Anyone else read Peter Straub’s lost boy lost girl? I’m a big fan of Straub’s, especially The Blue Rose Trilogy and related short stories, so I eagerly awaited this new book. Sadly, it did not live up to my expectations.
I really loved the fact that there was no element of the supernatural in the Millhaven stories. Nightmarish events took place there; it was creepy, horrifying, downright weird, but all the work of human beings. Now, with this novel, we have Tim’s nephew Mark going “elsewhere” to be with the ghost of his dead first cousin, twice removed. Elsewhere? They can make webcam films and send e-mails from Elsewhere?
The story built up a great deal of suspense; when I realized that there was someone else in the house with Mark, it was 1am and it scared the hell out of me. The fact that it turned out to be a ghost really bothered me. Also, the whole Ronnie Lloyd-Jones/ Sherman Park Killer storyline was so easily resolved that if felt rushed; Tom Pasmore solved it in 30 seconds, and then, mere pages later, Ronnie is dead. What was the point of that whole plot line? Just to make the reader wonder if Mark was murdered?
Overall, a disappointing outing from Mr. Straub, IMO. I’d love to hear what others thought of it. Did anyone else catch the gratuitous William Faulkner reference? Apropos of what, I don’t know, but it was there.
Are you positive that the girl Mark went off with is his dead first cousin? I wasn’t.
Anyway, of Straub’s works, I have read and enjoyed Koko, The Talisman (with S. King) and Floating Dragon.
I like ghost stories, especially haunted house ghost stories, and I lostboylostgirl was nothing if not haunting. Straub’s characterizations were as compelling as his prose. Was the Ronnie plotline put in to make the reader wonder if Mark was killed? I dunno, but it worked. Some of the creepiest stuff was Straub’s description of Ronnie. Mark took in the unkempt black hair curling past his collar, his wide back covered by a black coat that fell like a sheet of iron to the backs of his knees. Willful, powerful wrongness came off him like steam.
And I thought the film was pretty cool.
I have the book on my short Christmas list so I’ll have to get back to you. I love Straub’s work. Loved “Mr. Clubb and Mr. Cuff” and the Blue Rose books.
Quite totally positive. I went back into the book and it’s rife with the implication, but here are some quotes:
(discussing the sighting of Mark in the cafe through the window)
Tim Underwood says, “He was with Lucy Cleveland.”
Tom Pasmore replies, “You mean Lily Kalendar?”
Tim answers, “What she calls herself doesn’t matter.”
It’s on page 248. There are other references to her real identity throughout the latter half of the book, but that’s the most direct one I could find.
I wanted to be haunted by it, but I was too annoyed. The most chilling thing about the Millhaven stories is the fact that none of the evil things that happen or evil people who live there were supernatural, but then we have Mark and his cousin going “elsewhere” with no explanation or sense to it.
If you haven’t read the Blue Rose Trilogy (Koko, Mystery, and The Throat), I highly recommend them. Talk about scary, haunting, deeply affecting, and weird. Once you read those and get a feel for Millhaven you’ll understand why lostboy lostgirl bugged me so much.
It didn’t work for me because Tim was so convinced right from the start that Mark was OK… because he had gotten that e-mail from Mark from “Elsewhere” two days after his disappearance. Tim’s conviction that Mark was safe pretty much killed any suspense I built up wondering what happened to him. I wanted a more satisfying conclusion to Mark’s story. The one we got, frankly, seemed like bullshit to me.
I was very disappointed that this book failed to thrill me. I am a big fan of Millhaven and of Straub’s. This book seemed rushed to me, its resolutions too pat. Sigh. I hope The Wolves of the Calla is more exciting…
I usually really like Straub’s books(floating Dragon, Shadowland, If You Could See Me Now etc ect) but I walked away from this one not getting the ending. Was Mark supposed to be dead or not? Either he’s alive and all the evidence of him being dead was a red herring, or he’s dead and pulled a ghost in the machine oh how orginal. It didn’t feel like he really decided himself if Mark lived or died, and we suffered the confusion for it.
elfkin477, I was left with the same questions. Did Ronnie Lloyd-James kill Mark? I feel like Tim was saying “no,” but the ending leaves that ambiguous. If he’s dead, how is he sending e-mails? But if he’s Elsewhere, where exactly is that? How does one get there? Clearly they have cybercafes there too.
My initial reaction was that yes, he was killed. Then I figured that he ended up elsewhere with the girl before Ronnie could ever get to him.
Sorry you guys were disappointed.
For me, I guess I don’t mind ambiguous endings. It just doesn’t matter that much to me what Elsewhere is, or how you get there.