The night house

Title:

The night house

Author:

Nesbo, Jo, 1960- author.

Summary:

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. Richard quickly earns a reputation as an outcast, and when a classmate named Tom goes missing, everyone suspects the new, angry boy is responsible for his disappearance. No one believes him when he says the telephone booth out by the edge of the woods sucked Tom into the receiver like something out of a horror movie. No one, that is, except Karen, a beguiling fellow outsider who encourages Richard to pursue clues the police refuse to investigate. He traces the number that Tom prank-called from the phone booth to an abandoned house in the Mirror Forest. There he catches a glimpse of a terrifying face in the window. And then the voices begin to whisper in his ear . . . She’s going to burn. The girl you love is going to burn. There’s nothing you can do about it. When another classmate disappears, Richard must find a way to prove his innocence—and preserve his sanity—as he grapples with the dark magic that is possessing Ballantyne and pursuing his destruction. Then again, Richard may not be the most reliable narrator of his own story . . . -- Amazon.

General Note:

Originally published in Norway as Natthuset by H. Aschehoug & Co, Oslo, in 2023. This translation originally published in hardcover by Harvill Secker, an imprint of Vintage, a division of Penguin Random House Ltd., London in 2023.

"When the voices call, don't answer." -- Cover.

Edition:

First United States edition.

Physical Description:

245 pages ; 22 cm

Genre:

Horror fiction.

Paranormal fiction.

Subject Term:

Orphans -- Fiction.

Teenage boys -- Fiction.

Missing persons -- Fiction.

Telephone booths -- Fiction.

Police -- Fiction.

Friendship -- Fiction.

Haunted houses -- Fiction.

Reformatories -- Fiction.

Author(s):

Smith, Neil (Neil Andrew),

Publisher:

Alfred A. Knopf,

Publication Date:

2023

ISBN:

9780593537169

Publication Information:

New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 2023.

Call Number:

NESBO

Holds: Copies:

Available:*

Item Barcode	Collection	Call Number	Status	Item Holds
33607003677351	New Adult Fiction	NESBO Jo	Searching... Unknown	Searching... Unavailable

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Summary

From the internationally best-selling author, a chilling fresh spin on the classic horror novel * When the voices call, don't answer.

"In The Night House , the horror begins immediately. And it only keeps calling from there."--Josh Malerman, New York Times best-selling author of Bird Box and Spin a Black Yarn

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. Richard quickly earns a reputation as an outcast, and when a classmate named Tom goes missing, everyone suspects the new, angry boy is responsible for his disappearance. No one believes him when he says the telephone booth out by the edge of the woods sucked Tom into the receiver like something out of a horror movie. No one, that is, except Karen, a beguiling fellow outsider who encourages Richard to pursue clues the police refuse to investigate. He traces the number that Tom prank-called from the phone booth to an abandoned house in the Mirror Forest. There he catches a glimpse of a terrifying face in the window. And then the voices begin to whisper in his ear . . .

She's going to burn. The girl you love is going to burn. There's nothing you can do about it.

When another classmate disappears, Richard must find a way to prove his innocence--and preserve his sanity--as he grapples with the dark magic that is possessing Ballantyne and pursuing his destruction.

Then again, Richard may not be the most reliable narrator of his own story . . .

Author Notes

JO NESBØ is a #1 New York Times best-selling author whose books have sold fifty-five million copies worldwide and have been translated into fifty languages. His Harry Hole novels include The Redeemer, The Snowman, The Leopard, Phantom, Knife, and Killing Moon. His other books include The Son, Headhunters, Macbeth, and The Kingdom . He is a recipient of the Raymond Chandler Award for Lifetime Achievement. He lives in Oslo.

NEIL SMITH is a translator from Norwegian and Swedish based in Norfolk, UK. His translations include books by Jo Nesbø, Fredrik Backman, Leif G. W. Persson, Liza Marklund, Anders de la Motte, Arne Dahl and Kristina Ohlsson. His translation of Leif G. W. Persson's The Dying Detective was awarded the CWA International Dagger for best translated crime novel.

Reviews (2)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Bestselling crime writer Nesbø takes a break from his Harry Hole detective series with this wild and ambitious but not entirely successful three-part horror opus. The first and longest section is narrated by Richard Elauved, a rambunctious 14-year-old orphan who delights in playing pranks and manipulating gullible school chums in the small town of Ballantyne. After two friends disappear in his presence under horrifying and otherworldly circumstances, Richard fails to convince incredulous authorities that the supernatural was involved. Instead, he's whisked away to the Rorrim Correctional Facility for Young People. After the distinct and intentional YA vibe of this opening, Nesbø pulls the rug out from under the reader in the novel's second section, skewing the tale in a different direction that sheds light on possible sources for some of the earlier horrors even as it serves up new ones. Then, Nesbø does it again in a third section whose rationalizations for all of the preceding weirdness are disappointingly anticlimactic. Nesbø shows a sure hand at crafting moments of terror, but only his most devoted readers won't cock an eyebrow at the bait-and-switch plotting. Despite some memorable individual scares, horror aficionados are likely to grow frustrated with this. (Oct.)

Library Journal Review

In mystery writer Nesbø's (Killing Moon) first foray into horror, 14-year-old Richard Elauved, sent to live with his aunt and uncle after his parents' deaths, feels trapped in sleepy, rural Ballantyne. He quickly earns a reputation as the angry city kid who lashes out at the slightest provocation. When a classmate goes missing, all eyes are on Richard, who was the last person to see him alive. What Richard can't get anyone to believe is that Tom was sucked into the receiver while making a prank call in a telephone booth on the edge of the woods. After another classmate disappears, Richard discovers a house in the forest that holds a dark past. With help from his friend Karen and the local librarian, Richard must prove his innocence--though he may not be as reliable a narrator as he seems. VERDICT Nesbø deftly guides readers on a journey much larger than many will expect from the slim volume. Reminiscent of Joe Meno's The Boy Detective Fails, initial expectations of genre, setting, and mood are subverted as a simple horror novel unfolds into a story that encompasses grief, mid-life crises, and more. Give this one to fans of Grady Hendrix or adults nostalgic for the "Goosebumps" series.--Portia Kapraun