Rating: 
Summary: GREAT ATMOSPHERE
Review: The best thing about "If You Could See Me Now" is the eerie, dream-like atmosphere that Straub builds from the very beginning. It contains so many weird, quirky goings-on before any "supernatural" elements are introduced, I kept thinking to myself as I was reading, "No way that just happened!"The plot surprises are effective, too. Straub baits you along for practically half the book before revealing even ONE of the surprise mysteries. The ending is a good twist, too. I liked Ghost Story, but this book made me a bona fide Peter Straub fan.
Rating:
Summary: GREAT ATMOSPHERE
Review: The best thing about "If You Could See Me Now" is the eerie, dream-like atmosphere that Straub builds from the very beginning. It contains so many weird, quirky goings-on before any "supernatural" elements are introduced, I kept thinking to myself as I was reading, "No way that just happened!" The plot surprises are effective, too. Straub baits you along for practically half the book before revealing even ONE of the surprise mysteries. The ending is a good twist, too. I liked Ghost Story, but this book made me a bona fide Peter Straub fan.
Rating:
Summary: GREAT ATMOSPHERE
Review: The best thing about "If You Could See Me Now" is the eerie, dream-like atmosphere that Straub builds from the very beginning. It contains so many weird, quirky goings-on before any "supernatural" elements are introduced, I kept thinking to myself as I was reading, "No way that just happened!" The plot surprises are effective, too. Straub baits you along for practically half the book before revealing even ONE of the surprise mysteries. The ending is a good twist, too. I liked Ghost Story, but this book made me a bona fide Peter Straub fan.
Rating:
Summary: Straub at his most concise
Review: The main problem that I have with this book is that the main character is such an idiot that he gets himself into much more trouble than he needs to. Then again, that's half the fun of the book: it's fascinating to watch Miles self-destruct and/or cluelessly do exactly what will get him into the most trouble with the locals, in the way that watching a car wreck is fascinating. (Not that I would hope anyone would get into a car wreck.) He reminds me in some ways of the Richard Dreyfuss character in Close Encounters. In fact, the supernatural aspects of the book seem almost superfluous: with a little more work this could be a straightfoward and compelling character study in self-destruction. However, such as it is, this is a very nice, very concise little ghost story, and well worth reading
Rating:
Summary: Straub at his most concise
Review: The main problem that I have with this book is that the main character is such an idiot that he gets himself into much more trouble than he needs to. Then again, that's half the fun of the book: it's fascinating to watch Miles self-destruct and/or cluelessly do exactly what will get him into the most trouble with the locals, in the way that watching a car wreck is fascinating. (Not that I would hope anyone would get into a car wreck.) He reminds me in some ways of the Richard Dreyfuss character in Close Encounters. In fact, the supernatural aspects of the book seem almost superfluous: with a little more work this could be a straightfoward and compelling character study in self-destruction. However, such as it is, this is a very nice, very concise little ghost story, and well worth reading
Rating: 
Summary: Creepy even in daylight!
Review: The second book i read by Straub, and one of the perhaps 5 books that is able to unnerve me even at midday with the sun streaming in. Perhaps more abscure than some of his other works, but i would whole heartedly recommend it. Also, check out Ghost Story, Shadowland, and Talisman (with S. King).
Rating:
Summary: "If You Forget, God Help You..."
Review: Thirteen year old Miles Teagarden and his one year older racy cousin, Alison Greening, went skinny-dipping in the quarry in Arden, Wisconsin, and made a pact to reunite twenty years in the future. Only Miles left the quarry alive. He doesn't remember what happened, but Alison drowned and everyone blamed him for it - though, hypocritical prudes that the townsfolk were, they felt the girl had it coming. Now, twenty years later, Miles has returned to honor the pact. With his return comes a shocking wave of serial murders and abductions - all of young girls of Alison's age and appearance. Suspicion falls upon him, and Miles has a knack for making it all worse. He's ruffling a lot of feathers, figuring out what really happened to Alison all those years ago. And before long, he's got much bigger worries than being the prime suspect in the most horrific crimes Arden has ever seen - because it seems someone is trying to kill him... This is a flawed novel, but it's a great flawed novel. Written between his debut book, Julia, and his most popular work, Ghost Story, Straub's If You Could See Me Now is a bridge between his supernatural horror fiction and his later Blue Rose murder mystery trilogy. The suspense in this book is superior, never letting up and continually adding new surprises in plot development. The book is thematically rich, and could easily become the subject of any number of contemporary literature research papers. It is mostly a murder mystery, and a well-written one at that. The supernatural element in the story is ill-explained and seems somewhat inconsistent, yet it works. Alison's motivations are not understandable, though in large part Straub seems to have intended her character to be enigmatic - her name, and her method of manifestation, suggest a change in her akin to becoming some sort of perverse nature elemental. If you like suspense - supernatural, or more mundane crime melodrama - this is the book for you.
Rating:
Summary: "If You Forget, God Help You..."
Review: Thirteen year old Miles Teagarden and his one year older racy cousin, Alison Greening, went skinny-dipping in the quarry in Arden, Wisconsin, and made a pact to reunite twenty years in the future. Only Miles left the quarry alive. He doesn't remember what happened, but Alison drowned and everyone blamed him for it - though, hypocritical prudes that the townsfolk were, they felt the girl had it coming. Now, twenty years later, Miles has returned to honor the pact. With his return comes a shocking wave of serial murders and abductions - all of young girls of Alison's age and appearance. Suspicion falls upon him, and Miles has a knack for making it all worse. He's ruffling a lot of feathers, figuring out what really happened to Alison all those years ago. And before long, he's got much bigger worries than being the prime suspect in the most horrific crimes Arden has ever seen - because it seems someone is trying to kill him... This is a flawed novel, but it's a great flawed novel. Written between his debut book, Julia, and his most popular work, Ghost Story, Straub's If You Could See Me Now is a bridge between his supernatural horror fiction and his later Blue Rose murder mystery trilogy. The suspense in this book is superior, never letting up and continually adding new surprises in plot development. The book is thematically rich, and could easily become the subject of any number of contemporary literature research papers. It is mostly a murder mystery, and a well-written one at that. The supernatural element in the story is ill-explained and seems somewhat inconsistent, yet it works. Alison's motivations are not understandable, though in large part Straub seems to have intended her character to be enigmatic - her name, and her method of manifestation, suggest a change in her akin to becoming some sort of perverse nature elemental. If you like suspense - supernatural, or more mundane crime melodrama - this is the book for you.
Rating:
Summary: Second Best Peter Straub
Review: This book is written beyond amazing. The writing is exquisite, and I reccomend it to anyone who is willing to last through a slow moving but very intriguing book. Second best by Peter Straub directly after Ghost Story.
Rating:
Summary: Straub hits one out of the park....
Review: This is a great story that Straub tells very well and in a rare book, does not "over-write" or become overly wordy, the only fault I can find with Straub's writing. Straub is a master craftsman and a very good storyteller, but like I said his books sometimes get "wordy". However, here he has not encountered that and writes a great "short novel" about going home and dredging up the past. This is an easy read and flows smoothly, however Miles is just clueless. He gets in all types of trouble and seems to have no common sense at all. He is not one of Straub's more memorable characters. Still, two thumbs way way up!!!
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