The Hellfire Club - by Peter Straub (Paperback)

About the Book

Reprint. Originally published: New York: Random House, 1996.

Book Synopsis

A riveting novel that "combines the intellectual-puzzle mystery with a powerful vein of psycho-thriller suspense" (The Washington Post) and "moves like an express train" (Stephen King), from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Ghost Story.

They are dying, one by one. Wealthy, middle-aged women in an exclusive Connecticut suburb. Their murderer remains at large. Nora Chancel, wife of publishing scion Davey Chancel, fears she may be next. After all, her past has branded her a victim.

Then Davey tells Nora a surreal story about the Hellfire Club, where years before he met an obsessed fan of Chancel House's most successful book, Night Journey--a book that has a strange history of its own.

Suddenly terror engulfs Nora: She must defend herself against fantastic accusations even as a madman lies in wait. And when he springs, she will embark on a night journey that will put her victimhood to rest forever, dead or alive.

Review Quotes

"The Hellfire Club moves like an express train."--Stephen King

"Surprising twists [and a] wildly inventive plot."--The New York Times

"Combines the intellectual-puzzle mystery with a powerful vein of psycho-thriller suspense."--The Washington Post

"One of the most chilling villains to come along since Hannibal Lecter."--The San Francisco Chronicle

About the Author

Peter Straub (1943-2022) was the author of seventeen novels, which have been translated into more than twenty languages. They include Ghost Story, Shadowland, Koko, Mr. X, In the Night Room, and two collaborations with Stephen King, The Talisman and Black House. He has written two volumes of poetry and two collections of short fiction, and he edited the Library of America's edition of H. P. Lovecraft's Tales and the Library of America's two-volume anthology, American Fantastic Tales. In 1998, he was named Grand Master at the World Horror Convention. In 2006, he was given the HWA's Life Achievement Award. At the World Fantasy Convention in 2010, he was given the WFC's Life Achievement Award.