Review
WINNER OF THE BRAM STOKER AWARD

“lost boy lost girl may be the best book of [Peter Straub’s] career.”
–STEPHEN KING

“EERIE, UNNERVING, AND CONCISE . . .
DARK AND SURPRISINGLY MOVING.”
–The Miami Herald


“A lost boy and a lost girl, a serial killer and a haunted house, a suicide and a kidnapping–Straub’s masterful tale of ultrahorror is all that and a bag of chips!”
–Entertainment Weekly (The Must List)

“[A] wonderful webwork of a book . . . It’s funny, and heartwarming, and genuinely scary.”
–NEIL GAIMAN

“GENUINELY CREEPY.”
–The New York Times Book Review



Book Description
A woman commits suicide for no apparent reason. A week later, her son- fifteen-year-old Mark Underhill-vanishes. His uncle, novelist Timothy Underhill, searches his hometown of Millhaven for clues that might help unravel this horrible dual mystery. He soon learns that a pedophilic murderer is on the loose in the vicinity, and that shortly before his mother's suicide, Mark had become obsessed with an abandoned house where he imagined the killer might have taken refuge. No mere empty building, the house whispers from attic to basement with the echoes of a long-hidden true-life horror story, and Tim Underhill comes to fear that in investigating its unspeakable history, Mark stumbled across its last and greatest secret: a ghostly lost girl who may have coaxed the needy, suggestible boy into her mysterious domain.


From the Inside Flap
A woman commits suicide for no apparent reason. A week later, her son– fifteen-year-old Mark Underhill–vanishes. His uncle, novelist Timothy Underhill, searches his hometown of Millhaven for clues that might help unravel this horrible dual mystery. He soon learns that a pedophilic murderer is on the loose in the vicinity, and that shortly before his mother’s suicide, Mark had become obsessed with an abandoned house where he imagined the killer might have taken refuge. No mere empty building, the house whispers from attic to basement with the echoes of a long-hidden true-life horror story, and Tim Underhill comes to fear that in investigating its unspeakable history, Mark stumbled across its last and greatest secret: a ghostly lost girl who may have coaxed the needy, suggestible boy into her mysterious domain.


From the Back Cover
WINNER OF THE BRAM STOKER AWARD

"lost boy lost girl may be the best book of [Peter Straub's] career."
- STEPHEN KING

"EERIE, UNNERVING, AND CONCISE . . .
DARK AND SURPRISINGLY MOVING."
- The Miami Herald


"A lost boy and a lost girl, a serial killer and a haunted house, a suicide and a kidnapping - Straub's masterful tale of ultrahorror is all that and a bag of chips!"
- Entertainment Weekly (The Must List)

"[A] wonderful webwork of a book . . . It's funny, and heartwarming, and genuinely scary."
- NEIL GAIMAN

"GENUINELY CREEPY."
- The New York Times Book Review

FROM THE PUBLISHER

A woman commits suicide for no apparent reason. A week later, her son -- beautiful, troubled fifteen-year-old Mark Underhill -- vanishes from the face of the earth. To his uncle, horror novelist Timothy Underhill, Mark's inexplicable absence feels like a second death.

After his sister-in-law's funeral, Tim searches his hometown of Millhaven for clues that might help unravel this mystery of death and disappearance. He soon learns that a pedophilic murderer is on the loose in the vicinity, and that shortly before his mother's suicide Mark had become obsessed with an abandoned house where he imagined the killer might have taken refuge.

No mere empty building, the house on Michigan Street whispers from attic to basement with the echoes of a long-hidden true-life horror story, and Tim Underhill comes to fear that in investigating its unspeakable history, Mark stumbled across its last and greatest secret: a ghostly lost girl who may have coaxed the needy, suggestible boy into her mysterious domain.

With lost boy, lost girl, Peter Straub affirms once again that he is the master of literary horror.

SYNOPSIS

A woman commits suicide for no apparent reason. A week later, her son– fifteen-year-old Mark Underhill–vanishes. His uncle, novelist Timothy Underhill, searches his hometown of Millhaven for clues that might help unravel this horrible dual mystery. He soon learns that a pedophilic murderer is on the loose in the vicinity, and that shortly before his mother’s suicide, Mark had become obsessed with an abandoned house where he imagined the killer might have taken refuge. No mere empty building, the house whispers from attic to basement with the echoes of a long-hidden true-life horror story, and Tim Underhill comes to fear that in investigating its unspeakable history, Mark stumbled across its last and greatest secret: a ghostly lost girl who may have coaxed the needy, suggestible boy into her mysterious domain.

FROM THE CRITICS

The New York Times

Inquisitive and open-minded as Tim is, he makes it easy for Mr. Straub to move from conventionally hair-raising effects ("the wooden surface felt furry and scratchy, and softer than it should have been, like the hide of a long-dead bear") to the more happening teenage world of cyberscares. Strongly visual without resorting to second-hand cinematic imagery, the book is equally well equipped to play both kinds of tricks. — Janet Maslin

Washington Post Book World

With his new novel, lost boy lost girl, Straub entwines gothic traditions with serial murder in an eerie yet elegant meditation on homicide and horror.

....In lost boy lost girl, Straub and his "collaborator" urge us to look past the surface of things, to question the solidity of the world (and the novel) and to regain our faith in fiction as something that offers more than simple entertainment, possibly even glimpses of the answers that elude us in life. Books, we've been told time and again, can't be judged by their covers. Peter Straub proves that they're also not to be judged by their genre, or those convenient but often limiting catchwords that booksellers and reviewers -- and far too many readers -- prefer. This is a horror story, yes, but one to be shelved with those written by Straub's peers: the likes of Borges, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry James. — Douglas E. Winter

Publishers Weekly

For its high artistry and uncanny mix of dread and hope, Straub's 16th novel, his shortest in decades, reaffirms the author's standing as the most literate and, with his occasional coauthor Stephen King, most persuasive of contemporary novelists of the dark fantastic. This brilliant variation on the haunted house tale distills themes and characters from Straub's long career, including two of the author's most popular creations: Manhattan novelist Tim Underhill (from Koko, Mystery and The Throat) and Tim's friend, legendary private detective Tom Pasmore (from Mystery and The Throat). Written from multiple viewpoints, the narrative shuttles disturbingly through time and space as Tim travels home to Millhaven, Ill., to attend the funeral for his sister-in-law, a suicide. In that small city based loosely on Straub's hometown of Milwaukee, Tim spends time with his callow widowed brother, Philip, and his nephew, sensitive Mark, 15, who found his mother's naked body in the bathtub, wrists slit and a plastic bag over her head. Meanwhile, a serial killer is snatching teen boys from a local park, and Mark and his sidekick, Jimbo, begin to explore a nearby abandoned house. Mark grows obsessed with the house, eventually revealed as the rotting source of the evil that stalks Millhaven, but also as the harbor of a great marvel. When Mark disappears, Tim pursues his trail and, with Tom Pasmore's help, that of the serial killer who may have taken the boy away. Straub remains a master of place and character; his insight into teens, in particular, is astonishingly astute. His myriad narrative framings allow multiple interpretations of events, making this story work on many levels, yet they also increase the urgency of the story, up to its incandescent ending. With great compassion and in prose as supple as mink, Straub has created an exciting, fearful, wondrous tale about people who matter, in one of his finest books to date. 100,000 first printing; 6-city author tour. (Oct. 7) Forecast: Straub's last book, the King-coauthored Black House, hit #1 on bestseller lists. Readers will remember Black House and The Talisman, as well as Straub's earlier major solo bestsellers such as Ghost Story, Floating Dragon and Koko. The book's brevity may draw new readers, as should strong reviews and, down the road, inevitable award nomination. This title has the potential to be Straub's biggest seller in years. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

Straub brings back his writer hero Tim Underhill (Koko; The Throat) in a lightweight, occult horror mystery involving a suicide and a missing nephew. The story involves not one but two Jeffrey Dahmer-like serial killers who prey on teenage boys. The point of view oscillates between Tim Underhill, the investigator, and Mark Underhill, the lost boy. There is a haunted house, some ghosts, creepy moments, and an unusual ending that uses supernatural email and web pages. Compared with Straub's other works of horror, this is something of a minor diversion, but it is bound to be popular. Recommended for public and university libraries. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 6/15/03.]-Ken St. Andre, Phoenix P.L. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews