A Dark Matter

Four high school friends recount the story of the night their lives changed forever after they took part in an occult ceremony that went horribly awry. How would their lives have been different had that dreadful night never occurred? Robertson Dean's deep bass never ceases to elicit a genuine reaction as the listener is drawn into the tale under his strong command. Dean's voice rarely strays from the straightforward tone he employs at the beginning, but his characters exhibit slight vocal shifts that are convincing. The result proves to be wholly satisfying and original. L.B. (c) AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine

Starred review from December 21, 2009
In this tour de force from bestseller Straub (In the Night Room
), four high school friends in 1966 Madison, Wis.—Hootie Bly, Dilly Olson, Jason Boatman, and Lee Truax—fall under the spell of charismatic “wandering guru” Spencer Mallon. During an occult ceremony in which Mallon attempts to break through to a higher reality, something goes horribly awry leaving one participant dead. Decades later, Lee's writer husband interviews the quartet to find out what happened. In Roshomon-like fashion, each relates a slightly different account of the trauma they experienced. Straub masterfully shows how the disappointments, downturns, and failed promise of the four friends' lives may have stemmed from this youthful experience, and suggests, by extension, that the malignant evil they helped unleash into the world has tainted all hope ever since. Brilliant in its orchestration and provocative in its speculations, this novel ranks as one of the finest tales of modern horror.