Was excited to receive my early copy of The Night House by Jo Nesbo and it’s my first book my him although I’ve wanted to read his crime fiction forever.

The Night House is not that. It’s horror. It’s old school horror.

It’s REAL old school horror. And I loved it.

This was perfect as a pre cursor to spooky season and it was super clever too.

You get three parts here and each part is a twisty revelation! I don’t want to ruin it so just read this one. Fun, spooky and brilliant too.

Think: Shutter Island as a horror flick! I’m so glad I devoured this one! Such a great read.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨

I devoured this book, what an amazing and chilling thrill ride. Expertly written, and graphic scenes. Loved every part.

I usually like anything written by Jo Nesbo, especially the Harry Hole books. but this short story was start and stop all the way through. I get that there was some trauma in Richard's life. loved the idea that a phone booth telephone could consume a person and that a person could be transformed into a bug. but the rest was just hard to follow.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for providing me with an advanced reader copy.

As a lover of anything spooky, the cover of Jo Nesbo’s latest book pulled me right in. And Part One of the story left me with so many questions that just needed to be answered; so I stayed.

The Night House tells the story of young Richard, a recently orphaned 14 year old city boy, who has moved to the middle of nowhere with his foster family. The rural town makes the perfect conditions for mayhem to ensue. And it does when one of the towns children goes missing. With the bad reputation Richard has built himself, he is the prime suspect in this tight knit community's missing persons case.

This book was the true definition of a page turner. I blew through it. As a reader I was trying to make sense of this mystery, I just HAD to know how it ended. I definitely recommend this one. Some may find it a slow burn if you aren’t used to reading suspense but the ending is worth it.

This review is for an ARC copy received from the publisher through NetGalley! This review is all my own thoughts and opinions!

Anyone else absolutely ready for spooky season!?

This book is set in three parts and I saw closer to the edge of my chair by the end of each one. The writing style reads like a cross between the recent ‘IT’ movies and The Twilight Zone – it felt very classic-cult-horror-movie type of nostalgic and balanced, with a youthful disregard for consequences. The main character, Richard, is set in three different but woven timelines, blurring the lines between reality, fiction, and nightmare. All of the side characters appear in each timeline, but not everything seems to line up (on purpose). I enjoyed Nesbo’s descriptions, very detailed but not overdone. Not overly gory, reads more like a thriller. A couple of content warnings in this one, including bullying, verbal abuse, traumatic memories, mentions of possible $exual a$$ault, and homicide/suicide. The length of the book was a total sell for me, less than 200 pages and each page felt necessary, no fluff. Overall, I really enjoyed this book – I ate it up in two days (only because I had to work and sleep). Super big fan of this one and would pick up another Jo Nesbo book because of it. Would love to give this 4.5 out of 5 stars.

My first Jo Nesbo book and I loved it! The story in three parts folded and unfolded on itself brilliantly. I loved the spooky supernatural vibe and the ultimate revelation. Thoroughly enjoyable! Many thanks to Netgalley for access to the uncorrected arc in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Net Galley for the free ARC. Interesting to See Nesbo write a horror story after all the detective stuff. I liked the effort!

This started with a classic horror element (reminded me of Stephen King), which quickly turned into a suspense plot that I needed to know what came next. The book has three different parts and each had an unexpected turn of events that tickled my curiosity. I would recommend this to anyone who is looking for a horror read that is not just a series of unexplained paranormal events.

This was my first book by this author. I liked the atmosphere, but the overall story arc and ending were not exactly what I was expecting. I thought it was good and creepy at times I especially love the cover. Pretty good read, especially for fall or spooky season.

Richard Elauved, a 14-year-old orphan,moves to Ballantyne to live with his aunt and uncle after a house fire kills his parents. He is unlikeable and an outcast in this small town.. When two boys go missing after being last seen with Richard, the local sheriff calls in the FBI. He finally makes a connection with a smart classmate, Karen, who seems to like him despite everyone else’s issues with him. The pace of The Night House is quick with lots of psychological clues. It has elements of horror but is never too scary or gory. The story is divided into three parts and each part left me wanting more information and wondering how much was real. Jo Nesbo Is one of my favorite authors and is the best-selling author of the Harry Hole detective series. This newest of his books moves his writing into the horror genre with its focus on the unreliable narrator, the spooky old house and the trauma that affects Richard’s life-night and day.. Readers of Stephen King and Dennis LeHane are likely to enjoy Jo Nesbo’s new book The Night House available on October 3, 2023, and published by Knopf.
My sincere thanks to NetGalley and Knopf for opportunity to to read and review this eARC. #The Night House, #Jo Nesbo, #NetGalley #Knopf

💌 ARC FROM NETGALLEY

This was my first Jo Nesbø novel, and likely my last.

I didn't care for the writing style to begin with, and though Part One of the novel felt promising in terms of horror/scares, I quickly lost interest in the subsequent parts of the book, and by the time I finished reading, I was just happy for it to be over.

SPOILERS BELOW

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The Night House falls into a horror trope that I really hate, which is that all of the "horror" of the story took place in the mind of someone that has been institutionalized for mental illness - in this novel's case, schizophrenia and PTSD. It just feels like we should be able to move past this trope ... and also past authors of horror novels having such weird, negative obsessions about weight. It adds nothing to the story when your whole big twist is that it was all in someone's imagination, anyway, but beyond that I can practically feel my eyes glaze over during those parts because they're so uninteresting. This topic is not as titillating as authors seem to think it is.

This was the first Nesbit book I’ve ever read- it was a very fast read and I couldn’t put it down! The first part was a wild, 80s kind of nostalgia, scary story, the second part got really absurd and gross and confusing, the ending surprised me- I didn’t see it coming! Thanks NetGalley!

I'd like to thank the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me a chance at reading this book.

This is my first and probably last Jo Nesbo book. I was all for telephones sucking people through their hand-held speaker and a 14 year old boy and girl trying to discover the truth... but my god, the blatant fat-shaming and hate for being queer coming out of this 14 year old's mouth and mind.

I think both groups get enough issues as it is, but we need to read it NOW and of all places in a horror book about telephones eating people.

Sir, the fuck and no.

I hope the phone eats this kid next. I gave up 20% through.

In the wake of his parents' tragic deaths in a house fire, fourteen-year-old Richard Elauved has been sent to live with his aunt and uncle in the remote, insular town of Ballantyne.

This was pretty mid. I didn't hate it but I wouldn't recommend it.

This title has been selected for coverage in Fangoria's October 2023 print edition. Please reach out to the reviewer directly for a PDF of the write-up (upon completion).

Jo Nesbo has ventured away from his typical mystery/detective stories by writing a gripping horror novel.

Fourteen year old Richard moves to his aunt and uncle’s house in the small town of Ballantyne after his parents are killed in a house fire. As the new kid in town and an outcast in school, Richard is blamed for the disappearance of his classmate Tom. Richard’s outlandish story about the disappearance is not believed by the police or his aunt and uncle. Since no one believes him, Tom and his new friend, Karen, decide to investigate for themselves as more eerie events develop.

I found the unreliable narrator to be confusing at first but the author wraps it up nicely at the end. Covering spooky elements like black magic and haunted houses, the tension builds and makes this book hard to put down. Fans of Steven King will love this quick and suspenseful read.

Thanks to Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage & Anchor and NetGalley for the advanced copy in return to my honest review.

The beginning was creepy. Atmospheric with the gothic house. Very strong. Midway through it began to lose me. The writing became weird and uninteresting. The ending is by far the worse.

📖: The Night House
⭐️: 3/5
⚠️: mental health disorders, death, house fire, cursing, bullying, psychotic episodes, cannibalism, general violence

THIS REVIEW HAS SPOILERS.

First off, I love naming the MMC Richard because he is, in fact, a dick. Secondly, this novel has aspects of horror, but it reads more like a psychological thriller. The whole story was made up under the premise the MMC has psychosis from PTSD. He takes aspects rom real life and weave them into his psychosis episodes. I feel if those episodes were more frequent and more detailed, it would elevate the horror aspect. I loved the descriptions of what episodes were included— a killer phone eating someone into another universe, a mob trying to kill/cannibalize the MMC as revenge for his misdeeds, hallucinating seeing a hung body. All of these are great horror references! I wish that was explored more. I also feel a certain type of way of the magic being referred to as “black word” or “white word”. It feels slightly juvenile. Maybe that was a way of showing the lack of maturity in the MMC. However, I feel the widely used “black/white magic” would have sufficed. Also, found it strange that certain characters deemed Metamorphosis and LOTF to be “hard reads, even for adults”. Both of those books are read by many middle schoolers. Overall, this is a good read for anyone wanting to dip their toe into the horror genre. A good beginners book for horror.

Oh, man... this was trippy! 4.25 stars.

This is a classic multi-layered horror novel, getting scarier the further you read, and the closer you get to the truth.

Because is there anything more terrifying than the truth?

No spoilers, but a note on the writing style. Just stick with it! What it took for poor translation early on (sorry I doubted you, Neil) was actually a masterful stroke that helps you progress thru the story. That being said, it nearly made me give up on it.

My perseverance was rewarded, as Nesbø comes thru with a deeply unsettling horror debut.

My thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A reader can pick up almost any novel by Jo Nesbo and feel confident that the story is worth the investment of time, thought, and money. The Night House is a prime example of expecting a detective/mystery noir for which he is most famous and realizing quickly that the novel is also a terrifying tale of age-old black magic targeting young teenagers. Nesbo uses several tropes to heighten the suspense: mirrors and self, word magic, palindromes, cryptic names and references, and best of all, the haunted house. A few of the themes are the nature of reality, friendship and love, heroic quest, can imagination be an indicator of mental illness, what and how does PTSD affect teenagers.
The narrator, Richard, is 14-15 at the start of the novel. He self-describes as a loner and a bully who has recently moved in with foster parents after his parents died in a fire. He harasses a fellow school mate, Tom, to follow him into the woods where he convinces Tom to make a prank phone call to a name seemingly pulled at random from a phone book. The prank turns tragic when the phone eats Tom. As Richard tries to explain truthfully what happened to Tom, how he disappeared, he becomes aware that the evil is increasing in intensity. And that, dear reader, is just the first 20 pages or so.
Initially I thought this was an extremely well-crafted YA novel disguised as adult fiction. Chronology and devices were sometimes implausible however that fit in with YA imagination. Nesbo carefully constructs a slow build of Richard's teen world view that I was totally unprepared for the intense build of part 2. Boy Howdy, this is not a YA novel. It is definitely one of the best novels I've read this year.
Thank you NetGalley for the advance proof.