THE NIGHT STRANGERS

Author:  Chris Bohjalian

Genre:  Fiction (ghost story), Standalone

Published:  2011

Personal Rating:  2/5 (not enjoyable)

Format/Narrator:  Audiobook/
Fraser and Gramhall

Yearly Count:  9

From NetGalley:

In a dusty corner of a basement in a rambling Victorian house in northern New Hampshire, a door has long been sealed shut with 39 six-inch-long carriage bolts.

The home's new owners are Chip and Emily Linton and their twin ten-year-old daughters. Together they hope to rebuild their lives there after Chip, an airline pilot, has to ditch his 70-seat regional jet in Lake Champlain after double engine failure. Unlike the Miracle on the Hudson, however, most of the passengers aboard Flight 1611 die on impact or drown. The body count? Thirty-nine - a coincidence not lost on Chip when he discovers the number of bolts in that basement door. Meanwhile, Emily finds herself wondering about the women in this sparsely populated White Mountain village - self-proclaimed herbalists - and their interest in her fifth-grade daughters. Are the women mad? Or is it her husband, in the wake of the tragedy, whose grip on sanity has become desperately tenuous?

Blah.  I did not enjoy this.  First of all, I didn't know that it was a "ghost story" (not scary).  I am not a fan of that genre.  The other element of the story that I didn't like (at all!) was that a main character was written in 2nd person.  You do this and you do that.  UGH!  That made it so disjointed and uncomfortable for me and simply just messed up.  It sounded so awkward.

On the other hand, I have enjoyed Bohjalian's writing.  I just didn't care for this story or choice of person he wrote it in.

Thoughts of Joy

My thanks go to Crown Publishers and NetGalley for providing me with this eGalley.