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Mr X
 
 
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Mr X (Mass Market Paperback)

by Peter Straub (Author)
3.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Mass Market Paperback: 544 pages
  • Publisher: Ballantine; 1st Ballantine Books Ed edition (Jul 2000)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0449149900
  • ISBN-13: 978-0449149904
  • Product Dimensions: 17 x 10.4 x 3.6 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 2,004,357 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #64 in  Books > Horror > Authors > Contemporary Authors > Straub, Peter

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Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review
Ned Dunstan's shadow has always been up-front:"You won't even be able to go out by yourself at night for another six or seven years. When do we have our first cigarette? Our first drink? When do we get to have actual sex?...I want darkness, I want night". "Without me, you can't get them at all", replies Ned. Coming home years later Ned begins to uncover the strange history of Edgerton, and the even stranger secrets of his bizarre family. Meanwhile Mr X, bad novelist, crimelord, seducer, serial-killer, self-appointed harbinger of the apocalypse of HP Lovecraft's The Dunwich Horror, plans one very special murder before bringing the Cuthulu mythos to earth. Witty, shocking, beautifully written and completely absorbing, Mr X is an intricately plotted puzzle-box of sex, death, music, teleportation, and eccentric aunts.

With a large red X on the jet black cover the marketing department are targeting X Files fans and Peter Straub's book is certainly inventively weird enough to appeal to followers of foxy scullyduggery; the author penned such modern horror classics as Ghost Story and Shadowland while the FBI duo were still in grade school. There is a subtle homage to Stephen King's The Dark Half--the two writers collaborated on The Talisman--while aficionados of Christopher Priest's ingenious contortions of reality, particularly The Prestige, will be intrigued by this mystery. If you are looking for page-turning horror novel that's not afraid to have some post-modern fun stretching its genre to the limits, vote for Mr X. --Gary S. Dalkin --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Synopsis
During the week that culminates in his thirty-fifth birthday, Ned Dunstan experiences a series of extraordinary events that exposes the long-hidden secret of his identity and his family's true nature.

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Customer Reviews

8 Reviews
5 star:
 (2)
4 star:
 (1)
3 star:
 (3)
2 star:
 (1)
1 star:
 (1)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.2 out of 5 stars (8 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars Doesn't live up to its promise, 29 Sep 2003
By S. Mazumder "s_maz" - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Mr. X (Paperback)
Reading the synopsis to this book, you get very excited and await a chilling horror story. It even helps that the author is endorsed by none other than his writing colleague, Stephen King. It starts off strongly, and there is a kind of eerie unease about the novel and its enigma, Mr. X. But as the plot develops, it turns into more of a detective novel with a science fiction twist than a horror story. The storyline becomes a little convoluted and confusing. The idea of the Mr. X, which I won't mention as it will spoil the book, is an original one which does have some interest, but at the end of it, it's probably not worth the effort. Once you finish the book, you'll have wished you had chosen something else instead.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A triumphant return to the super-natural. Straub is king., 25 Sep 2000
Peter Straub has had me hooked since I first read Ghost Story in 1979. Since then he has moved seamlessly from horror to paranormal crime, to straight crime and now what goes around has finally come back around - a supernatural tale.

Mr X is vintage Straub; characters so artfully constructed that you can feel their emotions; locations so graphically depicted you can not only SEE them, but actually SENSE their dark mood. The central character, enigmatic Ned Dunstan, who has a more than mysterious past, feels drawn back to his mother's home town. Here he becomes caught up in plots and sub-plots with various shadowy parties all with their own very hidden agenda. Lurking behind the entire story is a strange and increasingly imminent supernatural menace.

As always Straub occassionally gives his hapless reader a few small pices of the jigsaw, but doesn't show you the picture of what it should look like until the very end - leaving you breathless and with more nagging questions than the answers he has given you - "what if...", "how about...","why did...".

Mr X is a hugely welcome return by Straub to the supernatural genre and is a terrific read. If you liked Ghost Story, Shadowland and Floating Dragon - you'll LOVE this.

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3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars AVOID!, 26 Jul 2002
By A Customer
This review is from: Mr. X (Paperback)
I did not enjoy a single bit of this book. It's really REALLY bad!
The characters are flawed, unbelievable and annoying. Especially the young boy who has to be THE most annoying and pointless character in any book ever!

This book flops around and ends in a "cryptic" question which I suppose was supposed to leave me thinking "oooooooh thats freaky!?" Where as it left me feeling that I shouldnt even put it in the bookcase with my other books for fear that its awfulness might be contagious.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Multiple confusion horror,crime or fantasy ?
Peter Straub remains the closest you get to Stephen King, however Straub does excell in an edge for an eerier atmoshere ! Mr X has a creepy dark element througout. Read more
Published 5 months ago by R. Pieters

3.0 out of 5 stars Worth a look

This book is many things, part labyrinthian murder mystery,part horror story which evokes the ghost of H. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Mark P

4.0 out of 5 stars for people who like a good read
This is the first novel by Straub I have read. It will not be the last. If you like your horror understated and compelling, and enjoy good writing and a well-crafted plot, this is... Read more
Published on 10 Mar 2001

3.0 out of 5 stars Books and Family: Tree shoots straight north
Peter Straub's book had great potential for a truly disturbing take on the paranormal and infrastructure of family. Set in Edgerton, Ill. Read more
Published on 7 Feb 2001

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant!
This is the first novel by Straub I have read. It will not be the last. If you like your horror understated and compelling, and enjoy good writing and a well-crafted plot, this is... Read more
Published on 3 Sep 2000

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