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Devil House

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Devil House

By: John Darnielle
Narrated by: John Darnielle
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About this listen

Gage Chandler is descended from kings. That’s what his mother always told him when he was a child.

Years later, he is a true crime writer with one grisly success – and a movie adaptation – to his name, along with a series of subsequent less notable efforts. But now he is being offered the chance for the big break: to move into the house where a pair of briefly notorious murders occurred, apparently the work of disaffected teens during the Satanic Panic of the 1980s.

Chandler finds himself in Milpitas, California, a small town whose name rings a bell – his closest childhood friend lived there once upon a time. He begins his research with diligence and enthusiasm, but soon the story leads him into a puzzle he never expected – back into his own work and what it means, back to the very core of what he does and who he is.

Devil House is John Darnielle’s most ambitious work yet, a book that blurs the line between fact and fiction, that combines daring formal experimentation with a spellbinding tale of crime, writing, memory, and artistic obsession.

©2022 John Darnielle. Published by arrangement with Scribe Publications Australia Published by arrangement with MCD, an imprint of Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 120 Broadway, New York NY 10271 USA. (P)2022 Macmillan Audio Crime Fiction Suspense Thriller & Suspense World Literature Crime Fiction

Critic Reviews

"It’s never quite the book you think it is. It’s better." (Dwight Garner, The New York Times)

"Devil House has all the gross-out hallmarks of horror and true crime while also questioning the moral implications of the genres." (Los Angeles Times)
All stars
Most relevant  
So I'm here, honestly because I like The Mountain Goats. But in true honesty, that was also the way I found Wolf In White Van, which I didn't enjoy. This book / audiobook took me longer to get to, as I avoided it for some time due to the WIWV experience. I first bought the e-reader version, made it around halfway through, and then found out there was an audiobook version read by the author himself. And wow. I loved reading this book, but hearing it is a whole different thing. I just completed it minutes ago, and it's now definitely my favourite book. Also, John Darnielle is very amazing as a musician, but I think he's found his calling as a narrator, too. This was read with all the feeling the book held, but without too much that it became cartoonish. It was brilliant. I now only wish I had purchased the signed copy when I'd seen it available; a little regret to add to the pile. Listen to this book, or read it, or both. It's amazing. The blurb does it no justice.

Phenomenal. All Round.

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I Enjoyed this story, some crime, some mystery, great characters and really stirred my emotions which I didn't expect. Happy to have found this one.

Enjoyed this story

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Not often do I finish a book that annoys me so much. But I did. Reading all the 5 star reviews made me think something amazing was going to happen.
Voice acting: Horrendous. The oddest cadence throughout that was read almost like a stanza, pausing constantly in random parts of a sentence. It was akin to a pop singer attempting to sing an opera.
Story: Some redeeming features. Certain parts were interesting. The middle section inserted the most spectacular POS for no pay off. The story did not flow well. The last chapter would make any English teacher cry.
Unless you are a fan boy of the Author, move on.

What a waste of time

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