THE THROAT. [Import] [Hardcover]

Peter Straub. (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 672 pages
• Publisher: NY: 1993 1st ed.; First Edition edition (1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0002241781
• ISBN-13: 978-0002241786
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.2 x 2.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,801,767 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gets Better With Every Reading, May 25, 2005

By 

Dov G. "Goldstar" (Bakersfield, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Throat (Paperback)

I've just finished reading this for the second time, and am even more blown away than I was the first go 'round. The details and atmosphere are so rich, so specific to place and time (a thinly disguised Milwaukee, late 40's-early 50's up through the present), and layer after layer of menace is built up in increments that make it all seem so real that you have to wonder what nightmares lie in the author's own past. The depth of character development is unusual for horror/thrillers or however this book has been marketed, and Straub's sheer writing virtuosity makes this book seem more like a literary novel than genre fiction. KOKO and MYSTERY, novels related to the Blue Rose murders detailed in this one, share several characters with THROAT but differ enough in details to further mystify and discomfit a reader who already is convinced that Mr. Straub understands something about the subtle nature of evil that the rest of us are too naive to grasp.

At the psychological junction where child abuse in its worst imaginable form intersects uneven memory stands THE THROAT, exposed. Fiction this intelligent rarely comes along in any genre. That Peter Straub is compelled to use his astounding talents in a probe of the dark side makes for chilling reading, because he is more than smart enough to make you believe. Even in the daylight.

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars so much more rewarding than king or koontz, September 12, 2003

By 

Ms. J. Kelly "josie kelly" (Oxfordshire England) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Throat (Paperback)

I often see reviews that compare the writing of Peter Straub to that of Stephen King (for obvious reasons) and of Dean Koontz (purely because of the horror genre as far as I am aware). But to me they are illogical comparisons. If you want a contrived plot where man meets woman and they both find salvation from their past horrors through love for each other, read Koontz. If you want to slip into reading something that feels as comfortable as an old slipper, beacuse you've read the same story 10 times before, only in different guises, read King.

However, if you want to read intelligent novels with characters that you care for and who develop over the course of the trilogy, read Koko, Mystery and the Throat - All completely different to each other, yet interlinked beautifully.

I am the first to admit that sometimes Straub's writing can be difficult to get into - it took me 3 attempts over a few years before I was able to finish Mystery for the first time, but now i regularly re read all of Straub's novels (apart from If you could see me now, which is the only one I've not yet been able to get into) and look forward to doing so - to entering the worlds that he creates (even though I am left cold by the constant jazz references!).

Basically, if you're tiring of King and Koontz, finding them too simplistic - read Straub.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Textbook for Creative Writing, March 17, 2003

By 

Dave Moore (Baltimore, MD) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Throat (Paperback)

Seldom does one encounter such an exquisitly constructed novel, wherein a myriad of individual vignettes are woven together with a central focus. The Throat is a masterpiece of writing proficiency combined with a talent for good, old-fashioned story telling. The novel trancends genre and stands as an example of how books should be written.