IN THE NIGHT ROOM

Peter Straub makes his listeners work very hard to follow his novels; this one is no exception. Reader Jason Culp does his best to keep the confusing novel going, with its flights into fantasy and hodge-podge mixture of fiction within fiction. In fact, Culp's work is the saving grace of the book and its plot about a novelist named Timothy Underhill whose characters come to life and involve him in their stories. The author weaves the story within the story until no one, especially the listener, is quite clear about what is going on. I had to start over from the beginning to get things straight; that should not have to happen. M.S. © AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine [Published: DEC 05/ JAN 06]