The Night Strangers: A Novel

The Night Strangers by Chris Bojalian was touted as having a complex plot and all the trappings of a classic gothic horror story. It was supposed to be the new and better version of Rosemary's Baby or Young Goodman Brown. It was neither, and for this reader is was disappointing to say the least.

The novel begins with a unique situation - an airline pilot who lives through a crash that kills 39 passengers when the plane he is flying is hit by a flock of geese. He tries his best to land the plane in a nearby lake but a high wave from a ferryboat catches his wing tip and flips the plane over so it hits the water like a "lawn dart" and breaks apart. He is clearly devastated by his experience and he is depressed and delusional, but his response, and that of his wife, to move to a remote town and to buy an even more remote and obviously "haunted house" just does not show much imagination on the part of the author.

The rest of the story unfolds in totally predictable ways as the mentally ill ex-pilot, his attorney wife, and his young twin daughters encounter a local community filled with "herbalists" who turn out to be a thinly disguised coven of witches who are working to create some secret potion that will allow everyone to live longer than your average vampire.

The interactions between all of these characters are strained and the dialogue is poorly written. There are some violent scenes in the book which are sort of understandable but they all come across as not at all surprising and sort of staged.

In the end one of the twin girls is sacrificed at a poorly described witch's ceremony and the book ends with everyone living happily ever after in totally incongruous nicey-nice way. What horse hockey.

This book is clearly overrated and not worth the investment.

This book had so much potential. I love books about paranormal and hauntings, but this book took a turn and ended up being about something completely different. The whole plot was foolish. I actually quit the book because I couldn't take it anymore.

The Night Strangers begins with a bang and draws the reader into a story that cannot be denied. Unfortunately, everything that works in the first half of the book is abandoned to an inferior sub plot and finally ends in one of the most dissatisfying conclusions that I've ever read.

Chip Linton suffers extreme depression after failing to land his passenger plane on a lake. This failed attempt results in thirty-nine people dying. Bohjalian depicts an incredibly captivating and horrifying crash, and he won me over right then and there thanks to his mastery of both tension and pacing.

The Linton family moves to a new state and a new home in northern New Hampshire. A ghost story ensues, one that is smartly written and enticing. Is it the house that is haunted, or is it Chip himself? Will this haunting cost Chip his marriage, life, or perhaps even the lives of his twin daughters? I honestly couldn't wait to see what happened next. Bohjalian captured the tone of a family in distress; he delivered a suffering father; he made me care about the Lintons.

And then, sadly, Bohjalian deserted this family to focus upon a group of herbalist/witches that need the twin girls for their own nefarious intentions. The Night Strangers, at that point, became a boring, genre-driven work that failed to connect to the reader on any emotional level. The author gave far too much attention to these herbalists, their green houses, and he became too preoccupied with getting each and every herb just right. Frankly, I didn't find the herbalist the least bit interesting and their herbs were of absolutely no concern to me.

I wanted my story focusing upon the Lintons back, but Bohjalian refused. In fact, after striving so hard to make us relate to them, to see ourselves in them, to love them, he turned them into nothing more than tools to provide an insipid, heartless ending that proved to be extraordinarily inconsistent with previously established characterization.

The first half of The Night Strangers was an amazing, creepy, disturbing read that I couldn't put down. The last half of The Night Strangers was an utter contradiction of the first, and I've never felt more cheated and disappointed by an ending in all my years of reading.

~Scott William Foley, author of Andropia

This is my first read of author Chris Bohjalian. And while I liked the ghostly premise of the story, I couldn't tolerate the writing style, the repeated back-and-forth from third person point of view to second person point of view (You are curious; You recall; You run the flashlight over the walls; You glance down; You feel sweaty, You feel her [Emily's) entwining her fingers in yours; You find yourself wondering; For an instant, you recall something; Your eyes rest on the women; etc.) Besides being too confining, this style of writing completely destroys the fictional dream because the author is speaking to the reader, "telling" the reader to feel the same things as the character. Gosh, what fun is that!? No suspense, no tension at all. So, without the fictional dream, the story fails for me. I tried to stay with it for a while. The constant flashbacks of the plane crash became redundant, the herbalist story line was not exactly thrilling, the characters a little dull, and I lost interest. I started skimming. By the time I got to the end, I was pretty disappointed. Clearly this is an ambitious writer with admirable talents, but not for my tastes.

I really did enjoy this book; it was quite suspenseful right from the start. Having grown up in a house with a creepy locked old coal bin that was the source of a lot of nightmares about buried bodies, the house in The Night Stranger became the creepiest of all the characters. There are actually two totally separate story lines that kept you guessing how they would all intersect. The book did leave a good bit of untidy ends and the Epilogue just left more questions but all in all, it was a way better book than what I am reading now. (You win some you lose some). Chis Bohjalian is a terrific writer and I will read anything with his name on it.

Chris Bohjalian is a popular American novelist whose books have explored several genres. In his latest and thirteenth published work NIGHT STRANGERS he tries out a blend of psychological suspense and ghost/horror story with mixed results.

The protagonist of NIGHT STRANGERS is Chip a fortyish married man formerly employed as a commercial pilot. Chip's last flight became tragic when his plane ran into a flock of birds forcing him in to dramatic water landing that almost worked but because of some unforeseen circumstances ended badly and with the deaths of the majority of his passengers. In the aftermath of the accident Chip battles post traumatic stress syndrome as well as intense scrutiney of his actions. He, his attorney wife Emily and their ten year old twin daughters leave a comfortable home in an upscale Philadelphia suburb to start a new life in a three story Victorian home in Northern New Hampshire. Unfortunately Chip's problems increase after the move. Some of his deceased plane passengers have attached themselves to him and follow along to the new location while making increasingly dangerous demands on Chip. The newly purchased house has a sad history and the family keeps finding bizarre articles left around by the previous owners. And most of the townspeople that befriend the family seem to have an unhealthy obsession with gardening and everything concerning Chip's ten year old daughters.

NIGHT STRANGERS is decently written though I found it quite derivative of other horror stories most noticeably ROSEMARY'S BABY and THE SHINING. Bohjalian employs the second person voice for the portions of the novel told from Chip's mentally mixed up viewpoint and though I often find that type of narrative voice annoying it works in this case particularly in the disturbing ending. NIGHT STRANGERS will likely appeal to fans of spooky psychological suspense but is not particularly original or memorable.

Here's a slightly different perspective, with no plot summary (hate that in a book review!) and no spoilers. I am brand-new to this author, and loved his writing. Descriptive and compelling, unpredictable and with enough "can't put it down" factor that I finished it at 3:00 a.m. (I didn't know anything about it going in - so the creepy factor really creeped up on me.)

I have to agree with others that Emily (a main character) seemed a bit slow in her realization of what was happening, and sometimes her dialog (as well as the dialogue of the girls) was awkward and unrealistic. It was distracting, but not a deal-breaker.

As many have said, the ending is startling and not "neat and tidy." But the book was still a great read, even if many readers would have preferred a different conclusion.

For comparsion to what you might like - I love reading Jonathan Kellerman, most Stephen King, and Laura Lippman. And I started "Girl on the Train" 3 times and was so bored I never got halfway through it.

"A riveting and dramatic ghost story."

That's what the front cover flap copy claims of Chris Bohjalain's The Night Strangers. I must admit that I was rather optimistic and excited after reading that. Then add to that the fact that it's set in a Victorian home, which is one of my favorite types of homes. I was all pumped up to read this. But it was difficult for me to get into the story of Chip Linton, an airline pilot who suffered a tragic crash over water, and his wife and twin girls as they move into their new Victorian home.

The writing itself was rather good and I enjoyed it, especially as the story of the house was reminiscent of Amityville Horror; however, I was quite thrown off by the use of second person throughout the novel. These sections were actually incredibly difficult to read and at first I was confused about whose perspective it was supposed to represent. After reading through the entire novel, I have an idea of why it was used for Chip due to the issues that plagued him...I think, but I'm not entirely convinced that it was the best choice as the rest of the novel utilized third person narration.

And please don't get me started on the ending. Seriously? SERIOUSLY? SERIOUSLY?!? Now, I'm not a huge proponent of a happy, neatly resolved ending, but even though this doesn't have that in the traditional sense, it does in the half-assed ending that uses some magic to make everything OK. Just no. No. To have one of the affected parties in the family remember everything that happened but let the others live in blissful ignorance. I don't think so. Psychologically speaking, I am not convinced that Chip would be able to conceal all of the horrors for the rest of his life and live "happily ever after."

This book frustrated me and in some respects I enjoyed that, because you don't always want to have that easy read, but the ways it frustrated me were more irksome than anything.

Chip, an airline pilot, crashed his commercial jet into Lake Champlain due to occurrences beyond his control. He and his wife, Emily, and their twin daughters try to start over after this tragedy by moving from Pennsylvania to an old, mysterious house in a small town in the White Mountains in northern New Hampshire. As the details of the crash continue to haunt Chip, Emily and her twin daughters find that the town is overrun with herbalists and greenhouses. These herbalists take an unnatural interest in their twin daughters, as Chip is visited by three ghosts.

This book was intriguing, and, from the beginning, difficult to put down. I just wanted to read and read to find out what would happen next. Sadly, as I neared the dénouement of the story, I started feeling a let down. Things just got a little too weird. I found this part of the book unsatisfying and overly busy. It just didn't work.

In addition, the focus of the story shifts erratically from the depression and haunting of Chip, the pilot, to concentrate on the herbalists and their schemes. It seemed to weaken the impact somehow.

It is sad that the ending did not work, because the style of narration was interesting and terrifying. When referring to the pilot, the author used the second person narrative, describing the pilot's thoughts and actions by saying, "YOU feel the presence of..." This approach was effective in making the reader experience Chip's utter helplessness.

The character development was also strong. I could feel Chip's pain and Emily's concern and fear, as she balanced on the edge of hopelessness concerning her family. I am a great fan of Chris Bohjalian, and I wanted to be crazy about this book. Sadly, memorable parts aside, I was not.

Chip, an airline pilot, crashed his commercial jet into Lake Champlain due to occurrences beyond his control. He and his wife, Emily, and their twin daughters try to start over after this tragedy by moving from Pennsylvania to an old, mysterious house in a small town in the White Mountains in northern New Hampshire. As the details of the crash continue to haunt Chip, Emily and her twin daughters find that the town is overrun with herbalists and greenhouses. These herbalists take an unnatural interest in their twin daughters, as Chip is visited by three ghosts.

This book was intriguing, and, from the beginning, difficult to put down. I just wanted to read and read to find out what would happen next. Sadly, as I neared the dénouement of the story, I started feeling a let down. Things just got a little too weird. I found this part of the book unsatisfying and overly busy. It just didn't work.

In addition, the focus of the story shifts erratically from the depression and haunting of Chip, the pilot, to concentrate on the herbalists and their schemes. It seemed to weaken the impact somehow.

It is sad that the ending did not work, because the style of narration was interesting and terrifying. When referring to the pilot, the author used the second person narrative, describing the pilot's thoughts and actions by saying, "YOU feel the presence of..." This approach was effective in making the reader experience Chip's utter helplessness.

The character development was also strong. I could feel Chip's pain and Emily's concern and fear, as she balanced on the edge of hopelessness concerning her family. I am a great fan of Chris Bohjalian, and I wanted to be crazy about this book. Sadly, memorable parts aside, I was not.

Captivated from page one, I could not put The Night Strangers down. It’s no secret that small town New England is my favorite setting…Bohjalian does an amazing job of capturing the essence of the town and distilling it into a character of it’s own. That said we also have a plethora of other fascinating personas populating this family and village. We are slowly drawn in to the story of the Lintons and then the camera lens starts widening to encompass the whole of their small New England town. All of the characters are so well drawn that we feel as if they are our own neighbors…so well known and yet..do any of us really know what goes on behind closed doors???

And then there are the witches…

Incredibly well written, haunting and and quite a bit disturbing, this page turner will keep you up late and you’ll barely regret it the next day.

NOTE: Review copy rcvd in exchange for an honest review

In The Night Strangers , The Linton's, Chris and Emily along with their ten-year old twin daughter Hallie and Garnet are looking for a new home and a new start. The couple decides to move from West Chester, PA, after Chip, an airline pilot, crashes a 70 passenger plane over Lake Champlain in Vermont. A flock of geese flew into the engines, causing them to become inoperable. Some 39 passengers died in the crash and only 9 miraculously survived. Ever since that tragedy, Chris has been plagued by nightmares, flashbacks and depression. He is being treated by a therapist for PTSD. He strongly believes that a change of locale is just what he and his family need.

The family finds a 3-story Victorian home in a secluded area of Bethel, New Hampshire. The house has been vacant for a while, but it seems perfect for them, so they buy it. Only after they move in do they find several oddities about the new house. The major one being a basement door, believed to lead to an old coal cellar is bolted shut with 39 carriage bolts--the exact same number as passengers who lost their lived aboard Chris' plane. The former owners, who lived in the house for some 50 years, also had a set a twins (boys) however, one was said to have taken his own life when he was only 12 years-old, and the old woman who had lived there was said to be "a sociopathically skittish old woman". Greenhouses are everywhere in this town, and some of the townspeople are very odd, popping up when least expected.

What's behind the door with the 39 carriage bolts? Why do a few of the townspeople seem overly chummy and fascinated with the Linton's twin daughters? When strange things begin to happen, it becomes apparent, at least to the reader, that their new place in Bethel, New Hampshire is not quite the miracle new start that the family was hoping for.

My thoughts - I have been a huge fan of this author, and have read and loved most of the books he has written. This new novel is a bit of a departure from what he has written previously. I loved the writing, it's very descriptive and atmospheric, and it is told from multiple POV, which included even the family cat at one point, and even that worked well. What didn't sit well with me was the fact intelligent parents like the Linton's, Emily was a lawyer, and Chip, even if he was suffering from depression and PTSD, could act so clueless, allowing their young daughters so much freedom to spend time with such very new, and obviously oddball neighbors. I saw the ending coming, and I'm not really sure how I felt about it either.

I am still happy I read this book, but it wasn't a favorite. I think this book will appeal to readers who enjoy a bit of paranormal fiction or psychological thrillers.

My rating is really 2.5 stars. My first encounter with Chris Bohjalian was through his novel "Skeletons at the Feast" which I thoroughly enjoyed. I have read a few more of his novels since then, but nothing really compared to that first experience. "The Night Strangers" was a disappointment.
The premise of the book certainly sounded interesting. The result was a cross somewhere between "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark" and "The Stepford Wives".
On the whole, I found a lot of the dialogs stilted and not very believable. In fact, I thought a lot of them acted as fillers rather than advanced the story.
The story itself tended to drag. There were enough hints to keep you reading, knowing more or less what was coming, and hoping maybe for more. But no, it was pretty much it, just as I guessed. And as other reviewers have pointed out, the scene of the crash and the comparison with Sully Sullenberger's successful landing of US Airway flight 1549 was revisited too many times.
But what really bothered me was the choice of second person to narrate the parts of the pilot, Chip Linton. When the book opened in the second person in that first scene, I thought it would be a temporary thing and all through the following chapters, I hoped the author would finally abandon it, but alas, the entire book is written with this irritating pronoun whenever Chip appears. "You" drive the plane that crashes, "you" suffer from PTSD, "you" go in the basement, "you" talk to your wife and kids... At the end of the audiobook, I listened to an interview with the author who shed some light on his choice of second person. I remained unconvinced, and annoyed, though the choice was clearly his to make and his interpretation of its impact on his readers also his. I personally think it was more a question of style and that the author simply wanted to try his hand at it, having liked it in two novels he once read.
Now I am uncomfortable with the idea of criticizing an author when I don't write books myself. On the other hand, once you are published, you open yourself to both praise and criticism. And we, the readers, are looking to be convinced and entertained. So the delivery is a big part of the story. And if you write in a way that will satisfy your narcissism, you had better be sure it will also be pleasing to your readers. I have stopped reading Umberto Eco for precisely that reason.
Mr. Bohjalian has shown he can write, and very well too. "The Night Strangers" was a flimsy exploration in the world of ghosts and witchcraft and added nothing new or original to the subject, nor to Mr. Bohjalian's literary career.

Chris Bohjalian has been one of my favorite authors since I read The Double Bind in 2009. I love the way that he develops his characters and the quirky stories that he tells. You can imagine how excited I was when I realized that he was publishing a new book, and was lucky enough to get on the list at the library before it was miles long. This book certainly did not disappoint me. One of my favorite things about Bohjalian as an author is that all of his stories highlight humanity detailing the good, the bad, and the ugly. Another thing that fascinates me is that his stories cover the gamit of human existence, from murders to historical tales. No two are exactly alike, but all of them are excellently detailed. In The Night Strangers he does this yet again, with the tale of a family in crisis trying to rebuild their lives by relocating to a small town in New Hampshire. As in many of his stories, all in the town is not what it appears to be. The town itself is populated with a cast of characters that are at once both charming and alarming.

This book drew me in from the very first page and did not let up until the unbelievable climax. I was fascinated by the complexity of the characters who were by turns naive, charming, misguided, and down right evil. As the story progressed, I had a hard time putting the book down, just waiting to see what the next turn of events were going to be. I really enjoyed the fact that it was hard to tell what who was going to be the ultimate survivor/victor in this saga. In addition, I enjoyed the fact that, once again, Mr. Bohjalian could keep me guessing as to the ultimate conclusion of the drama presented in the pages of this book.

My only disappointment in this books was with the ending. Yes, it did not end the way that I wanted it to, but that was not what disappointed me. I thought the ending totally fit the story as a whole. My disappointment stemmed fromt the feeling that the author brought you to the climax of the story, only to leave you hanging, wanting for more. He then followed up with an Epilogue that was so far into the future as to leave the reader somewhat disoriented. Yes, the Epilogue answered many questions and tied up most of the lose ends, but instead of spending a few pages telling you what happened after the end of the last chapter, I would rather it was detailed in the story.

All in all, though, an excellent book with a compelling story that will keep you riveted to the pages.

This was my first exposure to Chris Bohjalian's work. I picked it up on the strength of the premise and the first few chapters, which I read in the store before purchasing. The writing is solid and the setting is spectacularly creepy in that subtle, things-that-go-bump-in-the-night way that all good ghost stories must get right.

Bohjalian's writing shines brightest early on as he establishes the key elements of his story: the damaged family at the center of it all, the traumatic plane crash that brings them to New Hampshire, the too-friendly neighbors with hidden motives, and the mysterious door in the basement. Without getting into spoilers here, I'll say that in my opinion he juggles some of these elements better than the others.

Bohjalian narrates all of Chip Linton's scenes from the second-person viewpoint ("you"). At first I found this unnecessarily distracting, but on the strength of the writing in general I stuck with it. And, towards the very end, I came to understand why Bohjalian chose this unique approach. There actually is a narrative reason for it and he puts it to good effect in some of the final scenes.

Other than Chip, I didn't find any of the main characters particularly compelling. Chip's wife Emily is sympathetic but somewhat foolish, particularly given the very strange behavior of her new friends toward her children. Chip and Emily's daughters, Hallie and Garnett, are reasonably well written as pre-teen girls, but they never become breakout characters. I only cared about their fate as it would relate to the effect it would have on Chip.

The main selling point of the plot -- that door in the basement -- *is* explained, and its relationship to the other main plot involving the group of women who befriend the Lintons is sufficiently tied together. But while everything comes together and makes sense by the end, it doesn't do so in an entirely satisfying way. To say more would, I think, give away the ending.

But I will say this: Readers who demand a 100% happy ending may want to steer clear. Every single question raised by the premise is answered, and everything all comes together to make sense in the end ... but you may not like all of the answers.

All that said, overall, I recommend this book with some reservations. Even if the ending isn't perfect, the atmosphere of spookiness leading up to the ending is worth the ride.

I started and finished this book within three days in the chaotic week leading up to Christmas - that's how gripping it was. But I read the final pages on Christmas Eve and sat for a few moments trying to sort out what I thought about the ending. The word that described it best was "dissatisfied". I won't give any spoilers, but suffice it to say there were just too many loose ends and no justice served to those who needed it. Seriously, the whole town knows what the "herbalists" do, did NO ONE question what really happened on the night of the story's climax?

Like a lot of other reviewers, I found myself disappointed in the way the focus shifted primarily to the herbalists and away from Chip and his experiences. The 39 bolts thing was just disappointing - all that set up and it's never addressed again. And I would have liked to know more about Ethan before the crash - I understand his anger at Chip, but what he wanted him to do was SO horrible... why would any sane person, particularly one who's portrayed as such a loving father, make that demand? These were among the plot points that just faded into the mist as we get more and more deeply entrenched into the stories of Reseda, Anise, John et al. Not that it wasn't interesting, but I would have liked equal focus on Chip. And again - the ending just left a bad taste in my mouth.

Oh well, I certainly won't give up on Chris Bohjalian! Still one of my favorite authors, and Trans-Sister Radio still ranks in my top 25 books of all time.

Chris Bohjalian, <strong>The Night Strangers</strong> (Crown, 2011)

Full disclosure: this book was provided to me free of charge by the store Vine.

I've been hearing Chris Bohjalian's name bounced around for years now; you can't be a book nerd and have <em>not</em> heard it, I don't think, especially since <em>Midwives</em> was devoured by a horde of Oprah zombies a few years back. But I'd never got round to reading one of his books until <em>The Night Strangers</em>, a ghost story set in a remote village in northern New Hampshire that seemed more up my alley than something like <em>Midwives</em>. And to sum this review up early for the tl;dr crowd, for the most part, it <em>was</em> right up my alley, and I do recommend it, though with some reservations that you'd have to read the rest of the review to find out about.

Plot: Chip Linton is, as we begin this novel, an airline pilot, and like most of America he is inspired by the story of Sully Sullenberger. (If I have to remind you who Sully Sullenberger is, bone up on your recent history.) So when, as is inevitable in ghost stories, Linton's plane plows into a flock of geese moments after takeoff and becomes non-viable, Linton's immediate thought is "hey, let's ditch in Lake Champlain." And to be fair, it's a good idea, but fate is not always enamored of good ideas. The end result is nine survivors, thirty-nine casualties, and a pilot who, thanks to the ravages of PTSD and a bevy of phantom pains, is no longer a pilot. His capable wife, an estate lawyer, uproots Chip and their twin daughters and relocates them in New Hampshire, in a house that is both spectacular and seriously creepy, in a town that answers to the same description. In the basement of the house, Chip finds a wooden door, presumably to a coal chute--but why would a door to a coal chute be secured with so many bolts? And why, specifically, are there thirty-nine of them?

A lot of the more critical reviews I'm reading of the book say the good stops in the middle. I would disagree with that, but as more than enough of my recent reviews (and the older ones too) will tell you, I'm a big, big fan of crappy genre horror, and so when the plot segues into its focus on the herbalist cult, I was right there along for the ride, and I was kind of tickled by some subtle references to late sixties-early seventies psychedelic ghost tales (can't you just see a young Karen Black playing Reseda?). In fact, I was with him right up until the epilogue--in which those same movie references are, let's say, not so subtle (I'm reminded of the title of a recent Scenic Railroads album: "When we say re-mix, we mean rip-off"). Of course, I can't tell you which movies it's ripping off without giving the game away, but one should spring immediately to mind for at least half of you reading this book who have any exposure to sixties horror films at all. But, well, it's just an epilogue, and I'm kind of willing to forgive him that. What I am less willing to forgive is the fact that at least one subplot that seemed as if it was going to be major--a developing love triangle--disappeared into thin air about a third of the way into the book. I was about half-convinced, in fact, that a writer like Bohjalian was going to, instead of going full-on genre horror, going to use a love triangle as some sort of twisted-yet-awesome allegory for the supernatural activity. And so yeah, I realize I'm bringing my own baggage to the table, but judging by the rash of bad reviews that criticize the full-on genre horror, I'm guessing I'm not the only one who was thinking this.

Not so much a criticism, though it is a possible warning: the one thing I <em>couldn't</em> get behind in this book was Bohjalian's narrative voice. There are a number of authors who have that kind of distinctive narrative voice (Cormac McCarthy is the most obvious, because his is the most consistently stylized) that you either get or you don't. With Bohjalian, I was never quite on the "don't" side of it, but I certainly never made it to the "do". Part of this has to do with Chip-focused chapters being narrated in second-person singular, which is usually problematic. I applaud authors for thinking this historically disastrous method of telling a tale is a worthy challenge, but pretty much everything I've read that uses it should probably have stayed in the workshop. (That Bohjalian gets as much out of it as he does is a minor miracle, but he proves with the rest of the book he's just as good with third person singular...) But that's only a portion of what didn't quite work for me here; there's a coldness, a disconnectedness that hangs over the prose that seems out of kilter with the subject matter. The building of suspense in a good horror novel is in good part about pace, and the way the author chooses to write a scene has an effect on that. Bohjalian never allows the book, even during its climax, to get near the breakneck pace of most genre horror, and this is in many ways to its detriment.

I think there's enough good about this book to recommend it, though weakly. It knows where it wants to go, but for reasons that seem as if they would have been easily fixable, it never quite gets there. ***

Question: Throw together a traumatized pilot, a wife desperately trying to hold their family together, a creepy Victorian mansion, and a remote New Hampshire hamlet, and what have you got? Answer: A classic New England horror story. Emily Linton relocates her family to NH for some peace and quiet, following the crash of a jet her husband Chip was piloting. What Emily and Chip encounter is far worse than anything they encountered back in PA. For their Victorian mansion harbors a lot more than dusty old bric-a-brac, and their new village conceals deadly secrets below its charming facade.

Chris Bojalian, who knows well how to navigate his characters through emotional minefields, has crafted a modern day ghost story with all the psychological nuances and menacing Gothic atmosphere of "The Turn of the Screw" by Henry James.

I believe that reading a good book is like watching a movie in your head, and that's exactly the experience that The Night Strangers provides. These people become real. The emotional punch comes from the torments of Chip's severe post traumatic stress, and from Emily's overwhelming fears for her 10 year old twin daughters. The creepiness is provided by a garden club of sorts, a group of eccentric women who are avid herbalists and who befriend the Linton's. The suspense is created by Bojalian's masterful timing and prose, and his trust in the power of suggestion, oh so gradually ramping up the tension until the final, shattering, heart stopping chapters.

Not recommended for readers who fear flying, but for anyone else, lock the doors, especially to the cellar, pour a cup of tea (or glass of wine, to steady your nerves), and curl up with a story that's impossible to put down or forget.

My feelings on “The Night Strangers” are mixed, as – I gather – are the feelings of many reviewers here. I’d never read a Bohjalian book before, so I came in with no preconceived ideas. I just like a good ghost story. This one happens to incorporate a type of witchcraft as well, which is not my area of interest, but it was pretty well woven into the story. Overall, I found it to be an easy read, one that compelled me to finish, to find out who “won”: the good guys or the bad guys. I did not expect the ending I got, which is fine, too. I have to give a writer credit for not tying a neat little bow at the end, the way we tend to expect.
The good: Bohjalian’s descriptions of an airplane crash, graphically drawn throughout the book, were vivid enough that it made me think twice about hopping on a plane again. In fact, a friend of mine picked up this book to read on a cross-country flight, and boy, was she sorry!
Also good (though I’ve seen one commenter complain about this): the “bad guys” were just so darn normal. They had jobs to get to, they appreciated an early Spring day, they liked to bake desserts and get together for dinner parties. I believe that their normalcy is what makes them so insidious. The main characters were kept off-kilter, unsure of whether to suspect their neighbors of misdeeds, because they were at once mysterious and average.
More good: the scenes involving ghosts from the doomed airplane. The ghosts were creepy; they wanted something; they weren’t there merely as decoration. Their presence drove the pilot’s storyline, in a sense.
The not-so-good: The pilot’s scenes were written in 2nd person, as a way to draw the reader into the story. I understand the device, but do not care for it. I felt like saying, “I’m reading a book, not piloting a doomed plane. Tell me what Chip is doing. Don’t tell me what I’m doing.” Admittedly, though, the 2nd person voice receded into the background enough that a couple of times I checked to see whether the author had switched to 1st or 3rd person. He hadn’t. I still believe that 1st person narration would have been preferable.
Also: the author was having a love affair with the word “reality.” As in, “the reality that,” “the reality was,” “the reality of.” I believe he used this phrasing at least a dozen times throughout the book, in more than one character’s head. That is surprising, for an otherwise strong writer. He could have substituted “fact” or “truth” or dropped it altogether.
Also surprising was his use of the phrase “Just then.” That is okay for a kid’s story, but not for an adult’s novel. When something happens, just tell us. We know it’s happening “just then” or “suddenly.” No need to preface it with a telling word or phrase.
Speaking of overuse: the author name-checks Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger at least 8 times in the first 28 pages, and several times later. That is excessive, unless Mr. Sullenberger had paid a great deal of money to be featured in this book.
Also not good: a scene of seduction between two main characters that was subsequently forgotten. I felt it was gratuitous and the story would have survived without it. It seemed out-of-character for both people and was never fully explained.
That’s as far as I’ll go with nitpicking, although I could do more. In truth, despite my “complaints,” I enjoyed the book. My friend and I had a lively discussion about the story, the characters, the ending, devices used throughout, our personal suspicions about why the author did this or that, and so on. If we hadn’t been able to come up with anything, I would consider the story to have fallen flat. Instead, “The Night Strangers” transported me to a place outside my personal experience, populated by folks I’m not sure I’d ever want to meet. And it crashed me in a plane, to boot. And still I kept reading.

I love a good ghost story and The Night Strangers seemed like a good bet for one of those curl up and be scared tales. On some levels this book did deliver on the creepy story but on a number of other levels it didn't work.

The opening pages of this book are the most realistic descriptions of a plane crash I have ever read, and the most terrifying. When Chip Linton survives the crash of the plane he piloted and 39 passengers die he sinks into PTSD. As an effort to rebuild their life Chip, his wife and two daughters move to an old house in New Hampshire, a house that has a mysterious door that is securely closed with 39 bolts. And so the hauntings begin.

After this rich and dramatic opening the book goes astray. The house has a very sad history and the residents are eccentric in the extreme. This is where the story seems to go off the tracks. Rather than focus on Chip and weather or not the ghosts that haunt him are real or an offshoot of his PTSD the tale veers into a story of possible witches and covens with a very unhealthy interest in Chip's two daughters. They also seem to be harboring a number of secrets about the family that lived in the hosue previously. Emily, Chip's wife, despite uneasy feelings begins to trust these distinctly bizarre people taking the easiest path rather than cope with what is going on with her marriage and her children. So while the first storyline about a man being haunted by his past and/or ghosts the second storyline is about vaguely sinister herbalists. Chip's story was often mesmerizing, the story of Emily and the townspeople was often boring, repetitive and these characters had no depth and were often laughable. In addition Emily was a supposed business powerhouse, yet as a mother I found her naïve beyond belief and often far too trusting of people she barely new taking over the care and upbringing of her daughters.

The final denouement was such a let down and so unsatisfying it actually made me angry. It's not a good sign when I want to throw my Kindle against the wall. (I refrained)

This was my first book by Bohjalian, an author that I know is extremely popular. I will probably try another book by him, there were enough flashes of depth in Chip's story and the opening sequence had me completely drawn in and horrified at the same time. I do think that I will read the reviews of these books very carefully before choosing.

The Night Strangers is in some ways an old-fashioned ghost story. Chip Linton is haunted by his failure as a pilot. Though no one truly blames him - he did the best he could in an impossible situation - he cannot help but feel an enormous amount of guilt for the crash and its aftermath. As a result, Chip is already psychologically tormented when the novel begins. It's a natural leap, then, to turn this book into a ghost story, but what Bohjalian excels at is keeping the reader guessing. It's easy to assume that the ghosts are in Chip's head, but if they are, why can his daughters hear them as well? And how do these ghosts relate to the strange happenings in their New Hampshire town? The mix of psychological thriller and ghost story makes for a promising start.

However, there were parts of The Night Strangers that just didn't work. The secondary storyline (which becomes the primary plot as the novel progresses) involves a group of female herbalists that the rest of the town believes to be witches. I found it hard to take them seriously, especially as "villains". It's as if there were two entirely different novels fighting for supremacy in this book, and the one that seemed to win just didn't engage me. Additionally, the pace of the novel is incredibly slow, which made the book difficult to read.

I've enjoyed some of Bohjalian's other novels, such as Secrets of Eden, so I know I am a fan of his work. Despite the fact that this book didn't work for me, I'll definitely be picking up his next novel.

By Chris Bohjalian
Crown Publishers 378 pgs
978-0-307-39499-6
Rating - It'll Do and a Half

This is a weird little book. If you are familiar with Chris Bohjalian's work then this will not surprise you. He is a master at New England village life. You understand that his books could not be set anywhere else. There are hamlets in these mainly rural states that remain fairly isolated. This allows all manner of belief and behavior to take hold and hold on. I'm not saying this is a bad thing, I rather like his villages. After reading Mr. Bohjalian you will know what "mud season" is. The author has written about midwifery in the hinterlands, which is not at all like midwifery in, say, Boston. There is water dousing going on (Water Witches), transsexuals learning to stretch certain parts (yes, I know), healers and so on.

In Night Strangers we have "herbalists."

Remember Sully Sullenberger who landed his plane in the Hudson River? Geese got themselves strung in and around the engines and down went the plane. Mr. Sullenberger accomplished a truly impressive feat. Unfortunately the pilot in Strangers is not so lucky. I say "lucky" because Chip Linton did successfully land his plane in Lake Champlain, but the wash from a boat created a wave that flipped the plane and 39 passengers drowned. Because Chip has been suffering from PTSD, he is taking a few meds and has been unable to work. His wife Emily has decided that what the family needs is a change of scenery and some peace and quiet. So they buy a big old Victorian in a small village in the White Mountains of northern New Hampshire, and move in with their twin daughters Hallie and Garnet.

As they unpack they find odd things hidden around the house, most notably a few weapons and a square-shaped door in the basement practically welded shut by 39 6-inch carriage bolts. 39 drowned passengers and 39 bolts, hmmm...... Anyway, a few of the women in town befriend Emily. They all have these elaborate greenhouses, lots and lots of greenhouses, and call themselves "herbalists." These women seem to have some sort of gardening club going on and they use the plants to cook and for herbal remedies and stuff. So far so good. Until the Lintons notice that these women feed them a lot; they bring food to the house and invite them to dinner parties; they have the twin girls learning gardening and recipes after school. Begins with "C" and rhymes with "oven."

Meanwhile Chip is decompensating at an alarming rate. We don't know quite whether the ghosts are figments of his imagination, a result of his drug cocktail or if he is having delusions from the PTSD. I don't think it matters where the ghosts came from because perception is reality, yes? The problem with the ghosts is what they want Chip to do for them. Hard to say whether Hallie and Garnet are in more danger from their dad or the herbalists. Begins with "w" and rhymes with "hitch."

The end of Strangers is an eye-popping surprise. Maybe not a very satisfying end and by that I don't mean that it should have been a typically happy ending. Neither do I mean that there really wasn't a finale. I just mean that if you are an herbalist you will get to enjoy the story for a long, long time.

A good ole' fashioned haunted house story? That's what I first thought when I started listening to The Night Strangers. However, it turns out to not quite be a haunted house story, but there is definitely something creepy and strange going on. Whether it is because Chip is the captain of an airplane that crashed as well as one of the survivors or because the town seems to be filled with malevolent people I wasn't quite sure until several chapters into the story.

This book is unique (for me) in that it is told through 2nd person narration in protagonist Chip's point of view (ex: You go down the stairs, etc.) and 3rd person for his wife Emily, their children and some of the supporting characters. The second person point of view served to keep Chip at arm's length for me further isolating him. It also helped to create a mystery as to whether he is really being haunted or is suffering from a mental breakdown. I applaud the author because I thought this an interesting choice, and I understand why he chose to craft his story that way. However, it took some getting used to.

The telling and summing up in the book doesn't work for me. A lot seems unnecessary. However, the details of aviation and flying were so well thought out and researched it added authenticity to the story. At the same time, the details of the plane crash are rehashed again and again. The man is obviously traumatized, but there is not a lot of mention of him working things out. He has a psychiatrist, but where were the therapists and the survivor's group? Was he supposed to be portrayed as that stoic? Maybe so, but the constant comparing himself to Sully Sullenberg and him landing his plane successfully on the Hudson and saving everyone to me only added to his guilt ridden state of mind.

I also didn't feel very attached to any of the characters. The most interesting were Chip and Emily's two ten year old twins, Garnet and Hailey, and I would have liked to see more of their point of view, more of their thoughts. I also didn't understand why Emily (and I'm not saying Chip because he is so distant from everything in this book) didn't think the behavior of some of the townspeople was just inappropriate if not creepy. The way they talked about her children would have at least had me searching the internet for the sex offender registry. The plot reminded me of those television movies in the 70s where there is something sinister afoot. It was a bit over the top and at the same time kind of fun and kind of a guilty pleasure.

I liked Mark Bramhall's narration better than Alison Fraser's. Unfortunately, I just couldn't quite buy her interpretations. (I think I'm really picky when it comes to audio narration.)

Also the ending felt a tad rushed and while I kind of wanted to know how it finally ended, it wasn't that climactic. The epilogue especially was at once ironic and unsatisfactory as the story revisits the characters and the town ten years later.

My advice is if you're going to read this, don't go in expecting a traditional haunted house story. The story is more about Chip's ghosts from his plane crash and the effect the incident has on him and the scary people in their new town and what they're up to.

The Night Strangers is very much in the same tradition as such revered horror stories as Rosemary's Baby and The Omen. Chip Linton is an airline pilot trying to rebuild his life after an emergency landing kills almost all his passengers and
crew. His wife Emily decides a move to the bucolic town of Bethel in New England will be just the thing for rebuilding their little family and his battered psyche. Upon arrival The Linton's are welcomed by the local community but most especially by a group of ardent gardeners who adopt them and the couple's twins.

Nestling into their new home Emily is quickly able to find work with a local law firm while Chip takes on the duties of a stay at home dad. But it's not long before Chip begins to feel that the Lintons are not alone in their new home. Emily begins to notice that all their new gardening friends are easily identified by the fact that they all have first names that belong to herbs and their passion for gardening is bordering on obsession. Before long, Emily realizes that Bethel is divided into two groups - The Herbalists and the rest of the town. And the rest of the town is in fear for their lives.

As Chip embarks on remodeling their new home, he is struck by the discovery of a door in the basement with 39 bolts. There were exactly 39 deaths related to his plane crash. Day by day, Chip becomes increasingly disturbed and we follow him on a journey through madness. It isn't long before The Lintons are fearing for their survival and looking for an escape.

Bojalian's story is somewhat timeless - it could be set in almost any decade. Young disenfranchised family suffers though a tragedy and tries to leave the past behind by settling down in a new place only to find that things in their new community may not be as wholesome as they seem. The story has that wonderful quality where everyone is in on the joke except for The Lintons. And while the premise is intriguing the pace occasionally lags during the moments where Chip is lost in his reveries. Bojalian plants several sub stories throughout the novel that are never fully explored and serve to add little to the story in fact they are distractions. I won't go into details because I don't wish to spoil the story for anyone. But most of all - I suppose I wasn't fully convinced of the ease with which the nefarious Herbalist plot unfolds and that feeling nagged me throughout my reading.

Nonetheless, The Night Strangers, is a page turner and could easily be adapted for the big screen. Before long everyone will be saying, "Eat them - they're vegan."

*A Brief Note to Readers: If you find this review "not helpful", please take a moment to tell me why in the comment section. Thank you.*

I was excited to read "The Night Strangers". I've been a fan of Chris Bohjalian for some time now and have loved most of his work. Disappointed by his last release ("Secrets of Eden"), I had hoped this novel would be the redeemer. I think my first impression of "hmm, this sounds a little boring" when I read the beginning passages was all too correct.

My experience reading "Secrets of Eden" was like a much-hyped road trip; I returned from it underwhelmed by the attractions it had to offer and not much of anything to report back to interested parties. "The Night Strangers" is much the same way with one exception: the story's queer ending dropped me off miles from my destination and left me stranded and confused. It was enough to make me regret having taken the trip at all.

Bohjalian is an immensely talented writer. He's authored some amazing books with moving and enthralling storylines and complex characters (Skeletons at the Feast, The Double Bind, Trans-Sister Radio), one of which (Midwives) managed to make the all-too-famous list of Oprah's Book Club. The appeal of those books is strangely absent from this one - it lacks that specific charm and grace that I've come to expect of Bohjalian. It's almost like a different author wrote this book. His characters lacked an edge and weren't compelling. His odd 2nd-person narrative was distracting. It makes me wonder if he was so focused on the paranormal aspects of the tale that he forgot to flesh out his characters.

And again, that ending. I distinctly remember shaking my head after reading the last page, befuddled, thinking, "Surely you could've done better than this." It's confounding, nonsensical, and irritating. It went against his characters' struggles all throughout the book. I can understand a previous reviewer's comparison to Stephen King - King is famous for nonconforming and unapologetic endings that go against a reader's hopes and expectations. But when Bohjalian attempted to do the same, it did not work for me. I saw it as a cop-out, a go-to ending he chose because he couldn't quite figure out how to tie up all the story's loose ends after a grandiose climax. I know it sounds snobby of me but I don't have much patience with skilled writers who do this sort of thing. I see it as a refusal on the author's part to challenge himself/herself and take the easy route for the sake of producing a completed manuscript.

Oft thought by me to be a goose who only laid golden eggs, Bohjalian has produced a dud with "The Night Strangers". I can only hope that this one bad apple doesn't ruin the whole bunch.

I haven't previously read any books by Bohjalian before, but he comes highly recommended based on review and conversations pertaining to his other works. Needless to say, I had some pretty good expectations for this book based on that, but was dissapointed quickly. While the set-up seems to be creepy enough, the characters are one dimensional, the plot is strung out all over the place, and we are treated to an almost bait-and-switch tacting midway though reading the book.

The characters first introduced are likeable enough, if somewhat paper thin. The house is creepy and its secrets are something we eagrly wish to uncover. Secluded doors in basements, riveted closed, dirt floors, the gloom is palpable...but then gets shattered by some odd choices on the part of Bohjalian. The town is a charicature of every Halloween/witch/New England chiche that one can think of. The start of this story is creat with Mr. Linton trying to figure things out about himself, his family, his place, and his house.

The middle of the story it where it feels all wrong. We shift focus to some ancient coven of practitioners of the dark arts and spend the majority of the book there with them and their lives. What happened to the first half? It feels as if two books had been written and then smashed together with a desperate attempt to bridge the gap- an attempt that really doesn't work and instead leaves the reader feeling bewildered and confused. I kept hoping for some resolution to the great first half ghost story...but none came and the book was highly unsatisfying.

Chip and Emily Linton and their twin daughters move to an old Victorian house in New Hampshire, in the hopes of starting their lives anew. Chip, a commercial airline pilot for nearly two decades, had the arduous task of landing his plane in Lake Champlain after experiencing a bird strike, much like Captain Sully Sullenberger did in 2009. But unlike Sully's "Miracle on the Hudson," most of Chip's passengers and crew were not so lucky. Thirty-nine people died, and even though Chip was in no way at fault, he's plagued with guilt and understandably suffering from PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder).

Emily realizes that her husband and family need a fresh start, to put down roots in a whole new place: "A world where people were not defined by their successes and failures. A world that was, in some ways, oblivious to the inexorable media --- the twenty-four hour news cycles, the relentless blogs, the wonder walls of gossip and innuendo and supposition on the Web --- that constantly had stories likely to trigger self-hatred and despair in the captain, even though it wasn't his fault." So it's with great hope that the Lintons leave behind their suburban Philadelphia home to put down roots in Bethel, New Hampshire.

Once the relocation is complete, Chip and Emily set about the business of settling in. Garnet and Hallie, their 10-year-old twins, are enrolled in the local grammar school, while Emily passes the state bar and accepts a job at a law firm in nearby Littleton. Chip, still unable to work, plans to start renovating their home and begins the process by doing odd jobs around the rambling old house. In the dark basement, he notices a door nailed shut with 39 carriage bolts (the odd number of bolts and their correspondence to the number of passengers who died in the crash is not lost on Emily or her husband). What is the purpose of this door? It doesn't connect to any other part of the house, and it isn't for entry into the backyard. The little pile of coal in front of it leads one to believe that it must be an old coal chute, but Chip is not convinced.

And he's not the only one. Almost immediately, Hallie starts hearing strange noises. It sounds like people who are drowning, she frantically tells her twin, late one night after being roused from her sleep. And what of Resida Hill and Anise, the odd local women known as "herbalists" and their strange fascination with the Lintons' daughters? Does true evil lurk in their house, or is it all in their minds?

It's been said of Chris Bohjalian that he never writes the same book twice. THE NIGHT STRANGERS is yet another fine example of the width and breadth of this talented writer. From MIDWIVES to THE DOUBLE BIND, to this latest offering, Bohjalian creates an atmosphere worthy of an Edgar Allan Poe story. Although parts of the narrative are told in second-person ("You wonder if you will ever work again. You wonder what you could do. All you have ever done professionally is fly airplanes.") and could be quite tedious, here it works to heighten the spooky ambiance of the story and, in hands as deft as the author's, just serves to underline the creepiness of the plot. It's different from his earlier books, but the key similarity is the confidence of the writer and the richness of his characters.

THE NIGHT STRANGERS is a great read for fans of early Stephen King and Shirley Jackson, especially at this time of year.

Reviewed by Bronwyn Miller

This review was originally posted on LuxuryReading.com:

The Night Strangers by Chris Bohjalian is an effectively complex novel that mixes psychology and the supernatural to create an original, atmospheric thriller that keeps the reader guessing.

As the novel opens, Chip Linton faces the difficult situation of safely landing a passenger jet in a lake after the engines are destroyed by a flock of geese. His attempt fails and thirty-nine passengers die, as the plane is ripped apart. Chip is cleared of any fault, but is left with severe guilt and PTSD. In order to begin healing from the ordeal, Chip, his wife, Emily, and their twin girls, Hallie and Garnet, move from their formerly comfortable lives in the city to a smaller, out of the way town. As the Lintons attempt to settle into their new lives they are surrounded by mystery and conspiracy. Their new home may be haunted and the residents that have welcomed them may have deeper, stranger motivations behind their welcoming nature.

The Lintons are welcomed into the town by a group of women who believe in the magical and healing properties of plant life. The women, who are all named after different plants, begin to take interest in the Lintons and try to acclimate the family into their close-knit group.

As the intentions of the herbalists to incorporate Emily, Hallie, and Garnet into their cult become more and more persistent, Chip's PTSD becomes a bigger problem. The subsequent drama provides the reader with page after page of hair-raising paranoia, supernaturally creepy visions, and murderous deception.

Chris Bohjalian employs a blend of narration perspectives throughout the novel to add to its creep-out factor. While the majority of the thriller is told in a third person omniscient perspective, Chip's narration is portrayed through a second person perspective. This change in perspective allows the reader to experience, first hand, the disturbed mentality that Chip progressively succumbs to during his family's encounters with the unusual and deceptive herbalists.

With Bohjalian's unique writing style and his ability to twist the plot into a unique and sufficiently creepy thriller, The Night Strangers is best read with a light on.

Night Strangers is a psychological thriller with paranormal elements. It will have you turning the pages to discover the secrets of a small town in New Hampshire. Bohjalian's tale is reminiscent of Stephen King and the Stand. I chose to read this over Halloween weekend and it was quite a thrill. The ending to this novel will simply blow you away.

The story revolves around the Linton's. Chip Linton is suffering from PTSD, after a plane he was piloting crashes in a lake and thirty-nine passages die. In an effort to help her husband and children cope, Emily Lipton moves her family to an old Victorian home in Bethel, New Hampshire. She hopes that by moving away from the notoriety surrounding them it will give Chip the peace he needs and the twins a chance for some normalcy.

The family moves in and Chip becomes obsessed with a sealed door in the basement. The door is sealed shut with thirty-nine carriage bolts. Thirty-nine passengers died on his airplane. He and his daughter begin having nightmares. He starts seeing and having conversations with dead passengers. Meanwhile something strange is going on in this small town. The neighbors are stepping up to help the Lipton's adjust by befriending them, feeding them, and offering advice but their interest in the Lipton's twin girls is making Emily a little leery.

The POV is told in second and third person and it's brilliantly done. You get a real sense of Chip's struggle with his psychosis as it's delivered in second person. The way in which Bohjalian spoon feeds you this tale just adds to the suspense. He weaves a tale that is creepy, horrifying, and yet eerily plausible. The town, it's secrets, Chip's demons all spring to life and will have you turning on the lights...All of the lights.

I did not become particularly attached to any of the characters in Night Strangers, which whether intentional or not was spectacular on Bohjalian's part. Instead I became attached to the tale, the details, and the suspense. I wanted to unlock the secrets and uncover the truth.
I highly recommend The Night Strangers to anyone who loves a suspenseful psychological thriller. Fans of King and Koontz will be well satisfied with this story. I am adding Bohjalian to my list of must read authors.

The Night Strangers by Chris Bohjalian opens with a plane, piloted by Chip Linton, going down into Lake Champlain, killing 39 passengers. Knowing that he is one of the few remaining surviors of that awful crash has Chip wondering why he survived. Wondering "what if" he would have or could have done something different to have had a different outcome.

Needing a change of scenery, Chip and Emily Linton and their 10 year-old twins move into a Victorian house in northern New Hampshire. The old house has a lot of interesting quirks and the couple find quite a few odd items hidden within the house. The question is why were these particular items hidden? Also, what is behind the door in the basement that is sealed off by 39 carriage bolts? Does it mean anything that the door has exactly 39 bolts? And why are the women of the small town so into having their own greenhouse's full of herbs and such.

The Night Strangers by Chris Bohjalian is a ghost story that somewhat reminds you of "The Shining" by Stephen King and "Witches of Eastwick" by John Updike and kind of reminds you of an old Twilight Zone episode called "Kick the Can." Mr. Bohjalian weaves together a haunting story that makes you feel like you are part of the story. The ghost story and the feelings of the characters has you lost within the pages. Unfortunately, where the author failed was by throwing "the herbalists" within the folds. It was too much and unneccessary to the storyline. I was very disappointed with the last 50 pages. The story reminded me too much of different stories weaved together to make one individual story. Had the author just stuck to the story of the Linton's with the ghost factor, this could have easily been a five-star read.

Jennifer Coissiere
Words Mosaic Review
2 Mosaic Stones

It is often difficult to find a horror story where the characters don't seem to be "stock" and I was pleased when this one drew such human and understandable portraits of the characters. I really loved the first chapter and it drew me in completely. Chip Linton is a pilot who tries to bring his plane full of passengers down safely on a lake and fails, and is forever haunted by the experience. He becomes depressed and in hopes of starting over, he moves his family to a new state.

The house seems to be haunted, but because of Chip's tragedy, it may be that Chip, himself, is the one haunted. The family is portrayed with sympathy and you really suffer along with them as they try to overcome their sad situation.

I almost gave it 5 stars, but unfortunately, the last few chapters did not quite live up to the promise of the first few. I'm afraid I was a little disappointed in the end. I don't want to spoil it, however, so I won't give too much away (although there are details in other reviews). Suffice it to say that I wish he could have spent more time on the family dynamics at the end and perhaps set the focus on the haunting aspects rather than switching to another road in the final fourth of the novel.

I listened to this story as an audiobook, narrated by Alison Fraser and Mark Bramhall, so my review is based on that version.

This is my first book by this author and I am really impressed! The suspense was awesome and the story had a perfectly mysterious ebb and flow. There were many different things happening to the Linton family that might be related to their new house, but then again, it might not be related to the house at all. Chip has his own demons because of the crash of his airplane and the deaths of the people on board. But does his new house amplify the spirits, add to his delusions, or is the move to the new house just a coincidence? There are a group of herbalists in their new town, but is what they are doing magic, witchcraft, or just advanced herbology? And what is the fascination with twins in this town??

I don't want to give away too much and ruin the mystery for anyone else, but when I finished this audiobook, I just sat and stared for a moment. All I could think was `Wow, I didn't see that coming!' It was a bizarre ending. I am still not sure how I feel about it. This book was kind of like Hot Chocolate with peppermint in it. Smooth, warm and creamy chocolate with the peppermint to wake your senses and put them on alert.

The Narration Review
This book was narrated by Alison Fraser and Mark Bramhall. I liked the dual narration for this story. The two voices worked off each other well. Sometimes with two different narrators you get a hot/cold feel to the story, but I didn't feel that with these two. Both were very clear and easy to listen to voices.

This is the story of the Linton family. Chip Linton was an airline pilot on the rise when his plane is taken down by a bird strike and most of the passengers aboard are killed. He suffers from depression and PTSD as a result and his therapist suggests that he would be best served by a change in scenery.

Chip, his wife Emily and ten year old twin daughters move to the small town of Bethel, New Hampshire. Unbeknownst to them, the house has a history as a "spooky" house and many of the townspeople reject them for buying it.

However, they are befriended by a group of generally older couples, and all the wifes in the couples are "heralists" While the Lintons find them a big strange, and are put off by their extreme interest in their twin daughters, they are the only people who have reached out to them at a time when they need friends. So, these people become their social circle.

It is hard to tell much more of the story without spoiler alerts. Suffice to say, questions come up as to who is good and who is evil. Are people what they appear to be? What is the agenda of these older herbalists?

Chris Bohajailian writes a very compelling book that I found hard to part down. It requires a lot of suspended disbelieve which was handled very well. If the store allowed it, I would give it 4.5 stars. I enjoyed it immensely.

Chip Linton is a pilot flying smaller regional jets. In a typical flight one summer day his plane flies into a flock of geese, and he attempts to land the plane on water, similar to the infamous Sully Sullenberger. Unfortunately this attempt is not successful and 39 passengers and crew members die in the water landing.
Chip and his wife Emily attempt to rebuild their life by moving to northern New Hampshire, they purchase a huge old home, complete with a green house. They move in with their ten year old twin daughters. In the mostly dirt floor basement Chip finds a bolted door, a door that appears to lead to nowhere, but it is bolted shut with 39 carriage bolts. Why so much overkill on securing this door, and is it just coincidence that the number 39 appears again?
The community is warm and welcoming to the Linton's, almost too much so. Everywhere they go people are very interested in their twin daughters Garnette and Hailey. Emily takes a position in a much smaller law firm that is local and Chip is home, suffering with the memories of his flight and experiencing Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. He tries to spend his time renovating and redecorating their home, but first he must open that mysterious door. What he finds is more than horrific. Some people in the community are worried about the "herbalists" and Emily and Chip begin to have their own doubts too.

I loved the prologue to this book, it drew me in, had me begging for more. The reader learns early that the book is not just about Chip and his PTSD, or a spooky old mansion, but about an odd quirky community, and yet I imagine most readers will keep reading, as it's just not something one can put their finger on. I began reading this book, but it seemed to be moving a bit slow to me, so I borrowed the audio from my library, and I really enjoyed the two voices of the audio, they were very well done, but I didn't make note of the narrators names.
Bohjalian does an expert job of creating that creepy feeling in the house, with their neighbors and of the basement. I don't think I'd go down there if I lived in such a house. His characters are precise and yet I was so surprised by the end of this book, I hadn't predicted it at all. I love how the words caused me to look up exactly what a tincture is, and I'll never think of it the same again.

I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars, I really liked it. I think it makes for a disturbing yet entertaining read or listen.

Chris Linton is an airline pilot who was unable to save all his passengers one day when he had to try an emergency water landing. Chris suffering from a deep depression and survivors guilt can't but help compare himself to the other pilot (Sully) who was able to save his entire plane trying the same maneuver. Chip's wife, Emily, decides that maybe it is best for Chip, herself and their two twin daughters to move to small town and start over.

The Linton family moves to the White Mountain area to start over but the house they have moved into seems to have several secrets. One of the most odd features of the house, a cellar door sealed shut with 39 carriage bolts. Thirty-Nine passengers died in plane crash that destroyed the Linton family. Chip becomes obsessed with the door and the contents behind it. As Chip becomes more and more obsessed he starts to lose his handle on reality - or has he?

The Night Strangers is part tragedy part ghost story. The novel details a frighteningly detailed account of the plane crash, one that has me wanting to avoid planes until the description fades from my memory. The other parts of the novel follows the ghost story/mystery. I really enjoyed the novel I just felt it could have benefited from some tighter editing, but if you want to check out a modern ghost story I say go for it.

This book started out alright and I really wanted to like it but it failed to keep my interest. I read 60% of it and I was pretty certain of what was going to happen so I read the last few chapters just to see if I was right and unfortunately I was. I got this book for free from the library and I still regretted reading it. I only gave it 2 stars because there are some really good ideas in it that could have made a great story.

Here's what bothered me the most.
~ Neither parent questions the herbalists intentions. Given the mounting evidence and the dead twin situation in the house they moved into, I'm not sure how they failed to question anything. Personally I'd be suspicious off the bat if I moved to a small New England town and people came out of the woodwork to make friends with me. Small New England towns aren't really known for their inclusiveness to outsiders.
~The use of 2nd person for everything from the husband's perspective. All the "you see ... " and "you enter blah blah blah" was just annoying to me it reminded me of a scary campfire story book I had as a kid. I'm not the character in the book, I'm not doing anything, just tell me the character's story and make it good.
~ This is just a personal pet peeve but I was annoyed by some of the authors repetitive word choices, maybe if the story had a better flow I wouldn't have noticed but I did notice and was consequently annoyed. It started out with the word moldering, The pile of coal was always moldering in the corner of the basement and then leaves were moldering somewhere. I guess it caught my attention because I'm not sure that coal would really molder as moldering implies rotting. I'm probably just nitpicking but this really should have just been used for the leaves instead of the author trying to use a big word that sounded scary for the coal in the basement. Then for a whole chapter everyone the family encountered was nonplussed. It really made me feel like this book should have gone through another round of editing/rewriting.

I am kicking myself for wasting my time to finish this book. It actually had two partially interesting stories (plane crash survivor and weird herbalists) that Bohjalian joined together to try to make one complete story, but this fell short by a lot! I read "Midwives" and loved it, but this story was too "Stephen King-like" and just didn't work. The characters were not believable, the plot line was ludicrous, and the ending was disappointing. It was like he had two partial story lines with no good path forward, so he put them together to achieve some deadline for putting out his next book. Was a complete waste of time : (

I've always had Chris Bohjalian on my reading radar. He is the New York Times bestselling author of Skeletons at the Feast and The Double Bind and now his newest book called The Night Strangers. I had downloaded a sample of his new novel on my e-reader and was hooked from the very first pages.

The book opens with a harrowing scene. Chip Linton, the Captain of a seventy passenger aircraft, has just taken off from Burlington Airport in Vermont. Shortly after takeoff Chip is confronted with failed engines from a bird strike. Having been schooled in the miraculous landing on the Hudson via Sully Sullenberger, Chip decides to bring his plane down in Lake Champlain. Unfortunately unlike Sullenberger's landing, Chip's plane gets clipped by a wave from a local ferry and flips into the air, breaking apart and killing thirty nine passengers (if you plan on bringing this book on vacation with you, make sure to read this chapter after you get off the plane. Trust me on this one).

Emily Linton is Chip's wife and she is concerned for Chip's well being. Chip has tremendous guilt over fate of his last flight and now suffers from post traumatic stress disorder. Emily decides that a change of scenery might be helpful, so along with their twin 10 year old daughters Hallie and Garnett, she has decided to move the family from Philadelphia to a remote part of New Hampshire. They find an old Victorian, something that Chip can spend time fixing up while the girls are in school and Emily is working at a local law firm.

But this ideal house and perfectly quaint town isn't at all what they expected. Chip becomes obsessed with this strange four foot door, hidden in a corner of the basement, which is held shut with thirty-nine carriage bolts (the coincidence of thirty-nine deaths and thirty-nine carriage bolts is not lost of Chip or Emily). Between Chip's slow mental deterioration and the strange women (known locally as "herbalists") who take an un-natural interest in their twin girls, the Lintons are slowly falling apart. Is it too late to help Chip become the person he used to be? And what do the herbalists really want with the Linton family?

Reminiscent of The Shining (and like the Stephen King novel, I believe in the hands of a skillful director this could be an excellent movie) The Night Strangers had just the right amount of scary story, psychological thriller and drama to keep me turning the pages. The book is really two stories in one, but each come together pretty seamlessly. First there is Chip's mental state, which between the guilt of having lived through a crash when so many people died and the strange happenings in the New Hampshire house, is on the fast track to the insane asylum. Then there are the strange woman in the community who seem to take an unnatural interest in the family. At first it all seems very neighborly (making homemade meals with the fresh herbs from their greenhouses, helping watch the twins after school) but soon Emily starts to realize that there may be something a bit more sinister going on. These two stories seem unrelated, but by the ending (which I found totally unexpected but fitting for the story) everything comes together.

Even though I would say that the plot is a bit slow moving at times, overall I thought The Night Strangers was an entertaining read and great introduction to Bohjalian's work. I really enjoyed reading The Night Strangers and will most definitely read another book by this author

Well no doubt about it that Night Strangers will make you hear every bump in the night. Putting anything in the basement is pretty spooky for me and that is barely touching the hair raising happenings of Chris Bohjalian's tale of the paranormal.

I definitely got what I was craving and then some... I tend to lean more towards the good old spooky ghost stories than the modern paranormal horror so at times this was a bit "GAH!" For the most part... I would call this book a ghost story with a triple energy drink kick. After all what s not to love about a book where not all your characters are living?

If you are looking for a little spooky in your pre-Halloween week, look no further for great writing that will definitely make the hair in your neck tingle and have you checking the basement door.

I normally love Bohjalian whom I consider a master of the surprise ending, so I looked forward to this book. Unfortunately, I found it more weird and creepy than a compelling read -- all atmosphere, no substance. The fault is partially mine since I didn't realize it was horror, but I expected more from this author who has managed in his other books to provide intrigue and intellectual questioning along with a suspenseful plot. As a teacher of literature, I have always advised my students to give a book a chance -- at least 30 pages -- before you put it down forever and walk away. I gave this one far more than that and finally asked myself why I was holding on. I hope Bohjalian returns to nuanced characters and compelling plot lines without falling into the realm of cheap horror in his next venture.

I really can't add much to the conversation about The Night Strangers. It's all been said, and likely much more eloquently than I put it.

Without giving too much away: a family moves into a new house in a town in a new state, and all sorts of weirdness and creepiness ensues. But then, just as we've completely bought into this family and their woes, and we're wondering how *we'd* deal with it if we were in their shoes... the author goes off the rails and abandons the world he's just spent scores of pages building.

Bohjalian had me glued after the first hint of supernatural thriller began. Why he chose to throw that all away and devote the rest of the book to what should have been a silly side story is beyond me.

This had such promise; but it really falls flat.

Great (scary) escape. I loved this book because it was so different that what I used to from Mr. Bohjalian. The characters are flawed, each one of them in some way. Having moved to VT by myself at one point in my life I totally get how desperate one can be to make friends. I'm just glad I don't have a basement in my current home. Ignore the naysayers - they don't have a scrap of imagination.

My favorite aspects of Mr. Bohjalian's writing, especially when set in New England, is that he masterfully captures the essence of the environment, the people and the lifestyle.

If you are looking for something just a little different - pick up The Night Strangers. You may want to sleep with the lights on.

I will pick up and read anything that Chris Bohjalian writes. The first book I read was "The Double Bind" and I loved it. I quickly read more novels by him and enjoyed them all. When he comes out with a new book, I anticipate spending many, many hours reading a master.

"The Night Strangers" draws from the headlines surrounding Sully Sullenberger. Our main character, Chip Linton, is also a pilot who encounters geese causing all engines to fail. Remembering Captain Sullenberger's recent landing on the Hudson River, Chip decides to land his plane on the water as well but things don't work out the way he hoped and thirty-nine people die. Suffering from PTSD, Chip and his family move to a small town in northern New Hampshire where they can start their lives over and try to isolate themselves from the past. While Chip continues to struggle with life after such a dramatic event and his wife tries to create an emotionally stable environment for their daughters, the townspeople seem to be largely welcoming and helpful. The novel follows the progress of Chip as he deals with mental health issues as well as the adjustments of the entire family to a new home and situation. While restoring the older home they purchased, odd objects are found throughout which indicate an unusual history with the house. The townspeople also seem to be a bit unusual and, while helpful, sometimes appear to be too interested in the family and their twin daughters. Another interesting aspect is that the number of greenhouses in the area is high and there is a whole group of herbalists with unusual names populating the town. Is this all an innocent group of helpful townsfolk or is there something more sinister afoot?

As I said in the beginning, Mr. Bohjalian can write books that keep me engrossed from beginning to end. Unfortunately, this isn't one of them. While I normally enjoy slow-moving, slowly building books with lots of atmosphere and setting, I found this one to lean more toward just being repetitive than moving forward. While the description of the initial plane crash is amazing in its ability to draw the reader in and make you live the experience, it seemed that the first part of the book just kept going back to that over and over and over again. While very well written, as a reader I was ready to move on way before the author did. This is just one example, but the novel felt like it didn't go anywhere for long periods and I found myself impatient versus mesmerized.

Bottom line: My least favorite of the novels I have read by Mr. Bohjalian. While still head and shoulders above many of the books being published, it fell short of my expectations. He can write amazing books and this one just wasn't the stunner that I have come to expect from him. Still a master of language and intrigue, this one could have been tightened up to make it better than it was.

I love the premise of this book. Pilot Chip Linton is traumatized after a plane crash in which 39 people died. He and his family move to a small town to recuperate. There is something unsettling about the new house and the townspeople. Ghosts? Witches? Sounds like a great read! And written by Chris Bohjalian, you know it's going to be great.

But it was a disappointment. There were flashes of Bohjalian brilliance in the character of Chip Linton, in his nightmares and regrets and pain. But none of the other characters were fully fleshed out. The plot didn't have his normal tightness. I guess I would describe this book (particularly the second half) as fairly typical horror/supernatural genre fiction. I expected more from Bohjalian.

I have to agree with those. This book started so good, and I was really looking forward to a nice resolution to the story, but I feel that Mr. Bohjalian must have had writer's block for the ending, because the conclusion was very disappointing and I felt so unsatisfied that I'm doing what I don't normally do, write a review.

The beginning was great, the middle started to drag and the ending could have been so much better but I feel Mr. Bohjalian didn't give it the ending his story so richly deserved. It's too bad because the writing is good and the author really knows how to capture the reader right away. But he seems to have floundered around the middle and couldn't reconnect with his protagonists anymore, leaving the second half and the ending pretty bland and missing the great mystery and connection that the first half had build up.

Intriguing premise to start with -- creepy door in the basement -- but it's a downward spiral after that. The book is peppered with poor attention to detail (e.g., carriage bolts require a nut attached on the other side) and awful wording ("she sprayed the trees with her flashlight" or worse "nothing, nothing at all" repeated dozens of times. Bad writing is coupled with a story that gets weaker by the page. The mother hands her daughters over to "herbalists" who re-name the girls and give them books of spells to study -- really????? Instead of taking this book to the used-book store for credit, I threw it into the recycling bin so no one else would waste part of their life reading it.

Way too contrived. Seems the plot of this book felt like an episode of TV' s American Horror Story, finished in an hour and left wanting answers. A pilot, like Capt. Sully, has a plane hit by geese but his cannot be saved. The family moves to a Stepford Wives town and allows themselves to be led by the nose into acts of witchcraft and endangering their twin girls. The twins, at ten years old, just take orders from strange adult harpies? Not bloody likely in this day and age. The airplane pilot is a fine character, but the offing of his compatriots every time one speaks to him is trite and rings untrue. Chris has missed again, like Skeletons. I think he is maybe he is trying too hard. the focus on the old twins and new twin girls got lost but the characters were interesting. So about a B minus grade.

This is an interesting book that doesn't fit neatly into any genre. The story starts with Chris, an airline pilot who crash lands his plane in a lake. Thirty-nine people die. He is devastated. The family decides to start anew and buys an ancient Victorian mansion in a small town in New Hampshire. Chris is fascinated by a door in the basement sealed by 39 large bolts. The entire family is soon made aware of the large number of women in the town who have plant names and are referred to as herbalists. These women have a rather unhealthy interest in Chris' twin daughters. Then Chris is visited by the spirits of several people who perished on his plane. The ending surprised and unsettled me.