I am a big Jo Nesbo fan. I'm also a big Stephen King fan and this story definitely had Mr King vibes. The main character sees his "friend" killed by an payphone and funnily enough the police don't believe him. The story progresses with eerie and scary twists that is reminiscent of a King book. This is definitely a horror and not a crime book but it does show the many talents Jo Nesbo. Ill be honest the main character Richard grated on me. His personality was grating on me but the story was brilliant enough for me to continue. Overall a good breakaway from the crime genre and perfect for a Halloween night

Jo Nesbo has to be one of their most famous authors, and I’ve been slowly picking up some of his books in the charity shops and recently watched Headhunters. This is the first book by him that I’ve read and it is the perfect read for this spooky season.

Young outcast Richard sees his friend eaten by a telephone. The police know the child is now missing but don’t believe Richard’s version of events. This makes for an interesting read as you’re never quite sure if Richard is really responsible for his friend being missing, if he is suffering from a mental illness or is actually telling the truth.

It was enjoyable to see how the story unfolds, and reminded me a bit of a Stephen King type novel. This has been a good start to my Norsk book reading and I’m looking forward to my next Nesbo.

My first experience of this renowned author but sadly not one that would have me rushing to get any more. A book in three parts with each part putting a totally different slant on the storyline. There are twists with each part.
Personally I feel this book is aimed more at young adults especially in the first two parts. It goes from horror to quite ridiculous to more interesting over a period of 15 years.
Thanks to Netgalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review

Just a little reminder to Harry Hole fans (I am one of them) if you DONT like horror thrillers THEN DO NOT read this book because it is NOT a Harry Hole Story, if you keep an open mind then be surprised this is rather good from Jo Nesbo. Twisty tale split into three parts that intertwine and give you a ahhh moment when you realise what's going on; its not all as it seems. Very quirky indeed and very surprising tale. Definitely recommended by those who keep and open mind. Mid length book that I read surprisingly quickly.
Thank you NetGalley, author & publisher for the opportunity to review an ARC, my views are my own.

A teenage boy is sent to live with foster parents in a remote forest area after his parents die in a fire. He is angry and had few friends and then his few friends start to disappear in surreal incidents. Jump to part two and the boy is now a successful author who attends a reunion of his old school mates which disintegrates into an unreal nightmare. Part three has a young man in a mental asylum where he has been for the last fifteen years since his parents died in a fire, his treatments have succeeded and he is nearly ready for discharge. He wonders what he do with his life and decides he wants to be a writer. He site down and begins to write the story of a teenager sent to live with stepparents.. Its brilliant, spooky and disturbing, like looking into a pair of mirrors facing each other. as far removed from Harry Hole as you could imagine.

This is a fantastic coming of age horror story about a teenage boy trying to deal with a terrible tragedy. Richard now lives with his aunt and uncle in a small town and he is having a very hard time adjusting to his new life. He has few friends and is quickly earning himself a reputation as a troublemaker and bully. Then Richard and a couple of would-be friends are involved in some strange and unbelievable events that seem to have an connection to an eerie old house out in the woods. But when Richard tries to explain what he believes has happened no one is prepared to believe his outlandish stories.

Early on in this book I got some very definite Goosebumps vibes, but this story quickly takes a dark turn into something more akin to Stephen King than R.L. Stine. A clever and engrossing story where things are perhaps not what they first appear to be. Highly recommended.

Well well well! What a hugely pleasant surprise it was reading The Night House!

This was split into three parts and each one will blow your mind more than the next. Twists? Turns? Yeah! Loads of them.
Thrilling and gripping, this has it all packed into less pages than you would imagine.

But.. its Jo Nesbo right? This mans talent is clearly endless. This new style was so intense i tore through this and cant wait to read anything he produces next.
Fabulous🌟 Riveting 🌟 Moreish 🌟Mind Bending!


Huge applause to Jo Nesbo for blessing us with his latest work. Many thanks to the Publishers and Netgalley for an ARC.
Publication Date 28/9/23
Review written 25/9/23

An engrossing horror book worthy of Stephen King. Reminded me of It. A fast paced read, ended abruptly but was worthy of the plot. Terrifying and heart stopping, a psychological thriller that packs a punch.

A hair-raising,spine-chilling read. Haunted house,an unearthly voice in the phone line,a community gathering to extract revenge,thus book has it all. Excellent

Absolutely love Jo Nesbo books but this one sadly fell short. There are some formatting issues. The book is written in three parts and the first part starts with a very graphic description of a child being eaten by a phone. The rest of the book is a lot tamer and the ending easy to guess.
Some awkward translations., I think I would have preferred it if the author had gone full on horror story rather than fitting it with the usual suspect of mental illness. Not a bad read but sadly not great either

How do you explain away your friend getting eaten by a telephone receiver?

Norwegian author Jo Nesbo is best known for his Harry Hole series of detective novels, which currently number thirteen books and have sold well over fifty million copies worldwide. Along the way he has written other standalone mystery novels and a series of comedy Middle Grade tales. The Night House is his first horror and the garish trashy cover recalls the genre in the eighties glory days, which this story mirrors in some ways.

It is always interesting to see authors mix it up and experiment with other genres, The Night House certainly had its moments, with the longest first section holding my attention, beyond that I suggest Nesbo sticks to crime fiction. How you rate this novel may well depend on how you react to the second section and the very short final part. Two was not bad, whilst the third may well be sold as a ‘twist’ but many readers will see it coming from a mile away. It was a damp squid cheat of a way to end a book which started with blood-soaked flair and some big questions which needed answering. It was also lifted straight out of very well-known thriller which had been turned into a highly successful film.

As I read the fascinating first part, which was a homage to horror of yesteryear, I had to double check I was not reading a YA novel. It felt identical to a teen tale, with an isolated and damaged fourteen-year-old-boy going through terrible personal problems after losing his parents. This was a 100% bog-standard storyline for a YA book. However, fair play to Jo Nesbo, there was a very good reason for this apparent teen style which becomes obvious in the second part of the story.

Considering The Night House was a brief 224 pages it needed a fast start and does not disappoint. The opening part was terrific all the way through with the plot having wild moments of bloody violence and incredulity stretched to the next level and beyond. In the wake of his parents' tragic deaths fourteen-year-old Richard Elauved has been sent to live with his aunt and uncle in the remote town of Ballantyne. He struggles to make friends except for an overweight fellow outsider boy called Tom and Karen, a girl he both chats with and is attracted to. This is one of these small towns where there is not much to do and as Tom is used to city life struggles to fill his time, quickly earning a reputation as an outcast who does not fit in.

The entire Night House is built around a single shocking incident when Richard and Tom are out fooling around, they dial a number in a countryside phone box (the story is probably set in the eighties) and something unbelievably shocking happens. Tom briefly talks into the phone and then cannot get the receiver to detach from his ear and mouth. Suddenly the boys hear a slurping noise, Tom panics as the phone slowly begins to suck his face into the receiver. This is explained in gleefully graphic detail until every drop of Tom, blood, bones and all, has disappeared into the receiver. When Richard is questioned by the police he tells them the same story of the killer phone box (they obviously do not believe him) and the action is off and running. Karen is the only person to believe Richard and soon his problems begin to mount. This was a very clever opening and Richard, who was already treated with suspicion, is now a pariah and the police are certain he knows what happened to his friend.

For the sake of spoilers I am not going to say much more about the plot except that to a certain extent I was totally gripped and intrigued the direction events might take. I genuinely liked the troubled Richard; the small town feel of the setting and the friendship with Karen, but when the supernatural angle of the story expanded beyond the phone box it got less interesting and lost momentum. Night House had its moments but ultimately it was underwhelming and might have worked better as a genuine YA novel rather than be saddled down with a weak ending which was nowhere near as clever as the author probably believed.

This is a fairly short book and it comes in three parts.
Richard is a teen who has ended up with Foster parents in a small rural town after living in the city. All we know is that his parents have died. He is in the lowest caste in school and struggles to make friends. Karen, one of the popular girls seems to like him and when he has a couple of traumatic incidents in which people go missing, tries to help him make sense of them when no one else believes him when he says what happened. So much so that the authorities send him to an institution where strange things happen too. As that story comes to an end, the second part begins and Richard is now a published author returning home for a school reunion. When he tries to apologise to everyone for being a bully, they tell him he wasn't. However nothing as it seems and again strange things happen and everyone seems to be involved. Which then leads to the last part when things are explained and the reader can understand why the story is as it is.
A quick read where you might need a strong stomach in parts.

I enjoyed the first part of the book. It had twists and turns that kept you interested and just the right amount of creepiness to make it an interesting read. I do think it lost itself a little in the remaining 2 parts and became a dull read.

This story didn’t really flow for me. I suppose the translation may be to blame, but I felt it was more than that. The second half was better, twistier and held my interest more. Many thanks to Netgalley for an arc of this book.

A story told in 3 parts - this wasn't what I was expecting. And although I didn't love the writing although I think a couple of the voices were specifically written that way - as per what 'parts' of the book you were reading, I did overall enjoy the premise and while I wasn't the biggest fan in the world whilst reading it, I have thought about it several times since finishing.

It was an interesting horror movie. At some points I was terrified. At times, I wondered what this was all about. Author Jo Nesbø knows how to build tension. His novel "The Night House" consists of several parts. In my opinion, the first one was the best and the last one was the weakest. I was hoping for a better ending. Regardless, I had fun reading this e-book.

 The main character witnesses the terrifying death of his friend. And it was all because of a stupid joke. Will anyone believe in the boy who causes a lot of problems?

 This book makes me afraid to talk on the phone and enter suspicious houses. Thanks to the author Jo Nesbø, I avoid bugs and insects. Who knows what's hiding behind them?

 Good action with interesting twists. The second part will surprise you. The next time you will have similar feelings.

 It's a pity that the author didn't write a few words to his readers. This is what I missed here.

 If you appreciate the work of the Norwegian writer Jo Nesbø and love good horror films, be sure to read "The Night House".

 I recommend reading this short story in the evening or at night. Then you will get an interesting, dark atmosphere, and you will perceive this story even more emotionally.


 I recommend.

This is my first Jo Nesbo book and I'm a bit conflicted. The story is told in 3 parts. Part 1 for me is 5 stars and I was riveted. It has a Stephen King vibe and I felt it gave a nod to The Shining. Part 2 is still King-like but I gave it 3.5 stars. Part 3 disappointed me but, even so, it had a clever ending and I settled on 3 stars. So overall, 4 stars from me.

I enjoyed the characters and the peculiar story line and it was a great read.

I could see the direction Nesbo was going in, by trying to create a Stephen King style children's horror. However it just did not work for me and I just could not connect with the writing style and I felt like I really had to force myself to continue on. I do think this would be a great book for a younger audience but it just was not for me.

I really, really enjoyed this! I got nostalgic Point Horror vibes mixed with Stephen King and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. I loved the little literary references, and the way that tiny elements from all of the sections (e.g. flies) reappeared in very different ways.

It was genuinely creepy in places - especially with the twins! And I loved the descriptions of the house, and the librarian character. I didn't want to put it down and read it quickly. I thought the representations of mental health were really interesting - especially that of his father.

It wasn't what I was expecting, and I'm glad. It's so different to anything I've read for years;

📞𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐍𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐇𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐛𝐲 𝐉𝐨 𝐍𝐞𝐬𝐛ø
𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: 𝐇𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐫
𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐫: 𝚁𝙴𝙻𝙴𝙰𝚂𝙴 𝙳𝙰𝚃𝙴 𝟸𝟾 𝚂𝙴𝙿𝚃𝙴𝙼𝙱𝙴𝚁
𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭, 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳
𝐌𝐲 𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝟑.𝟓 ⭐️
I was drawn in by this cover on Netgalley. I read this alongside Fourth Wing, so this took abit of a back burner and it did take me a while to get into it but I’m so glad I persevered.

A psychological thrilling horror story.
The first and second part of the book were really captivating and gave off ‘IT’ vibes which I was clearly digging, but it did confuse me…a lot. I think it’s because I couldn’t trust Richard, our MC. He was a very unreliable narrator. I couldn’t trust or believe anything he was saying or doing. Until the third part, where it all made sense and I realised it was really cleverly done.

Definitely recommend for spooky season,
Thanks to @netgalley & Random House for this Arc

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