I have no idea where to start with this book, other than to say it was a bit of a mind-mess, and more than a little twisted. As you can guess, I liked it.

The story follows Richard, a teen with a troubled past who has been adopted by his aunt and uncle, and is living in a small town. And he hates it. After a dare goes horribly wrong, the whole town begins to look at him as if he has killed a fellow student. And it is down to Richard to prove what really happened, though no one believes him as his life begins to unravel. And this is only the start of the strangeness!

The concept of this book was great, I loved the three parts and how they linked together. The writing flowed smoothly, with no pretentious language choices. Nesbo has successfully created a creepy book with an unnerving atmosphere.

i normally love Jo Nesbo books and chose this because it sounded so different, not usually a fan of horror stories I found this difficult to actually put into any category. Richard is sent to his aunt and uncle after the tragic deaths of his parent but that's when the trouble starts. Nothing & nobody seem to be what they say they are. Having three parts to the book only added confusion as it didn't seem to know where it was going and when/how to end.

It was a treat having a Harry Hole chapter at the end.......

Nesbo's take on the classic youngster in a new setting horror tale. When 14 year old Richard is sent to live with his aunt and uncle he has a hard time of it. A local boy goes missing when they are out one evening and people are struggling with Richard's explanation. That being that the boy was eaten by the public telephone kiosk. With strange goings on he will need to investigate and prove the cause of the mysteries in ballantyne and what has happened to the young people who go missing. Good old school horror read from the author of the Harry Hole series

I wasn’t expecting a horror story from this author, I would not usually read that genre. In fact, when I realised I was about to stop reading, except that it had me hooked by then due to the excellent writing, and intrigued as to where it was going. Glad I stuck with it because the twists and turns kept me with it, and the final twist left me surprised but satisfied.

I love this book - from the kookie old style horror cover to the absolute nonsense of the story!

It was super easy to get into and I was quickly invested in this odd tale. It is the perfect winter read and if you can give yourself over to the story and not worry ever so much about what is physically possible - then you will love it too!

Proper gory old style horror and I loved it.

Hats off to the author for diversity too - I can't quite believe this is the same person who wrote the Detective Harry Hole books!

Wow! This book took me on quite the journey. Tom is a typical boy mischievous and making his own entertainment. His life starts to take a strange path when things starts happening that makes no sense. I highly recommend this to anyone who like horror and thrillers.

Ooh, I did not realise this was a horror story as Jo Nesbo usually writes crime stories. The first shocking part caught me off guard!, but I was hooked. It had many facets and was a thoroughly good, if different read

Jo Nesbo is the famous author behind the brilliant Harry Hole crime books which I have enjoyed reading, so when his new book came out, it was a totally different book and gene, I did not know what to expect.
It was a very dark and intriguing horror story and I was It pleasantly surprise that I enjoyed it. Especially as it was a quick read and great for a holiday read or for your day off kind of book.......

I recommend this book and the way Jo writes.

Big thank you to netgalley and Random house UK.and the author Jo Nesbo for an early copy of his book.

For a shorter book of 250-ish pages, The Night House was one hell of a jigsaw of a book. One, I think that will be quite a marmite read.

I enjoyed it and thought the atmosphere and horror elements worked well. Split into three parts, the first part is definitely the more detailed and vivid of them all. Whilst the later two parts did answer some questions and tie things together, I did feel that things were a little messy at times and could have been sewn together a bit neater.

It was a good read, especially for Halloween, when I had originally intended on reading it.

I’m a big fan of Jo Nesbo’s Harry Hole detective series and was looking forward to reading this departure from his usual genre. However, for me this is an experiment which should end now. I thought the writing style was unrecognisable, although I suppose that may be down to the translation, and the story was a bit pedestrian particularly at the start.
It did sharpen up a bit in part two and managed to keep my interest until the end.

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.
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.

The Night House is one of those books which I finished, and then thought to myself 'what on earth have I just read?!' The book is in three parts, and with each one my brain went into overdrive, trying to work out what was going on.

This book is for you if you enjoy horror, unreliable narrators and suspended reality. It's not my usual genre, but it was well written and I enjoyed it.

My thanks to NetGalley and the Publishers for sending me this ARC in return for an honest review.

Nope this one really was not for me. As someone else said it was a mess of a book. to be fair, I am not a fan of horror but thought I would give this a go because of the author.

Did not like the writing at all and it as boring, for me.

Thanks, I guess, toNetgallery for the ARC

"You know who I am. She's going to burn. The one you love is going to burn. There's not a thing you can do about it."

Richard Elauved is a bully and an outcast at his high school in the small town of Ballantyne. So when he witnesses a classmate, Tom, being swallowed up by a telephone receiver in a phone box during a prank call, no one believes him.

Encouraged by the only person in his class who'll speak to him – the lovely Karen – Richard finds out that the number Tom called during the prank belongs to a scary mansion that's been abandoned. Until Richard goes there and sees a face looking out of the window.

Then, when a second boy goes missing, the FBI is called in. They think Richard had harmed the boys and he's sent to a correctional facility for youths. There, he is shocked to learn that the person he saw in the window, was once a resident at the facility. Now it's up to Richard and Karen to figure out what the hell is going on in Ballantyne before both fall prey to something dark and evil. The question is: what is the truth and what is just the imagination of a scared teen?

I'm a massive fan of Jo Nesbo's thrillers so I was curious about his foray into horror. I'll be honest, aside from Stephen King, I generally steer clear, with the odd exception here and there. 'The Night House' is a body horror that has the main character and reader questioning their grip on reality, and that is well executed. However, I kind of felt like I was just thrown from one piece of action to the next. I often like a book that's fast-paced, but I felt like there wasn't a lot of exposition about some of the characters' motivations until much later in the book and even then I questioned whether they were realistic (yes, I know it's horror).

It was my one and only spooky October read and I felt a little let down. At no point was I scared (body horror usually just grosses me out a bit), so perhaps I should have chosen something else. At the same time, the book is not awful – I did derive some entertainment from it but I was hoping for more from one of my favourite authors.

Wow well this is definitely no harry Hole book and a complete departure from what I have read by this author before but I loved it. This feels like an 80s horror film which are my favourite with a mind bending story that had me second guessing myself on every page. Loved it!

Definitely not a Harry Hole novel, this stand-alone horror story will keep you guessing until the end.

Cleverly constructed in 3 parts, The Night House shifts perspective, making us question reality and what we know, time and again, until we’re not sure which way is up. The constant is Richard, our narrator, through whom we gradually learn of the trauma that began the whole story.

A great read for Halloween!

With thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for an arc of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

This is a horror story that has you on the edge of your seat reading and wanting more... One of my favourite authors it is exactly what i expected a delight to read.
I burned this book in one day and enjoyed every squeamish, gory detail of it.. Yes, it has young adults in the storyline but the horror is definitely for oldies as well.
My five stars are for the entertainment the book gave me and for the writing of this book to Jo Nesbo

In this standalone novel by the wonderful Jo Nesbø, we meet teenager Richard Elauved shortly after the death of his parents. A loner in a new town, things go from bad to worse for Richard as a prank call results in his new friend being devoured by a telephone booth…

When another new acquaintance goes missing, Richard is suspected of telling tall tales to hide the truth of what has happened to the boys, with only one girl at school believing his version of events. Can he prove himself innocent and convince the town of what really happened before the dark forces in the town get him too?

This clever book is comprised of three separate parts, where we see Richard as a teenager, and then as an adult reminiscing on his childhood. There is so much atmosphere, and so many twists and turns, packed into this relatively short novel that I never knew what to expect next. I was kept guessing right up until the end, and each reveal was as satisfying as it was unsettling. This is not like anything I’ve read from the author before, but it was a well-written, spooky ready – perfect for the Halloween season.

My thanks to the author, NetGalley, and the publisher for the arc to review.

I LOVED the first part of this book, I got sucked in (hehe) and thoroughly enjoyed all of it. It was giving me similar vibes to IT and December Park and genuinely loving every minute. Then I started on the second part and all of a sudden the story felt disjointed and I found myself thinking WTF an awful lot. The third part comes in and I'm like oh, ok. All throughout reading part three I'm thinking this is like Breaking Dawn part 2 (film not book). So by the end I am a bit disappointed because the story just fell flat. But that being said I am intrigued by Jo Nesbø's other books.

I received an ARC of this book via netgalley. Divided into three sections the book takes the same events and spins them in different ways - or does it? A haunted house, a school bully or a boy with PTSD - or a bit of each.

I enjoyed the first part of the book where the initial horror story develops. I am not sure that the later spins of the sttory actually add to or detract from that first recounting.

I have read other books by this author but I am not sure if this one appeals to me in the same way

This was not the usual Jo Nesbo’s book, it's a very dark and intriguing horror story. It was a pleasant surprise to see this author's fantastic writing in a completely different type of story.
Thanks to NetGalley, the editor and the author for the opportunity to access this copy.