My Rating: ★★★½☆

Author: Chris Bohjalian

Narrator: Alison Fraser, Mark Bramhall

Length: 14 hrs and 7 mins

Publisher: Random House Audio

 

My Review: The first part of The Night Strangers really didn’t impress me very much. The writing was great and the whole plane crash was cool but other than that there just didn’t seem to be much originality. I couldn’t shake the feeling that The Night Strangers borrowed too heavily from the themes of several classic horror novels including The Shining and Amityville Horror. So I spent much of the first hour or so wondering how this horror novel mash up would come together and whether or not I would stick around long enough to find out.

Luckily Chris Bohjalian quickly integrates these themes into a tight little novel that really grabbed hold of me and held my attention all the way to a very satisfying ending. Chris manages to keep the reader/listener just out on the fringe of understanding until the very end. Even then there are some things that are left unsaid. This is an ending guaranteed to cause a lot of discussions/arguments at your book club.

Audio Production: Mark Bramhall was incredible as usual. Every Bramhall book that I have listened to has been taken to the next level by his narration. When I started listening to The Night Strangers I really didn’t understand why Mark just didn’t narrate the entire book. However, Alison Fraser really started to grow on me. She really seemed to shine during the sections featuring the twin girls.

Overall: Excellent narration on a book that will suck you into it’s realm of greenhouses, herbalists and an old Victorian home … even if you get the feeling that you have been there before.

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