rather than exhibit feelings of bitterness regarding her abandonment of him, he seems to take it in stride in admirable fashion as revealed in his description of the situation: "Boiled down to essentials, it comes out this way: even though Star loved me, she could not care for me as well as the Grants could. On those days when Star came to Naperville, we put our arms around each other and we cried, but we both knew the deal. She usually showed up just after Christmas and almost always right at the start of summer, after I got out of school. But she never came on my birthdays, and she never sent me anything more than a card. Birthdays were when my problem came down on me, and my problem made her feel so rotten she didn't want to think about it."
  The next chapter introduces us to Mister X, a mysterious and impulsive murderer who relates his doings while beseeching the elder gods (a la H. P. Lovecraft) to recognize him. He's immediately unlikable and evil, and it only takes four pages to despise him. Contrast Ned's feelings towards his mother with Mister X's final words in the chapter: "A most marvelous event has taken place. Star Dunstan has come home to die. Can you hear me, slug-spittle? My dearest hope is that your flesh should blister, that you should have to labor for the smallest gulps of air and feel individual organs explode within you, so on and so forth, your eyes to burst, that kind of thing, but though I shall not be able to manage these matters on your behalf, my old sweetheart, I shall do my best to arrange them for our son."
  That's quite a set-up and more than enough incentive to keep turning pages. However, as the novel progresses it evolves into an equally intriguing saga of re-establishing family relationships and probing town history and documentation for answers to Ned's ancestry and background. The short description of Mister X is gothic mystery and murder splashed with paranormal entities, doppelgängers, and Lovecraftian cosmic horror.
  That eventual meeting between Ned and Mister X doesn't play out the way I anticipated it. Ned's journey of discovery includes many plot twists and turns which held my interest through a very long (and sometimes dragging) novel. I prefer not to reveal more in order to avoid spoiling it for any readers who decide to give this a trial reading. Straub throws in a zinger of an ending - - two final paragraphs that make you re-think the entirety of what you've just finished reading. It almost made me want to start over with a different mindset. I'd attempt that now if Mister X wasn't so long of a read (500+ pages). More wonders await me in other books. Perhaps I'll return some day.
• 
  Ian

  The plot of this novel focuses on Ned Dunstan (born June 25, 1958), who has had precognitive visions since childhood and returns home to Edgerton, Illinois from New York after anticipating that his mother, Star Dunstan, is dying. As Star lays dying in the Intensive Care Unit after suffering a stroke, she reveals the name of the Ned's father, the mysterious Edward Rinehart. Following his mother's death, Ned begins to trace his paternal lineage with the help of his great aunts Nettie, May, and Joy, who possess the gifts of teleportation and telekinesis. Also assisting him are Laurie Hatch, the estranged wife of the wealthy Stewart Hatch (who's past comes to play an important role in Ned's journey), and a mysterious figure who may or may not be his twin brother Robert. Not only does Ned's life become an attempt to uncover the identity of his father and his family's secrets, he also gets caught up in a tangled web of disturbing crimes and murder both in the past and present.
  
  This is the first novel by Peter Straub that I have read and I'm now interested in reading some of his other works. Mr. X has a very complex yet entertaining plot that although seemed a bit tedious at times, being 482 pages long, it made me want to read all the way to the end to see if Ned would actually find out the truth about his family's past. The main issues I had with the novel, aside from the length, were that the number of characters were a bit overwhelming and the fact that I often could not remember there relevance to the story and that I had many unanswered questions by the time I was able to finish the novel: Did Ned really have a twin brother named Robert? Who or what exactly is Mr. X? Why do Ned's relatives go through the trouble of trying to hide the past from him? I am seriously considering re-reading the novel at some point, although I'm not sure whether that would actually help me gain the answers to all the questions I have. Despite this, the novel is still worth reading because of the many surprises and secrets revealed in the plot that the reader will uncover by making it through the entire novel.
• 
  Ashley Johnson

  So far so good lol. I dont actually know whats going on at this point, but then I rarely do with Peter Straub until about midway through when all the pieces come together.
• 
  Joanna

  ⭐️3.5
  
  I nadszedł ten dzień, kiedy z żalem muszę stwierdzić, że Peter Straub mnie rozczarował. A myślałam, że to nigdy nie nastąpi, gdyż dotychczas Straub był dla mnie autorem-pewniakiem - każda jego powieść, po którą sięgałam bezbrzeżnie mnie zachwycała. Tak było aż do teraz.
  
  Mr. X jak i inne książki autora trudno zakwalifikować do jednego konkretnego gatunku - po części jest to horror, po części kryminał, z bogato rozbudowaną warstwą obyczajową. Sam początek kompletnie nie zwiastował późniejszego zawodu - było wręcz odwrotnie, gdyż pierwsze rozdziały były na tyle intrygujące, że spodziewałam się, że właśnie trzymam w rękach arcydzieło grozy na miarę Floating Dragon. To nie jest tak, że od pewnego momentu z każdym kolejną stroną robiło się coraz gorzej - bo Mr. X miał sporo prześwietnych fragmentów, które czytałam z wypiekami na twarzy i siłą trzeba by mi wyrywać z tę książkę, aby mnie od niej oderwać. Lekturę Mr. X przyrównałabym do sinusoidy - wyborne fragmenty przeplatały się z potwornie nużącymi i nieciekawymi, gdzie kilkanaście stron męczyłam przez parę godzin. To w sumie strasznie przegadana książka - przy ponad 600-stronach jest to tym bardziej odczuwalne. Pomimo, że napisana świetnym językiem, to przez niepotrzebne dłużyzny przez powieść się nie płynie, a lektura bardziej przypomina mozolne sunięcie przez gęstą bagnistą rzekę. Za dużo tu różnych postaci - powiązanych i skoligaconych ze sobą na tak wymyślne sposoby, że przy dziele Strauba Moda na Sukces wypada blado. Ci wszyscy bohaterowie przez całą lekturę strasznie się mylą i mieszają, bo mimo, że głównych jest teoretycznie trzech - to w praktyce każdy z kilkudziesięciu mieszkańców miasteczka dostaje swój mniej lub bardziej rozbudowany wątek. Bez wracania się parę rozdziałów wstecz bądź dodatkowej kartki z listą postaci nie da rady. W drugiej połowie powieści robi się trochę łatwiej, bo po kolei jedna za drugą znaczna część postaci odchodzi z tego świata. Na ostatnie kilkanaście rozdziałów Straub zostawił najlepsze - czyli jawne odwołania do Lovecrafta. Od pewnego momentu Mr. X zamienia się w hołd dla Samotnika z Providence i niemal na każdej stronie daje się wyłapać jakieś nawiązania do prozy mistrza klasyki grozy. Wspaniale, z dużą frajdą i bijącym mocniej sercem czyta się te fragmenty.
  
  Mam spory problem z jednoznaczną oceną tej powieści. Bo jak na Strauba przystało styl i język są pierwszorzędne, w fabule sporo jest świetnych pomysłów i intrygujących złożonych postaci, z którymi można się zżyć przez te ponad pięćset stron. Jednak przez niepotrzebne przegadanie, rozwlekanie niektórych scen na kilkadziesiąt stron momentami miałam ochotę rzucić książka o ścianę i już do niej nie wracać. Tak, jestem rozczarowana, bo liczyłam na kolejną genialną powieść od Strauba - na miarę Koko, The Throat czy wspomnianego już Floating Dragon. Naprawdę nie wiem jak sprawiedliwie ocenić tę książkę - przeciętna byłoby zdecydowanie krzywdzące, bardzo dobra to zbyt wysoko, dobra to za nisko. Czasem słońce, czasem deszcz - a moja relacja z Mr. X to czasem miłość, czasem no jednak nie. Może właśnie samo to ile sprzecznych emocji wywołuje we mnie ta powieść wskazuje, że miałam do czynienia z dziełem, które w przyszłości w pewnych kręgach będzie określane mianem "kultowego"? Na dzień dzisiejszy oceniam jako dobrą plus, ale jestem niemal stuprocentowo pewna, że Mr. X - jak i Floating Dragon - z czasem będzie mi się coraz bardziej podobać. Na pewno tak szybko i łatwo o niej nie zapomnę.
• 
  Clait

  Not nearly as satisfying as the Lovecraft stories it tries to embody. A cool premise, characters with telekinetic powers, time travel, and an obsession with H.P. Lovecraft cannot save this novel from being nearly indecipherable. I've found this book on several internet lists of "difficult reads" -- that, I believe, is something of an understatement.
  
  This novel is complex, convoluted, fast-moving, and just plain strange. It takes an enormous amount of concentration and analysis to follow the plot from scene to scene. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind working for a good story, but the payoff just wasn't enough for me.
  
  The main character is interesting but consistently fails to be likable, as does his love interest. Far too much of the story revolves around them while far too little is devoted to the fascinating Mr. X.
• 
  Clem

  ....thinking the stuff is heavy to bear and to write down the story still more sucking it is a prelaude to the author to have accomplished his task leaving the readers public the choice between the unknown shadows of the backyard alley or the 'between-the-curtains-eye' by the tiny invisisble 'spot-with-the-little tissue-piece'. Might be both the possiblities open a scenery, the suspense quickly closes them to take us with to the dangers of mr. X'...his life, his weaknesses, his likes....and we end-up in the woods of the dark trees and the pines, to slid into the open space givin'us the wink to enter in at the end: the rocky cliffs of phantasy life....
  
  entertainment at its best
• 
  Rebekah Mann

  This has taken me so long to get through. I feel like I was just plowing through page after page without really registering what I was reading. It's a very complicated family history and the way the layers are sllllooooowly peeled back makes you feel like you have to keep going back and rereading just to figure out what's going on. The most endearing characters are killed off and the more annoying leeching ones stick through to the end. I think. I don't know because hit the "climax" and still had a 100 pages of resolution and I couldn't do it anymore. I was just over it. It didn't feel thrilling or scary at all, just boring.
• 
  Nicolaas

  I was keen to read Straub because he co-wrote The Talisman with Stephen King, a big favourite of mine. My copy of Mr.X also had an endorsement from King on the cover. Sadly I felt no connection with Straub's writing and had a hard time getting into the book.
• 
  Ellie Rodriguez

  This book is a slow beginning. Some of the back and forth a little confusing but if you stick to it it picks up with a bang! Good so far.
  I finished the book and it confused me greatly. Still a good read I liked it but not as much as some of his other novels.
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  Derrick

  This was the first book I've ever read by Peter Straub. I really enjoyed it. Slightly confusing at first but after the first 30ish pages things started to clear up for me. I liked the strangeness of it all. I'm looking forward to whatever my next Peter Straub read will be.
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  Kevin Lucia

  Once again, a book that makes me think: "I'll never write as fine as this..."
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  Shahar

  3.6