New Releases by Peter Straub

Een 12-jarige jongen komt tijdens een avontuurlijke zoektocht naar de talisman die zijn zieke moeder moet genezen, in aanraking met een andere wereld, bevolkt met allerlei fantastische, maar ook kwaadaardige wezens.

For more than two decades Peter Straub has engrossed, entertained, and terrified us with his dazzling blend of cool artistry and mad, spine-tingling imagination. With Mr. X, the bestselling author of Ghost Story, The Talisman (with Stephen King), and The Hellfire Club takes us into the darkest dimensions of the human psyche and proves once again that he is without peer in the realm of psychological suspense and horror, a master storyteller whose unique and powerful gifts qualify him to be called the Edgar Allan Poe of our times. Mr. X is Straub''s original and startling take on the theme of the doppelganger. Ned Dunstan''s birthday is fast approaching, and every year on this date, Ned experiences a paralyzing seizure in which he is forced to witness scenes of ruthless slaughter perpetrated by a mysterious and malevolent figure in black whom Ned calls Mr. X. Ned has been drawn back to his hometown, Edgerton, Illinois, by a premonition that his mother, Star, is dying. Before she loosens her hold on life, she imparts to Ned the name of his father, never before disclosed, and warns him that he is in grave danger. Despite her foreboding, Ned''s determination to learn as much as possible about his absent father ignites a series of extraordinary adventures that gradually reveal the heart of both his own identity and that of his entirely fantastic family: He discovers that he is shadowed by an identical twin brother who can pass through doors and otherwise defy the laws of nature; he becomes the lead suspect in three violent deaths; he investigates the secret shadow-world within Edgerton; he learns to "eat time" and remembers the one occasion when he and his sinister brother unitedinto a single being. Finally, at the moment of battle, he must call upon everything he has learned to save his own life. Brimming with the author''s trademark wit, understated eloquence, vibrant characters, and brilliant sense of pace, Mr. X displays Peter Straub at the top of his form.

Dvanáctiletý Jack Sawyer je takřka opuštěný, otce už nemá, matka mu umírá. Ale jeho život se brzy změní. Čeká ho totiž cesta přes celou Ameriku – a do paralelního světa. Jack se vydává do neznáma, aby matce zachránil život, a při svém putování potkává nevinné bytosti i nestvůry a čelí neuvěřitelným nebezpečím. Pátrá především po léku, ale jeho cesta nakonec skrývá důležitější poselství. Talisman patří ke kultovním fantasy příběhům o boji dobra a zla, věrnosti, procitání, hrůze a tajemství.

Novel.