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lconrad15's review against another edition
2.0
Definitely agree with others who say the ending of this story was weak and rather disjointed. It was like the author finished it in a hurry.
dylan_dr3's review against another edition
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
alexctelander's review against another edition
4.0
It’s been recommended that writers should stick to writing what they know when it comes to writing, and what better character can a writer write about than him- or herself . . . a writer. But the writer in Joe Schreiber’s new novel, No Doors, No Windows, is one with a dark, disturbing past that even he doesn’t fully understand until the last few pages of the book, and has worked hard to forget and stay away from. One hopes that Joe Schreiber isn’t anything like his character, Scott Mast.
Scott Mast wanted to make it big as a writer, but it never happened. So now he spends his days living relatively well, writing copy for greeting cards. He currently lives in Seattle and is happily far away from his family and old life where he grew up. That is until his father dies and he must return home to New Hampshire, finding an alcoholic loser of a brother with a son who he neglects and fails at being a decent father to. As Mast contemplates what he can do to help – there’s the touchy history of their mother having died fifteen years ago in a horrific fire – he discovers a unfinished manuscript his father was apparently working on. It’s about a very special house where there are no corners or edges; everything is curved and rounded. In this house there is a door that leads to “the black wing,” where there are no doors, and no windows; where terrible things happen. But the story is unfinished and Mast decides that he must finish the book himself. After meeting up with an old girlfriend (their failed relationship is its own doomed story), he stumbles upon a remote house that turns out to be exactly like the one in his father’s manuscript.
And so Mast rents the house and begins writing the story, feeling a strange presence overtake him when he is adding to the manuscript. He knows it has something to do with the house, but he doesn’t know what. Meanwhile his brother falls deeper into his booze-filled spiral, leaving young Henry alone and abandoned. The clues gently fall in to place with each chapter, as Schreiber leaves the read wanting more, forcing the turning of the page, and the need to know what is the story behind Scott Mast and his strange mental state; what’s the story behind the house; what’s the deal with Mast’s brother; and most importantly: what’s the story behind the Mast family that deals with the dark history of the town. Horror readers will enjoy No Doors, No Windows for its psychological thrill ride that doesn’t get revealed and resolved until the very last pages of the book.
For more reviews, check out the BookBanter site.
Scott Mast wanted to make it big as a writer, but it never happened. So now he spends his days living relatively well, writing copy for greeting cards. He currently lives in Seattle and is happily far away from his family and old life where he grew up. That is until his father dies and he must return home to New Hampshire, finding an alcoholic loser of a brother with a son who he neglects and fails at being a decent father to. As Mast contemplates what he can do to help – there’s the touchy history of their mother having died fifteen years ago in a horrific fire – he discovers a unfinished manuscript his father was apparently working on. It’s about a very special house where there are no corners or edges; everything is curved and rounded. In this house there is a door that leads to “the black wing,” where there are no doors, and no windows; where terrible things happen. But the story is unfinished and Mast decides that he must finish the book himself. After meeting up with an old girlfriend (their failed relationship is its own doomed story), he stumbles upon a remote house that turns out to be exactly like the one in his father’s manuscript.
And so Mast rents the house and begins writing the story, feeling a strange presence overtake him when he is adding to the manuscript. He knows it has something to do with the house, but he doesn’t know what. Meanwhile his brother falls deeper into his booze-filled spiral, leaving young Henry alone and abandoned. The clues gently fall in to place with each chapter, as Schreiber leaves the read wanting more, forcing the turning of the page, and the need to know what is the story behind Scott Mast and his strange mental state; what’s the story behind the house; what’s the deal with Mast’s brother; and most importantly: what’s the story behind the Mast family that deals with the dark history of the town. Horror readers will enjoy No Doors, No Windows for its psychological thrill ride that doesn’t get revealed and resolved until the very last pages of the book.
For more reviews, check out the BookBanter site.
stacys_books's review against another edition
4.0
Scott Mast comes home to his New England hometown for his father's funeral and ends up staying when he strays across a horror story manuscript his father started and never finished. A failed writer himself, Scott stays in Round House, the house that the book is about, in order to finish the manuscript. But his writing awakes strange happenings in Round House (the house that apparently drove his father crazy) and now that he's off his antidepressant medication, he's wondering if he's crazy, too. Complicating matters is his five-year-old nephew, Henry, who desperately wants to come live with Scott in Seattle due to his own father (Owen) being a lush. The death of Scott and Owen's mother fifteen years prior in a fire haunts the two men and overshadows their relationship, but Scott soon learns that nothing in his life—including his brother—is what it seems.
If you like haunted house stories, this could be your thing. Schreiber lays on the pathos a little thick, but that doesn't make for any less of an engaging read, and there's nothing too gruesome. (I tend to dislike books that overdo "the grossout.") I read the book in two days—always a good sign for a book in the horror genre.
If you like haunted house stories, this could be your thing. Schreiber lays on the pathos a little thick, but that doesn't make for any less of an engaging read, and there's nothing too gruesome. (I tend to dislike books that overdo "the grossout.") I read the book in two days—always a good sign for a book in the horror genre.
kimberlybetweenstanzas's review
4.0
Creepy & Mysterious, yet Typical.
There were creepy parts, I will admit. The story is told well; the pace is perfect and kept me interested. There was also the all too familiar reason for the supernatural and it felt forced. There were too many convenient coincidences that I just can't get over.
There's many stories that have the same big reveal and have these parallels that I should have expected with this book. It was going so well. I was being lead to believe (and really wanted) this whole story was a psychotic breakdown.
What could have made this book better for me? I want the main character, that I learn to adore, to experience horrible events, only to wake up and realize they need a psych evaluation. But getting what I wanted would have made me unhappy still. So my expectations are met, but my predictions were not which is how it should be.
I'm a complicated person.
Amazing characters should end up at the bottom of a pond in the backyard of a creepy house in the middle of nowhere. Why? Because that makes the story better. That makes the reader remember.
This is my first read from Schreiber. I am impressed with his imagery, character detail, and suspense building so much that I am now a fan.
There were creepy parts, I will admit. The story is told well; the pace is perfect and kept me interested. There was also the all too familiar reason for the supernatural and it felt forced. There were too many convenient coincidences that I just can't get over.
There's many stories that have the same big reveal and have these parallels that I should have expected with this book. It was going so well. I was being lead to believe (and really wanted) this whole story was a psychotic breakdown.
What could have made this book better for me? I want the main character, that I learn to adore, to experience horrible events, only to wake up and realize they need a psych evaluation. But getting what I wanted would have made me unhappy still. So my expectations are met, but my predictions were not which is how it should be.
I'm a complicated person.
Amazing characters should end up at the bottom of a pond in the backyard of a creepy house in the middle of nowhere. Why? Because that makes the story better. That makes the reader remember.
This is my first read from Schreiber. I am impressed with his imagery, character detail, and suspense building so much that I am now a fan.
alexctelander's review
4.0
It’s been recommended that writers should stick to writing what they know when it comes to writing, and what better character can a writer write about than him- or herself . . . a writer. But the writer in Joe Schreiber’s new novel, No Doors, No Windows, is one with a dark, disturbing past that even he doesn’t fully understand until the last few pages of the book, and has worked hard to forget and stay away from. One hopes that Joe Schreiber isn’t anything like his character, Scott Mast.
Scott Mast wanted to make it big as a writer, but it never happened. So now he spends his days living relatively well, writing copy for greeting cards. He currently lives in Seattle and is happily far away from his family and old life where he grew up. That is until his father dies and he must return home to New Hampshire, finding an alcoholic loser of a brother with a son who he neglects and fails at being a decent father to. As Mast contemplates what he can do to help – there’s the touchy history of their mother having died fifteen years ago in a horrific fire – he discovers a unfinished manuscript his father was apparently working on. It’s about a very special house where there are no corners or edges; everything is curved and rounded. In this house there is a door that leads to “the black wing,” where there are no doors, and no windows; where terrible things happen. But the story is unfinished and Mast decides that he must finish the book himself. After meeting up with an old girlfriend (their failed relationship is its own doomed story), he stumbles upon a remote house that turns out to be exactly like the one in his father’s manuscript.
And so Mast rents the house and begins writing the story, feeling a strange presence overtake him when he is adding to the manuscript. He knows it has something to do with the house, but he doesn’t know what. Meanwhile his brother falls deeper into his booze-filled spiral, leaving young Henry alone and abandoned. The clues gently fall in to place with each chapter, as Schreiber leaves the read wanting more, forcing the turning of the page, and the need to know what is the story behind Scott Mast and his strange mental state; what’s the story behind the house; what’s the deal with Mast’s brother; and most importantly: what’s the story behind the Mast family that deals with the dark history of the town. Horror readers will enjoy No Doors, No Windows for its psychological thrill ride that doesn’t get revealed and resolved until the very last pages of the book.
For more reviews, check out the BookBanter site.
Scott Mast wanted to make it big as a writer, but it never happened. So now he spends his days living relatively well, writing copy for greeting cards. He currently lives in Seattle and is happily far away from his family and old life where he grew up. That is until his father dies and he must return home to New Hampshire, finding an alcoholic loser of a brother with a son who he neglects and fails at being a decent father to. As Mast contemplates what he can do to help – there’s the touchy history of their mother having died fifteen years ago in a horrific fire – he discovers a unfinished manuscript his father was apparently working on. It’s about a very special house where there are no corners or edges; everything is curved and rounded. In this house there is a door that leads to “the black wing,” where there are no doors, and no windows; where terrible things happen. But the story is unfinished and Mast decides that he must finish the book himself. After meeting up with an old girlfriend (their failed relationship is its own doomed story), he stumbles upon a remote house that turns out to be exactly like the one in his father’s manuscript.
And so Mast rents the house and begins writing the story, feeling a strange presence overtake him when he is adding to the manuscript. He knows it has something to do with the house, but he doesn’t know what. Meanwhile his brother falls deeper into his booze-filled spiral, leaving young Henry alone and abandoned. The clues gently fall in to place with each chapter, as Schreiber leaves the read wanting more, forcing the turning of the page, and the need to know what is the story behind Scott Mast and his strange mental state; what’s the story behind the house; what’s the deal with Mast’s brother; and most importantly: what’s the story behind the Mast family that deals with the dark history of the town. Horror readers will enjoy No Doors, No Windows for its psychological thrill ride that doesn’t get revealed and resolved until the very last pages of the book.
For more reviews, check out the BookBanter site.
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