Psycho: A Novel

Suspenseful and well-worth the read from the very first page. Definitely for those who enjoy reading horror novels or watching such movies. Psycho follows many of the themes of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, including personality duality and isolation from mainstream society. Also, Bloch's syntax and diction are engaging throughout, making an already exhilarating, fast-paced plot even harder to put down and save for later. Having never read or watched anything like Psycho, I would definitely recommend this title to anyone wanting to or already having explored this genre.

Very good book, simply written so its a quick read. Some difference from the movie, mostly Hitchcock's artistic liberties I would say. I enjoyed reading the inspiration to one of the greatest suspense horror movies.

This is tough to review, because of the movie. Since it is true to the book, very little came as a surprise, so I had to work very hard to put my brain into a pre-Hitchcock mindset. However, if you can do that, is still worth the read!

I gobbled this book down in one sitting. I thought that the movie was good but the book is actually BETTER!!!!!! :)
From the first chapter right down to the last Bloch keeps you on the edge of your seat. :)

Psycho far exceeded my expectations. For some reason, I hardly ever hear the book mentioned. Everyone talks about the film version so I didn't think the book was that popular. Still, Bloch's name pops up now and then in horror discussions so I thought I'd give it a try and discovered one of those rare horror gems. This is what I call horror. It builds suspense and tries to scare us psychologically (obviously) rather than throwing blood and sex around like it's candy. It reminded me that books out there can still give me chills when reading them. Authors like Richard Laymon made me forget that. I love Laymon's work, but none of it is even remotely scary with the small exception of one scene in Night In the Lonesome October. Psycho is an all-around creepy little book and fans of horror must read it. I have absolutely nothing negative to say about this one and that is amazing to me.

Although many will read Psycho because of its cinematic counterpart, it should be noted that the novel is a stand alone wonder. More than anything, Bloch's creation of a character like Norman BAtes is impressive.

The first Psycho novel was excellent. This sequel is not up to par with the original. The book started with much promise - the first few chapters were quite good. After that it fell apart. There were scenes in the books that the author must have added for the shock value: the young actress making a porno film, the actor in a nude review, the brutal gang rape of a woman during World War II, the reference to the snuff film. These did not anything to the story - in fact they distracted from it. Aside from this often times the novel got mired in the side stories. I could see the suprise twist ending coming somewhere around the middle of the book.

I was really interested in reading this book because I had recently seen the movie about Alfred Hitchcock's life while he was making the movie that I believe is based on this book. I really enjoyed every page and every chapter. It brought back the thrill of watching the movie Psycho and confirmed things that were portrayed in the movie about Hitchcock. I think that Bloch is a talented writer and I can see why Hitchcock decided to make the book into a movie. In some ways the book was scarier or more revealing than the movie. I would definitely recommend this book to other readers.