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The Night House by Jo Nesbø

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I debated the rating. It's 3.5 for me but I rounded down for some of the things in it like the whole thing with Fatso (especially after Jack said to stop calling him that.) This whole thing is deeply weird horror. It felt out of time and space, vaguely 1980s-1990s and maybe American? Who knows, I think that was part of the whole idea of this, slipping it right into the uncanny valley. It's a novel in three parts and most of my review will be of part one which is about two thirds of the book.

Richard is a young man in trouble. He lost his parents in a fire and is staying with Jack and Jenny (relatives) and his coping mechanism is to be a jerk and bully to the outcast class at school (of which he's part). Jack (i.e. Fatso) is obviously a gay young man unaware that he is gay at that point. Tom is also on the outside looking in and then there's Karen, the love interest, the one Richard can be open with who could be on the cool kid side of things but talks to everyone.

One day Richard and Tom are out when they see a phone booth and find the name Imu Jonasson in it and decide to prank call him. The phone then 'eats' Tom, sucking him into the receiver. Needless to say that the local sheriff ain't buying that. The only one who believes Richard is Karen.

When Jack accompanies Richard to the titular Night House after Imu, more weirdness happens and things go from bad to worse and Agent Dale is brought in as the sheriff believes Richard has killed his two friends. Richard, for his part, without much spoilers here, learns more about who Imu was and what type of evil he was. I will say there is some very clever stuff in this and honestly I might have four starred this if it had been a novella and ended with part one.

Because part two and three are really iffy for me and there isn't really a way to review them without spoiling it. Let me leave it as part two is an acid trip and part three is exactly where I expected it to end after part two which is kind of meh.

I mostly liked Richard. He is not perfect (with the hitting on the fat phobia a lot and how he treats others and he does seem a bit self aware for a teen, not that they can't be mind you). Richard did feel real and its understandable why he pushes people away once you get his full backstory. I don't know maybe if I had read this in a different head space I might have gone four stars. We know Nesbo is a very good author. I do think it was worth the read.



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