I received an ARC copy of this book via NetGalley and the publisher. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

"She’s going to burn. The girl you love is going to burn. There’s nothing you can do about it."

"Then again, Richard may not be the most reliable narrator of his own story . . ."

The premise of this book promised to be spine tingling and full of horror. As a horror fan myself, I was immediately enticed by it. The thought that something more sinister was going on behind the scenes that maybe even our narrator wasn't the best narrator to have. It had all the makings to be a deeply disturbing book. In my honest opinion, it completely feel flat.

I really had to push myself through this book at times. I had no idea what I was reading or what was going on. I don't know if it was the translation or what but it was hard to follow at times. From the type of descriptions used to the entire structure of the sentences. I had to go back and read several areas again just to be able to grasp what was going on. It also felt a lot like it was trying to be similar to "The Silent Patient". Like at the end everything comes together in a way no one would have expected. And that's a great way to go about it but honestly, the entire book leading up to that, didn't make the twist at the ending that believable or honestly that shocking.

Again, while I may not have liked the book doesn't mean that you will not. If you are a fan of horror, this book is worth investigating. If you are a fan of the author's, then maybe this will be more your speed.

Wow, this book caught me off guard. I wasn’t expecting to be so fully pulled into this story. I found myself so invested in these characters.

A young teenage Richard is sent to live with his aunt and uncle after the death of his parents. New in town and the curious companion of not one, but two children who disappear, Richard is lost and alone, knowing nobody believes what he saw really happen. All but Karen, a fellow student who believes Richard’s story.

While trying to track down the evil that started this whole mess, he unwittingly invites it into his life. Plagued by this terrible voice on the end of every phone line, Richard is running for his life.

But, not all is as it’s seems and in order to figure out the truth, you must read for yourself.

This gave the perfect balance of horror and intrigue. I devoured this one so quick. The visual horror is fantastic, but it’s the deeper meaning that I found so interesting.

When a fourteen-year old Richard’s parents die in a house fire, he is sent to live with an aunt and uncle in a very remote town. His classmates think he is odd. To be honest, Richard does nothing to refute that.

So when Tom goes missing from town, Richard and his wild story about what happened, is now a suspect. No one believes him except one girl, Karen.

This is a horror story. The writing style changed throughout and I was okay with that. Nesbo is a genius at this genre. If you only know his Harry Hold stories, try this one.

NetGalley/ Knopf Publishing, October 03, 2023

I did not know what to expect with this one. I’m a big fan of the author but horror is usually not his genre. The story starts off like teen horror in the vein of Stephen King’s “It” but then takes a wild turn along the lines of Shutter Island or Inception. I was having a hard time figuring out what was reality, and what was psychosis. This was a really great short read that can be completed in one sitting.

Going in, I knew nothing about the book, but the cover was intriguing. I got through over half the book thinking the story was about 1 thing, only to start second guessing myself and the plot. And then to be completely surprised at the end by what happened. Never saw it coming.
I really enjoyed the read, and it kept me enthralled the whole time.

I wanted to like this novel more than I did. Based on the cover and the description I was expecting either a haunted house story or at least a supernatural story. It's neither. It's psychological horror at best. I don't particularly like psychological horror. Or slasher stories. Or sadistic horror.

My other issue with this novel is structural. It is really a story within a story within yet another story. It's basically a variation on the "it was all a dream" trope. Not what I was expecting at all. I would have rated it less but the writing itself is reasonably competent. So if you like psychological horror, and/or if you like or at least don't mind the "dream" trope, you might well enjoy the story. Unfortunately I didn't overly enjoy it.

Thank you Netgalley and Jo Nesbo for the opportunity to read the eARC of The Night House!
Fourteen-year-old Richard Elauved is sent to live in the town of Ballaynte after the death of his parents. He is a troubled kid who almost enjoys bullying others and causing trouble Two of his classmates go missing and all fingers point to him. According to Richard, the first classmate was sucked into a phone and second turned into a bug of sorts. No one believes him except his one friend Karen. They trace the number to Imu Johnson and the story of black word magic and white word magic begins to quickly unfold.
This kind of reminds me of a YA Horror novel, but it is graphic and you will feel the scary words and the bugs crawling all over you. This horror novel could totally keep a younger reader up all night.

i really enjoyed Night House! I've read Nesbo's Harry Hole series, so this was a change-up from those. I loved the creep factor and the classic haunted house trope.

So part one I was good with. I liked the whole phone eating a person and how it was described. It held my interest; this could be something good. Richard is a troubled kid, and because he does cause a lot of issues when people start to go missing, of course, they are going to look at him. No one really will believe him except Karen, someone he goes to school with. We got to part two, and I was still holding on to it getting even better. Richard came to terms with being a butt, which seems to happen once you start growing up.
Part three, and I was confused. I did not know what was happening, was what Richard saw the truth, was it from his imagination, was it even just something he wrote.
I wanted to know more about this house that was the cause of all this. Is this a house that everyone keeps away from? Is this a house that only shows once someone calls it? This book wasn't my favorite, but it was something that I wanted to finish to see what would happen. I would like to try him again later to see if his writing improves. The book was odd, it was different, but it just wasn't my favorite.

Jo Nesbo's has given HER readers a new genre horror! Night House is very different reading if you’ve ever read her Harry Hole series. I’m still a bit dazed upon finishing the book. I found it imaginative, but not really scary because the events are not plausible. Still it’s a good story with lots of surprises and that’s why we read fiction. The unbelievable can be fun.
So here’s the gist…

Fourteen-year-old Richard Elauved is reeling from the tragic death of his parents who succumbed in a house fire. Not quite old enough to live on his own, Richard is sent to live with his aunt and uncle in the small, isolated town of Ballantyne. Richard, the new kid is not accepted at school, and when a classmate named Tom goes missing, everyone suspects the new, angry boy is responsible for his disappearance. He was the last one to see Tom. He claims he and Tom squeezed into a red telephone booth out in the middle of nowhere. Odd, huh? Then Richard kind of forces Tom to make a prank call to a random name in the phone book, Ima Johansson and claim to be the Devil, inviting the listener to hell because that’s where he belongs. Kids will be kids but this time Richard tells investigators that the phone sucked Tom into the receiver starting with his ear until his entire body was consumed. No one, that is, except Karen, a fellow outsider believes his story. He traces the number that Tom prank called from the phone booth to an abandoned house in the Black Mirror Wood. There he catches a glimpse of a terrifying face in the window. And then the voices begin…

“You know who I am. She's going to burn. The one you love is going to burn. There's not a thing you can do about it.”

Then another classmate disappears, and Richard is desperate to prove his innocence, and preserve his sanity. There is dark magic afoot in the strange little town of Ballantyne and whatever it is, it seems determined to destroy this young boy’s life.

While not my favorite, I found the writing creative and imaginative. I liked Richard and felt bad for him. The story was well paced, divided into sections.

If you like odd and creepy, give Night House a nod. It’s a quick read and very unique.

*****I received this ARC free from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

This book is really written well! I love how each part intertwines with the others. I love the correlation with the characters in each part. A great read!

This was an interesting book, and it has its moments, but it is not the Jo Nesbo with whom I am familiar. In fact, this reads like a YA horror story, albeit a bit gorier than maybe most YA books. All that said, I enjoyed reading it but it was not what I expected. I'm okay with Mr. Nesbo toning it down a bit, and this story definitely had its moments of horror. Until near the end, when I felt like I was attending a lecture. I do not want to reveal any spoilers, so I'll end this review here. This is not a book I'm comfortable recommending to other Nesbo fans, but it's a good read if you can let go of your expectations.

My ARC was provided by NetGalley and the publisher; the opinions expressed herein are strictly my own.

While it starts off strong it eventually fizzles out with reveals that become more ridiculous and less impactful with each one all culminating in an ultimately unsatisfying ending. Still there are many awesome and horrific moments that I enjoyed. Which makes the ultimate messiness that more disappointing. Thanks to Netgalley for an ARC for an honest review.

This book had good moments, but I'm not a huge fan of unreliable narrators. It was also a bit too young adult for my tastes. I will say that Nesbø did a great job of weaving actual names and events into the fictional story at the beginning and I enjoyed the way they were revealed later. Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for providing the ARC.

My thanks to NetGalley and Borzoi Books/Alfred A. Knopf for the ARC of "The Night House" in exchange for an honest review.
Upon completion, I did thoroughly like this book........but I'm not sure it's such a great idea to market it as pure unadulterated horror, complete with a blood dripping phone and a looming haunted house.
Here's what took me by surprise, in terms of the book not quite turning out the way its cover seems to promise.
Jo Nesbo cleverly makes use of all the familiar tropes you'd find in a Stephen King bestseller. But he deploys them in service of the book's final explanatory chapter, the third section of three major chapters. As satisfying as that climactic chapter reads, with all "i"s dotted and all "t"s crossed, you come to realize that bone chilling, nightmarish horror was never the intention here......but rather a dark, unsettling but yet heartfelt, sympathetic excursion into psychological trauma.
I realize that sounds deliberately vague and elusive, but "The Night House" is so packed to the rafters with twist, after twist, after twist that I can only risk a brief rundown of its opening.
It's a barnburner alright, pretty much the inspiration for the lurid, eye popping front cover. Imagine a typical 800 page Stephen King blockbuster compressed into novella length, You'll find all the King-ian tropes in place, all coming at you, one on top of the other. Loads of fun to read, but to me anyway, it felt almost like a sly, deadpan spoof of "It". therefore not particularly scary.
Then comes the primary reason I ended up enjoying the book.......the way the next two extended chapters proceed to repeatedly pull the rug out from under you, leaving you dizzy with surprises......right up to the final page.
So I'd most definitely recommend "The Night House" as a unique, entertaining thriller with a whole lot more on its mind (and its plot) than that blood soaked phone on the cover. You just need to hang in there for the twists.......

I've seen books by this author so many times, but this is my first read. Thanks so much to NETGALLEY for an advanced copy! Richard is just 14 but has been plucked from his home with his parents following a tragic fire to live with his aunt and ancle. It is difficult for Richard to fit in, so he operates around the periphery of the popular students. One day he bullies a young boy to make a prank call and unlocks a demon or nightmare that seems to never end. I really liked this book. It was so easy to get into and so weird and creepy and attention grabbing right from the beginning. There were so many odd things going on and it was hard to know what was real and what wasn’t. There was a story within a story and I loved the different parts of this book. Jo Nesbo is such a fantastic writer and I couldn’t read it fast enough. #netgalley #thenighthouse

In this story we follow Richard whose parents die and his aunt and Uncle decide to take him. As always, a teen in a small town he becomes bored with his new home and becomes a prankster to entertain himself. Not long after his arrival to the town other children in the town start to go missing and the catch... Richard is always the last to see them. Of course he starts to become the main suspect in the disappearances. The night house is a book about strange small town secrets and a creepy house called the Night House.

This book is so much fun and absolutely perfect for Halloween/spooky time! It put me in the perfect mood for fall and i absolutely loved it. The book was so well written! It was spooky, atmospheric, thrilling, and suspenseful in all the right ways. Its horror without all the gore and is perfect for those readers who want just a fun and simple horror story. This book comes out in October and honestly Pre-Order it now!! I cant wait to get a physical copy to share with my friends!

Jo Nesbø is primarily known as a detective novel author (the aging Harry Hole series), but this time he has a horror novella to offer to his fans, with a cynical fourteen old bully as the protagonist. Richard is having one of his usual bratty days when he forces Tom to make a prank phone call in an isolated telephone booth. But then the telephone receiver actually eats Tom. Too bad no one believes Richard, although they all do think that Richard is responsible for Tom’s disappearance.

This short horror story from Nesbø was a totally unexpected style from this longtime novelist. I have been tiring of Harry Hole —he’s getting sadder with each subsequent book. Richard, however, is never really likable either, as a teen or 15 years later. I’m not sure who the intended audience is — this seems more like a book for teenage boys than any of Nesbø’s established fans. Unfortunately, this wasn’t for me — the morally bereft main character was too off-putting for me to invest time in. 3 stars.

Thank you to Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage and Anchor and NetGalley for a free advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! It started off reading a bit like middle grade horror, but then morphed into what felt like a fever dream. I couldn't be sure of what was reality. Just when it seemed things were explained, I was plunged into a nightmare! Eventually, there is some clarity, and even some hope but I was left with a lingering disquiet, because I wasn't sure I could believe in what seemed to be the final conclusion. I love books that make me question my perception of events in the story as well as the narrator's reliability.
This was masterfully done, and I can't wait to read more from Jo Nesbo.
I listened to the audiobook version of this, and the narrator of the audiobook did a great job with timing and creating atmosphere. Highly recommend!

This is a short, easy read that could be a perfect spooky season book, particularly if you enjoy a little nostalgia mixed in with your horror. Personally, I stopped at about 40% because the horror elements felt like they'd work better in a movie than they do on page. The creepy things that were happening felt more like they were there to provoke a reaction rather than to tie into a plot. But if you like somewhat unlikeable (maybe unreliable) main characters and unexplained supernatural phenomenon, this could be the one for you.

Thanks to Netgalley and Knopf for the ARC!