"It knows his darkest secrets. It feeds his greatest fears. It makes him do things he would never do. And there is no end to what he will do . . . to make it out alive."

This is an interesting book that's kind of out of my wheelhouse, but the premise intrigued me, so I took a chance. Honestly, it's a mixed bag, but the right person might appreciate it more than I did.

After Joe watches his wife die a grisly, and highly unusual, death, he decides to walk around the world to alleviate his grief and trauma. While in Barcelona, he meets beautiful Helen and after overhearing other backpackers talking about a mysterious "escape room" type house and they decide to participate. Big mistake (obvs).

So I found the challenges and explanations for them plausible in the whole "suspend disbelief fantasy/sci-fi stuff" way, but I kinda phased in and out of attention. The idea was cool, but I can't quite pinpoint if there was reason I didn't click with this one. Oh well, can't win 'em all. I might try out another Jeremy Bates novel and see if it's just this one.

I received a free audiobook copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.

6/10

*Audiobook ARC provided via NetGalley*

Pretty average run of the mill horror novel. It started out good with a good amount of mysterious dark moments and slowly became more and more unhinged and unreal. I have seen other reviews saying they did not like this but I was actually all for it. I would have liked things to get a bit more psychological. The ending also wasn't my favorite, can't really say more about it without a spoiler, but it did not go in my favorite direction, even if I can see why the author chose to end that way.

As far as the audiobook goes the narration was great, I really enjoyed the narrators voice!

I had high expectations for this book and it just sadly didn’t meet them. It was weird and so hard to stay interested. The constant throwback memories were just ill placed. I feel like rather than inserting them in the moment it should’ve been one big memory throwback when they realized it was based on their subconscious. Then he could’ve connected the pieces with brief mentions of the memories. The ending of him realizing he never left was my favorite part but then fell short with him having a shoot off and I think dying. I feel like this book could’ve been so much better if it wasn’t so many crazy concepts that just didn’t flow (time traveling back to Jurassic time for example). Also the connection between Joe and Helen felt ungenuin. And I never felt connected with the characters. It never showed actual emotions and feelings. Rather than saying and explaining and making you feel sad/afraid it just said “I was afraid” or “Helen was sad”. Overall I definitely didn’t connect with this book and it was my least favorite read so far this year.

Special thank you to Netgally, the Author and the publisher for allowing me to listen to the audiobook arc for this for my honest opinions and thoughts.

First, I must say that Joe Hempel is the man for narration. I have not heard a single book read by him that I have not enjoyed. Five fabulous stars for Joe!


The No End House is a smooth ride of two strangers who quickly become friends that try to survive a house with no end in sight. They are given many physical and mental tests to test their mettle and find their way out. Through determination and ambition the two work together through levels of the house. Some levels are easier than others, some are altogether insane!

Jeremy Bates writes such smooth stories, it seems almost effortless for him. The character development progresses to a level that I find myself getting attached to the main characters. The world, the house with no end, must have taken a large imagination to come up with all the tests and trials the two characters come across. I’d love to know how this story developed and evolved!


Recommended for those that like a strong male and female main character, creatures, bloody battles, and psychological turmoil.

#NetGalley #TheNoEndHouse

I stopped listening to the audiobook at the 30% mark. I found the dialogue to be poorly written and the two main characters were completely unlikable. Add to that the events in the house were so random and more like a fever dream than a haunted house. This book and the premise had so much potential; however, it was poorly executed.

Thank you for the ARC. I really enjoyed this narrators voice. He held my attention but this story felt very flat to me. I expected something different than what I got with this story. I thought it was escape room, Saw type of vibes but it was quite boring and the challenges were lame. Dinosaurs? Really?

Joe and Helen enter the house and have to face 9 challenges to win $5000 each.

I got 17% of the way through before I had to DNF. Nothing interesting happened, Joe is just walking around not doing much of anything. The concept of the book sounded so gripping, but execution really fell flat. The narrator was alright, did the best he could with the material he was given.

OK I was expecting a haunted house but this is more a scifi take on hostel with very unbelievable bits. I sisters enjoyable overall story though and the narrator does a fantastic job

DNF at 78%. The story was Looney Tunes levels of wacky. Instead of being scary, it reminded me of a distastefully gruesome decoration at Spirit Halloween.

I am a sucker for a good horror book and when you add horror and a escape room where your soul is on the line I am all in. This book played with horror and presecptiiond and time itself I will say ot was a very ambitious book with characters and twisst that I really enjoyed. I loved the dialpgue and connection between Joe and Helen and wanted to see them survive witch I feel in horror sometimes is lacking you have to care for the characters for it to truly work and the writing and talent within the horrific scenes made me feel for them. I loved the writing and the feeling of paranoia that was heavy on your chest in this book as well a dyhe fear of your vwey own mind and what would happen if a place used that against you hoe much more powerful and fritgehning would everything be if it was within apart of your own making. The ending I thought was great I'm a strong believer in horror it doesn't have to be tied up nicely it's horror for a reason it ahouod be dark and scary snd also leave you with a feeling of breathlessness and. Wondering in the back of your head if there was something you missed. This was a goof read and I will definitely read more from this author in the future.

I absolutely loved this psychological horror book! With escape room vibes and a surreal, fever dream atmosphere, it pulled me in from the very first page. This isn’t your typical scary or spooky story. It’s more of a creeping, unsettling descent into the mind, where reality bends and nothing feels quite safe or solid.

The pacing kicks off strong. Some of the middle sections slow slightly as we move through different rooms, but it only adds to the feeling of being trapped and disoriented just like the characters. The ending was fitting & while I typically love a book that is tied up in a neat bow, I wasn’t mad with this ending.

What truly brought this book to life for me was the narration. The performance perfectly captured the unease, dread, and escalating tension, making the experience even more immersive. 5 stars!

Thank you NetGalley & Tantor Audio for the ALC in exchange for my honest review.

Joe is walking around the world, attempting to heal from the death of his wife. He meets Helen at the bar of his hostel in Barcelona. Joe hears two of his hostel roommates talking about winning $5000 for an internet challenge at a local haunted house. He tells Helen the next day and she leads him around trying to find it. Despite not needing the money , not wanting to go AND a provision in the haunted house contract that states you forfeit your soul if you lose, Helen strong-arms Joe into signing it. And we shall start here. Yes, I realize Joe is a man but he'd only met Helen the night before and spent a couple hours at a bar with her before spending a bit more time the following morning. Yet somehow she manages to coerce him to put his life at risk for a few thousand dollars. Okay...

Once they get into the house, they realize that this isn't a regular haunted house. Perhaps they actually did just sign their souls away...

This was an interesting premise. What if a haunted house could morph, could tailor itself to you and your past and fears? I just didn't like the ending of this, although I was still thinking about it in bed last night so that is something.

I loved the premise of this one and was so excited to read it. 🤩 I love that the characters go in just thinking it’s a haunted house and they end up in dangerous battles for their lives. The storyline was interesting and each room got darker. The ending definitely tied everything together for me I loved it !!! And the narration was great too.

I listened to this one and the narrator did a good job. This is a very interesting book, but it wasn’t exactly what I was expecting. It wasn’t quite the straight horror I was wanting. Joe decides to walk the world after his wife is killed horribly in an accident. While in Barcelona he meets Helen and overhears two others in the hostel talking about a contest at the No End House. He and Helen go and decide to try the contest. If they can get through all of the rooms they will get 10,000 dollars. But the no end house is devious and the cost of failure is higher than the rewards. I thought too much of the house was a little more silly than horrifying, but I did like the ending a fair amount. The writing was fine and the characters were interesting. It would have made a pretty good episode of Black Mirror. It was a good story, it just wasn’t the horror story I was hoping for.

First, thank you to Netgalley and RBMedia for the early listening copy of this book.

Second, this book is not what it claims to be in the synopsis. I was expecting a saw/escape room horror novel and got a fever dream/bad trip with dinosaurs???? It started out promising and then went downhill unfortunately. The narration didn’t add anything either- I found Joe and Helen insufferable and random, the way they were narrated and written.

I had high hopes for this one but unfortunately it fell flat off the edge of the earth with how far off plot it went.

What a wild ride that was!

This audiobook was quite entertaining. After reading the premise, I could not wait to dive in! It was not at all what I expected. It was a cool concept. This audiobook is the definition of a psychological thriller!

I enjoyed Joe and Helen’s characters and felt that they meshed well together. I loved the concept of an escape room house, you have to find the doors to exit each room which made the story so claustrophobic. In the best way!

With all of that said, I felt like it could have been a bit scarier. The concept was there, but the horror execution lacked and seemed to be more weird than scary.

I listened at 1.75x and enjoyed the narrator!

All in all, a good book.

This one was definitely different than what I normally read. Horror. This was interesting and it did take me a few days to listen to it
The narrator was great I just don’t think the genre was for me
If you enjoy it then you might want to check it out

First of all, Joe Hempel is one of my favorite horror narrators. I will listen to just about any story he narrates. In this book, he is well spoken, with a clean and clear reading voice. I did enjoy listening to this one, the story was easy to keep up with and progressed nicely.

The story itself was enjoyable, though a bit predictable. The characters were flawed but likable and I enjoyed listening to their lives unravel.

Thank you netgalley, the author and RB media/Tantor audio for an ALC!

I received a free copy of The No-End House from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The narrator was great. His voice flowed nicely with the storyline while not sounding forced.

This book has a strong premise — a mysterious haunted house that dares people to make it through all nine rooms, each more twisted than the last. There are some genuinely gripping, eerie moments once the characters are inside, and I really enjoyed the scenes where they interacted with the unsettling inhabitants of the house.

That said, this one didn’t fully work for me. Joe and Helen, the main characters, weren’t very likable — I found both a bit irritating, which made it hard to stay invested. The pacing dragged at times and the story felt overly long. And for something meant to be terrifying, the group agreed to the rules of the game way too easily, which made it feel a little unbelievable — even for horror.

If you’re into surreal, over-the-top haunted house stories with a cinematic vibe, this might hit the mark for you. It just didn’t quite land for me.

Why is this so good?! I couldnt stop listening! The narrator did an absolutely fantastic job of keeping me on the edge of my seat from the very start. The suspense had me holding my breath, but honestly, I wouldn't expect anything less from Bates. This is an absolute must read/listening for thriller and horror lovers!