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Bedbugs
FOR RENT: Top two floors of beautifully renovated brownstone, 1300 sq. ft., 2BR 2BA, eat-in kitchen, one block to parks and playgrounds. No broker’s fee.
Susan and Alex Wendt have found their dream apartment.
Sure, the landlady is a little eccentric. And the elderly handyman drops some cryptic remarks about the basement. But the rent is so low, it’s too good to pass up.
Big mistake. Susan soon discovers that her new home is crawling with bedbugs . . . or is it? She awakens every morning with fresh bites, but neither Alex nor their daughter Emma has a single welt. An exterminator searches the property and turns up nothing. The landlady insists her building is clean. Susan fears she’s going mad—until a more sinister explanation presents itself: she may literally be confronting the bedbug problem from Hell.
Susan and Alex Wendt have found their dream apartment.
Sure, the landlady is a little eccentric. And the elderly handyman drops some cryptic remarks about the basement. But the rent is so low, it’s too good to pass up.
Big mistake. Susan soon discovers that her new home is crawling with bedbugs . . . or is it? She awakens every morning with fresh bites, but neither Alex nor their daughter Emma has a single welt. An exterminator searches the property and turns up nothing. The landlady insists her building is clean. Susan fears she’s going mad—until a more sinister explanation presents itself: she may literally be confronting the bedbug problem from Hell.
Audiobook
First published January 1, 2011
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About the author
Ben H. Winters
70 books2,114 followersBen H. Winters is the author most recently of the novel The Quiet Boy (Mulholland/Little, Brown, 2021). He is also the author of the novel Golden State; the New York Times bestselling Underground Airlines; The Last Policeman and its two sequels; the horror novel Bedbugs; and several works for young readers. His first novel, Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters, was also a Times bestseller. Ben has won the Edgar Award for mystery writing, the Philip K. Dick award in science fiction, the Sidewise Award for alternate history, and France’s Grand Prix de L’Imaginaire.
Ben also writes for film and television. He is the creator and co-showrunner of Tracker, forthcoming on CBS. Previously he was a producer on the FX show Legion, and on the upcoming Apple TV+ drama Manhunt.
He has contributed short stories to many anthologies, as well as in magazines such as Lightspeed. He is the author of four “Audible Originals”– Stranger, Inside Jobs, Q&A, and Self Help — and several plays and musicals. His reviews appear frequently in the New York Times Book Review. Ben was born in Washington, D.C., grew up in Maryland, educated in St. Louis, and then grew up a bunch more, in various ways, in places like Chicago, New York, Cambridge, MA, and Indianapolis, IN. These days he lives in LA with his wife, three kids, and one large dog.
Ben also writes for film and television. He is the creator and co-showrunner of Tracker, forthcoming on CBS. Previously he was a producer on the FX show Legion, and on the upcoming Apple TV+ drama Manhunt.
He has contributed short stories to many anthologies, as well as in magazines such as Lightspeed. He is the author of four “Audible Originals”– Stranger, Inside Jobs, Q&A, and Self Help — and several plays and musicals. His reviews appear frequently in the New York Times Book Review. Ben was born in Washington, D.C., grew up in Maryland, educated in St. Louis, and then grew up a bunch more, in various ways, in places like Chicago, New York, Cambridge, MA, and Indianapolis, IN. These days he lives in LA with his wife, three kids, and one large dog.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 553 reviews
July 9, 2018
OH GOD, A REVIEW FROM A SIMPLER PAST! having now lived through a bedbug invasion, i can tell you, there is no greater horror in this world or the next.
every book starts out as a four-star book for me. i am hopeful, but realistic. and then as i read, the book will either gain a star, or lose one (or more). this one maintained its four-star rating until the very end, when an epilogue i thought was a wishy-washy letdown ruined it for everyone .too brief, too neat, too facile, and it made every flaw of the book that i had let fly before that point more prominent in my mind. we call this bel canto syndrome.
before that ill-considered ending, this book was fun, but not life-changing. conveniently, this review now exists so i don't have to muse too much here about my expectations for books to entertain or enlighten me, or both, and the way i approach different "kinds" of books and what books qua books can do for a reader.
because i just wanna talk about bedbugs.
if you are in one of the places without a little red spot on it:
you have probably never had a bedbug scare.i thought i had bedbugs once. thankfully, i did not, but i lived through the really bad bedbug epidemic here in new york a couple years back, where people were afraid to go to the movies, buy used clothes and books, go to the library, sit on the benches on subway platforms, look people in the eye.... i knew a few people who had infestations, and honestly, it is probably easier to just light your place on fire and start over than it is to get rid of bedbugs.
look at these little bastards
and their disgusting bites:
so, yeah, i did find a bedbug in my house one time. but only one, and i smooshed it like crazy, and nothing ever happened again. my point is, bedbugs make you crazy. they do. for months after i saw that little bastard, i was doing daily bedsheet inspections, checking my cat's bedding, shaking out clothing, examining crevices between bed-and-wall, constantly imagining that i felt them crawling over my skin when i was drifting off.
so when i read a book about a women tormented by bedbugs that seem to only be targeting her, and who begins to go crazy because of them... well, i can relate, is all i'm saying. bedbug paranoia will make you crazy. and in susan's case, when no one believes her and the exterminator finds no trace of them in her apartment, and her husband is distracted by work and financial stress, and she is self-medicating, losing sleep, and her doctor is suggesting she may instead have a case of the crazies, well, things can get out of hand pretty quickly.
to backtrack to plot a little, susan and alex are happily married, they have a tiny little daughter, and they figure it is time to move to a bigger place, even though susan has recently quit her job to focus on her painting, and alex's business is going through a transitional period. they find a too-good-to-be-true cheap, huge apartment with a seemingly perfect studio-nook for susan, an eccentric landlady, and all seems well. once they move in, however, they start to notice some flaws they overlooked in their excitement. little things, but these little things will compound. the handyman warns them never to go in the basement, there is a mystery surrounding the previous tenants' hasty departure,and strange things begin to occur. and escalate.
it is a fairly lightweight horror novel, but i have no problem with lightweight. it's the same old story - young happy couple moves to a dream apartment, unease and suspicions lead to marital dissonance and emotional isolation... and then ...bedbugs. ooooor aaaare theeeeyy?
susan is an unsympathetic character. very fussy and picky, a little high-strung with her little lists and her judgmental perfectionism and unemployed laziness. it is an oddly mixed bag of traits, and she's not someone you are going to root for, at first.
of course, as she descends into madness she becomes more likeable, more sympathetic.
and i gotta say, and my reputation is known, but their kid, emma, is a really cute little-kid character.
it is great and fun until the end, sez me. i'm not sure how i would have preferred it to end, and honestly, it was really just the epilogue that cranked me out. it felt pat, tidy, distanced from the narrative, like the events preceding it had no real effects on the characters. and that just didn't wash with me.
but as a fun distraction that will make you itchy for most of the book, it is effective and fun.
good enough, but not great.
however, those are some terrific endpapers:
come to my blog!
every book starts out as a four-star book for me. i am hopeful, but realistic. and then as i read, the book will either gain a star, or lose one (or more). this one maintained its four-star rating until the very end, when an epilogue i thought was a wishy-washy letdown ruined it for everyone .too brief, too neat, too facile, and it made every flaw of the book that i had let fly before that point more prominent in my mind. we call this bel canto syndrome.
before that ill-considered ending, this book was fun, but not life-changing. conveniently, this review now exists so i don't have to muse too much here about my expectations for books to entertain or enlighten me, or both, and the way i approach different "kinds" of books and what books qua books can do for a reader.
because i just wanna talk about bedbugs.
if you are in one of the places without a little red spot on it:
you have probably never had a bedbug scare.i thought i had bedbugs once. thankfully, i did not, but i lived through the really bad bedbug epidemic here in new york a couple years back, where people were afraid to go to the movies, buy used clothes and books, go to the library, sit on the benches on subway platforms, look people in the eye.... i knew a few people who had infestations, and honestly, it is probably easier to just light your place on fire and start over than it is to get rid of bedbugs.
look at these little bastards
and their disgusting bites:
so, yeah, i did find a bedbug in my house one time. but only one, and i smooshed it like crazy, and nothing ever happened again. my point is, bedbugs make you crazy. they do. for months after i saw that little bastard, i was doing daily bedsheet inspections, checking my cat's bedding, shaking out clothing, examining crevices between bed-and-wall, constantly imagining that i felt them crawling over my skin when i was drifting off.
so when i read a book about a women tormented by bedbugs that seem to only be targeting her, and who begins to go crazy because of them... well, i can relate, is all i'm saying. bedbug paranoia will make you crazy. and in susan's case, when no one believes her and the exterminator finds no trace of them in her apartment, and her husband is distracted by work and financial stress, and she is self-medicating, losing sleep, and her doctor is suggesting she may instead have a case of the crazies, well, things can get out of hand pretty quickly.
to backtrack to plot a little, susan and alex are happily married, they have a tiny little daughter, and they figure it is time to move to a bigger place, even though susan has recently quit her job to focus on her painting, and alex's business is going through a transitional period. they find a too-good-to-be-true cheap, huge apartment with a seemingly perfect studio-nook for susan, an eccentric landlady, and all seems well. once they move in, however, they start to notice some flaws they overlooked in their excitement. little things, but these little things will compound. the handyman warns them never to go in the basement, there is a mystery surrounding the previous tenants' hasty departure,and strange things begin to occur. and escalate.
it is a fairly lightweight horror novel, but i have no problem with lightweight. it's the same old story - young happy couple moves to a dream apartment, unease and suspicions lead to marital dissonance and emotional isolation... and then ...bedbugs. ooooor aaaare theeeeyy?
susan is an unsympathetic character. very fussy and picky, a little high-strung with her little lists and her judgmental perfectionism and unemployed laziness. it is an oddly mixed bag of traits, and she's not someone you are going to root for, at first.
of course, as she descends into madness she becomes more likeable, more sympathetic.
and i gotta say, and my reputation is known, but their kid, emma, is a really cute little-kid character.
it is great and fun until the end, sez me. i'm not sure how i would have preferred it to end, and honestly, it was really just the epilogue that cranked me out. it felt pat, tidy, distanced from the narrative, like the events preceding it had no real effects on the characters. and that just didn't wash with me.
but as a fun distraction that will make you itchy for most of the book, it is effective and fun.
good enough, but not great.
however, those are some terrific endpapers:
come to my blog!
October 11, 2011
I love, love, love, the slow, subtle creep of this one. Bugs of any sort represent the ultimate squick factor for me, and an entire story dedicated to a bedbug infestation was almost more than I could stand. I'm still scratching and feeling paranoid. I definitely won't be looking too closely at my pillowcases tonight for fear of actually seeing something I just don't need to see: ignorance is bliss on this account. The less I know the better.
In its setup and slow build, the book reminded me a lot of Rosemary's Baby: young, successful couple move into a fabulous apartment. Wife begins to see things, husband thinks she's crazy. Is wife crazy? Or will she be vindicated? At what cost will such vindication come?
I loved how long Winters is able to keep me in suspense on this count. I had my suspicions and theories, but I never knew with certainty until it all came out in the end, and what an ending! It totally made that slow crawl for the first three-quarters of the book worth it. I would love to see this story adapted for the big screen. That would be awesome.
October Country 2011 #4
In its setup and slow build, the book reminded me a lot of Rosemary's Baby: young, successful couple move into a fabulous apartment. Wife begins to see things, husband thinks she's crazy. Is wife crazy? Or will she be vindicated? At what cost will such vindication come?
I loved how long Winters is able to keep me in suspense on this count. I had my suspicions and theories, but I never knew with certainty until it all came out in the end, and what an ending! It totally made that slow crawl for the first three-quarters of the book worth it. I would love to see this story adapted for the big screen. That would be awesome.
October Country 2011 #4
April 9, 2015
I read this a year or two ago, and just realized I never rated/reviewed it. I thought the psychological aspect of it was really strong. Even though much was predictable to the seasoned reader, there were a couple (one in particular) revelations that really got to me. The fact that I can still remember virtually the entire novel a year or two later is a pretty good sign for me. :)
September 19, 2012
This reminds me of Rosemary's Baby with bedbugs. Disgusting, horrible bedbugs. Unfortunately Susan is such a horrible character, I admit I never got too worked up with her plight. I feel like I maybe there are some fine details that got lost in all the bedbug yuckiness.
At first there are demonic bedbugs that only Susan can see but then there are also real bedbugs that everyone else can see too? How did the exterminator get into the apartment when Susan was locked in the bonus room? If you painted a picture in some sort of trance state & the subject of the painting had horrible bedbug bites on her face that you didn't actually paint in, wouldn't you just remove it from your house? And honestly, why would a husband make up a story of infidelity that never happened to appease his wife who is threatening him with a knife? Wouldn't you in that case maybe say, "Golly no, of course I didn't get that matchbook from a hotel while I was cheating on you, dear." And a matchbook, I ask you. Really? What is it with matchbooks & guys who cheat yet don't even smoke?
At first there are demonic bedbugs that only Susan can see but then there are also real bedbugs that everyone else can see too? How did the exterminator get into the apartment when Susan was locked in the bonus room? If you painted a picture in some sort of trance state & the subject of the painting had horrible bedbug bites on her face that you didn't actually paint in, wouldn't you just remove it from your house? And honestly, why would a husband make up a story of infidelity that never happened to appease his wife who is threatening him with a knife? Wouldn't you in that case maybe say, "Golly no, of course I didn't get that matchbook from a hotel while I was cheating on you, dear." And a matchbook, I ask you. Really? What is it with matchbooks & guys who cheat yet don't even smoke?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 21, 2012
I lived in NYC (Astoria, Queens to be exact) in 2003/2004. During that time, a coworker who lived in Williamsburg confided in me that she had bedbugs in her railroad style apartment. An apartment that I visited, and internally I freaked the eff out. Suffice to say—as someone who gets a little paranoid and Google happy—I know a thing or two about bedbugs. But enough about me.
This is a book about bedbugs. This is not a book about bedbugs. Oh wait it is. Oh wait, I have no idea what this book was really about. What I mean is, I don't know what was "real" or imagined toward the end of the book, and I don't believe that my confusion was the intended by the writer. Or maybe it was. I believe it was because this was a story that needed heavy editing and revising. Overall, the feeling I get from Bedbugs is that it was a loosely thrown together in a plot that unravels in the end and there were a lot of unnecessary frayed threads poking out all over the place. This is a problem for a book that is only 256 pages. I felt like it was written by a wannabe writer. If I read a book that reminds me of my own creative writing endeavors, I know it's bad because I was a crap writer, which is why I gave it up. Sure, I'd love to give some concrete examples from the book, but that would require me to spend more time inside of it, and I feel like I've devoted enough of my life inside its pages.
Maybe my level of dislike for this book is shaped on my faulty assumption that I was going to read a book about a classic bedbug infestation and be absolutely horrified by the possible reality of this happening to me. This was not the case. Instead, this was a book about crazy people and/or people who were not likeable and nothing about the story felt like it could be related to my reality.
The characters are not easy to like. Except for maybe the kid. She was OK. The nanny was selfish and lazy. If I had a child and could afford a nanny and she was like this, she would have had a short tenure watching my child. And why did they have a nanny? It seems like Susan didn't do anything that required one. All of the things she did while the nanny was around, could have been done without her being around.
The wife, Susan, was kind of selfish, too--quitting her job to paint and never painting. She wasn't very happy and really wasn't very productive. Readers like to see a character do something to change their flaws and by change, I don't mean go crazy. She did none of this. She did stuff, but the stuff wasn't interesting.
The husband, Alex, was OK, but was neither likeable or unlikeable. He was just there occupying the space of the pages, but overall he was a pretty good guy. Irritable, which is understandable due to his financial stress, but good overall. Then the author tries make us question his good-guyness with a few little mentions from Susan about some hidden threatening, menacing part of him she was afraid of. Well, it just wasn't there, but nice try. Overall, he was practically a mannequin who was good with his kid.
The handy man was a creep, and the landlord, Andrea, was weird and crazy. Enough said about those two for now.
Then there's the whole issue of them being tight on money, yet getting a bigger, more expensive apartment and paying for a nanny that wasn't necessary. I think that if you're going to quit your job to paint and then not paint while your husband struggles to make a business succeed, you should probably not be worried about expensive beds and new apartments and nannies.
Here are some more random things I disliked:
If there were actual bedbugs in this book, the husband and daughter would have had bites. If this was a book about badbugs, then that is just annoying and the title should have been Badbugs. People would would have still thought it was about bedbugs and it would have done nothing to spoil the introduction of badbugs plot turn.
There were times that I thought I was picking up on huge clues or foreshadowing of what was to come, but these pricks of my mind turned out to be nothing or kind of poorly done. I expected something more to be said about this expensive bed that Susan kind of selfishly convinced her husband to splurge on. I expected the infestation to possibly start from it, but it was just something mentioned and then abandoned. I thought the painting would hold actual significance, and I guess there was some parallel to what happened to it and what actually happened in the book, but I expected more. I expected it to be revealed who was changing the painting, but it was probably Susan with all of the Ambien and wine she gobbled up. This was just crap.
Oh, and this whole thing about the mother who let the baby carriage roll off the roof of a building killing her kids? It served no solid purpose. It had no necessity to the plot, yet it kept being thrown back into the book. I feel like the author thought it was some very cool element that she would weave into the plot and then AHA! bring mention it again in the end. It wasn't woven at all. It was thrown in there here and there awkwardly.
I take issue with the sudden turning on the nanny. Sure, it was after Susan read about the badbugs and it was obvious she had issues with her, but it seemed so unnatural, especially the things she said/conclusions she jumped to and the way she let the nanny kind of walk all over her. Of course, this is probably an attempt to establish that she's crazy, but it did not fit the character or progression of the events taking place in a way that was natural.
What happened with the cat urine smell anyway? That cannot be explained away by the dying girl trying to "ping" for help in the basement because cat urine and human urine do not smell alike.
Also, it seemed odd that Susan killed the handyman. If there were more clues to him "knowing too much" or some other motivation for the sudden hammer to the head (perhaps by some dialogue between Susan and Andrea). He didn't deserve it either. He was OK. Weird, but OK.
This is a book about bedbugs. This is not a book about bedbugs. Oh wait it is. Oh wait, I have no idea what this book was really about. What I mean is, I don't know what was "real" or imagined toward the end of the book, and I don't believe that my confusion was the intended by the writer. Or maybe it was. I believe it was because this was a story that needed heavy editing and revising. Overall, the feeling I get from Bedbugs is that it was a loosely thrown together in a plot that unravels in the end and there were a lot of unnecessary frayed threads poking out all over the place. This is a problem for a book that is only 256 pages. I felt like it was written by a wannabe writer. If I read a book that reminds me of my own creative writing endeavors, I know it's bad because I was a crap writer, which is why I gave it up. Sure, I'd love to give some concrete examples from the book, but that would require me to spend more time inside of it, and I feel like I've devoted enough of my life inside its pages.
Maybe my level of dislike for this book is shaped on my faulty assumption that I was going to read a book about a classic bedbug infestation and be absolutely horrified by the possible reality of this happening to me. This was not the case. Instead, this was a book about crazy people and/or people who were not likeable and nothing about the story felt like it could be related to my reality.
The characters are not easy to like. Except for maybe the kid. She was OK. The nanny was selfish and lazy. If I had a child and could afford a nanny and she was like this, she would have had a short tenure watching my child. And why did they have a nanny? It seems like Susan didn't do anything that required one. All of the things she did while the nanny was around, could have been done without her being around.
The wife, Susan, was kind of selfish, too--quitting her job to paint and never painting. She wasn't very happy and really wasn't very productive. Readers like to see a character do something to change their flaws and by change, I don't mean go crazy. She did none of this. She did stuff, but the stuff wasn't interesting.
The husband, Alex, was OK, but was neither likeable or unlikeable. He was just there occupying the space of the pages, but overall he was a pretty good guy. Irritable, which is understandable due to his financial stress, but good overall. Then the author tries make us question his good-guyness with a few little mentions from Susan about some hidden threatening, menacing part of him she was afraid of. Well, it just wasn't there, but nice try. Overall, he was practically a mannequin who was good with his kid.
The handy man was a creep, and the landlord, Andrea, was weird and crazy. Enough said about those two for now.
Then there's the whole issue of them being tight on money, yet getting a bigger, more expensive apartment and paying for a nanny that wasn't necessary. I think that if you're going to quit your job to paint and then not paint while your husband struggles to make a business succeed, you should probably not be worried about expensive beds and new apartments and nannies.
Here are some more random things I disliked:
If there were actual bedbugs in this book, the husband and daughter would have had bites. If this was a book about badbugs, then that is just annoying and the title should have been Badbugs. People would would have still thought it was about bedbugs and it would have done nothing to spoil the introduction of badbugs plot turn.
There were times that I thought I was picking up on huge clues or foreshadowing of what was to come, but these pricks of my mind turned out to be nothing or kind of poorly done. I expected something more to be said about this expensive bed that Susan kind of selfishly convinced her husband to splurge on. I expected the infestation to possibly start from it, but it was just something mentioned and then abandoned. I thought the painting would hold actual significance, and I guess there was some parallel to what happened to it and what actually happened in the book, but I expected more. I expected it to be revealed who was changing the painting, but it was probably Susan with all of the Ambien and wine she gobbled up. This was just crap.
Oh, and this whole thing about the mother who let the baby carriage roll off the roof of a building killing her kids? It served no solid purpose. It had no necessity to the plot, yet it kept being thrown back into the book. I feel like the author thought it was some very cool element that she would weave into the plot and then AHA! bring mention it again in the end. It wasn't woven at all. It was thrown in there here and there awkwardly.
I take issue with the sudden turning on the nanny. Sure, it was after Susan read about the badbugs and it was obvious she had issues with her, but it seemed so unnatural, especially the things she said/conclusions she jumped to and the way she let the nanny kind of walk all over her. Of course, this is probably an attempt to establish that she's crazy, but it did not fit the character or progression of the events taking place in a way that was natural.
What happened with the cat urine smell anyway? That cannot be explained away by the dying girl trying to "ping" for help in the basement because cat urine and human urine do not smell alike.
Also, it seemed odd that Susan killed the handyman. If there were more clues to him "knowing too much" or some other motivation for the sudden hammer to the head (perhaps by some dialogue between Susan and Andrea). He didn't deserve it either. He was OK. Weird, but OK.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 6, 2023
3 Stars
October 29, 2014
Vastly disappointing in comparison to Winters's excellent Last Policemen trilogy but, frankly, even without the impact of that comparison, pretty bad. Only Winters's writing keeps it above a single star rating. It's really pretty dumb.
SPOILERS BELOW (can't hide b/c on phone) SPOILERS BELOW
I guess the ONLY way this makes sense at all is that the bedbugs were indeed badbugs, because otherwise how did the exterminator fail to find any signs of them initially? Absolutely no idea how to explain the changes to the painting though. And aside from that, how did little old A. manage to kill Louis and drag his (large body)? Why couldn't Susan stop her? Alex stopped Susan (armed with a knife), and yet Susan can't stop a little old lady with a hammer?? (Leaving aside the silliness of Susan deciding to knife Alex - and, based on the epilogue, his immediate forgiveness of the same.)
Honestly, seems like Winters, during the NY bedbug scare thought "bedbugs" ... "No, BADbugs!" and churned out this story (which might have been better served as a short story) based on that one thought.
All that said ... will put in another plug here for his far superior "Last Policeman" and sequels.
SPOILERS BELOW (can't hide b/c on phone) SPOILERS BELOW
I guess the ONLY way this makes sense at all is that the bedbugs were indeed badbugs, because otherwise how did the exterminator fail to find any signs of them initially? Absolutely no idea how to explain the changes to the painting though. And aside from that, how did little old A. manage to kill Louis and drag his (large body)? Why couldn't Susan stop her? Alex stopped Susan (armed with a knife), and yet Susan can't stop a little old lady with a hammer?? (Leaving aside the silliness of Susan deciding to knife Alex - and, based on the epilogue, his immediate forgiveness of the same.)
Honestly, seems like Winters, during the NY bedbug scare thought "bedbugs" ... "No, BADbugs!" and churned out this story (which might have been better served as a short story) based on that one thought.
All that said ... will put in another plug here for his far superior "Last Policeman" and sequels.
February 3, 2022
I really enjoyed this one! It was a slow, but sure, descent into madness.
Emphasis on slow 😅 This would have been a 5 star read if things didn’t get so chaotic until about 80% in. I think this is one of those instances where it would have been better as a short story, but again, I enjoyed it!!
Emphasis on slow 😅 This would have been a 5 star read if things didn’t get so chaotic until about 80% in. I think this is one of those instances where it would have been better as a short story, but again, I enjoyed it!!
September 2, 2020
I can take characters I don't like. I can take stupid but likable. But stupid and unlikable doesn't work for me.
September 18, 2011
I have a huge bedbug paranoia, no joke. So glad this book didn't give me the major creepy crawlies like I thought it would.
I won a copy of this book through First Reads from the publisher, Quirk Publishing. Finding out they also published one of my favorite books Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, I was very excited to read this one.
This book was a fairly quick read for me and I enjoyed it, but I felt it needed more action and more of a climax. The ending was definitely different and I didn't really see it coming.
What I really liked about this book was the subject matter. What a great idea to write about Bedbugs. It is a growing epidemic and it's a great way to catch someone's eye.
Thanks for the chance to read this!
http://sheenathebookgeek.blogspot.com...
I won a copy of this book through First Reads from the publisher, Quirk Publishing. Finding out they also published one of my favorite books Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, I was very excited to read this one.
This book was a fairly quick read for me and I enjoyed it, but I felt it needed more action and more of a climax. The ending was definitely different and I didn't really see it coming.
What I really liked about this book was the subject matter. What a great idea to write about Bedbugs. It is a growing epidemic and it's a great way to catch someone's eye.
Thanks for the chance to read this!
http://sheenathebookgeek.blogspot.com...
March 2, 2021
Rather disappointing tale from Winters about a young couple and daughter who move into a new apartment that may or may not have a bedbug problem. The two main characters, Susan and Alex, are annoying, self-absorbed millennials and I really didn't care what happened to either of them as the story progressed. The plot moved from somewhat interesting in the first half to eye-rolling silliness in the second half, with an ending that was just plain dumb. Had its moments but just ended up falling apart. It's well-written for the most part and it did keep me intrigued for a bit but not long enough. I've seen people compare this one favorably to the terrific Rosemary's Baby. I don't think so.
November 6, 2023
I loved this. So creepy and well written, and every character leaps off the page. I bought the Kindle version a couple years ago and didn’t realize until I finished that this book was republished as THE BONUS ROOM just a few weeks ago. Going to need to pick up a physical copy as soon as we’re settled in our new apartment next month—which, yes, I’m now terrified will have bedbugs!
August 4, 2023
3.75⭐️
Triggers : ⚠️
Dead babies
Hurt children
Dead pets
Bugs
Summery
Susan thinks she has found the perfect apartment for her and her little family. Her three year old Emma loves it. Her husband Alex is happy with the space and the price. It even has a small room to be her art studio!
Then strange things start happening. Little things at first. Weird smells and an annoying ping sound, followed by the bugs. Only she seems to get bitten. Only she seems to see them. The thought keeps consuming her. Even an exterminator can't find a trace of bed bugs.
But bedbugs are all over the news. The city is having an outbreak. Every newspaper reports it. This can't be all in her mind. Can it?
My Thoughts
I had a hard time with this book. I'm not quite sure why. It's well written. The plot moves along relatively quickly. It's a fairly short novel. I just couldn't seem to get fully engrossed in it until the last hundred or so pages. I found it easy to put down and forget about. What should have been an afternoon read turned into several days. It might have been the bugs. The constant talk of bedbugs was so descriptive that it actually had me itching and worrying about my own home! ( like I stated, well written. Very well written)
I found the FMC, Susan, likable and relatable. The fact that she is slowly being driven insane by phantom creepy crawlies notwithstanding. She is easy to understand. Even when thinking and fixating on the unthinkable, I couldn't help but feel bad for her. There is a realness to her that brought her very much alive for me.
I'm not sure what genre this book falls under. Somewhere between psychological thriller and psychological horror. It's thrilling and realistic to it cote. While remaining disturbing and grotesque. I'm not sure I would read anything else by this author, but I don't regret reading this book. The ending was truly everything, and then some. I do recommend. Just be warned you may start itching while reading!
Triggers : ⚠️
Dead babies
Hurt children
Dead pets
Bugs
Summery
Susan thinks she has found the perfect apartment for her and her little family. Her three year old Emma loves it. Her husband Alex is happy with the space and the price. It even has a small room to be her art studio!
Then strange things start happening. Little things at first. Weird smells and an annoying ping sound, followed by the bugs. Only she seems to get bitten. Only she seems to see them. The thought keeps consuming her. Even an exterminator can't find a trace of bed bugs.
But bedbugs are all over the news. The city is having an outbreak. Every newspaper reports it. This can't be all in her mind. Can it?
My Thoughts
I had a hard time with this book. I'm not quite sure why. It's well written. The plot moves along relatively quickly. It's a fairly short novel. I just couldn't seem to get fully engrossed in it until the last hundred or so pages. I found it easy to put down and forget about. What should have been an afternoon read turned into several days. It might have been the bugs. The constant talk of bedbugs was so descriptive that it actually had me itching and worrying about my own home! ( like I stated, well written. Very well written)
I found the FMC, Susan, likable and relatable. The fact that she is slowly being driven insane by phantom creepy crawlies notwithstanding. She is easy to understand. Even when thinking and fixating on the unthinkable, I couldn't help but feel bad for her. There is a realness to her that brought her very much alive for me.
I'm not sure what genre this book falls under. Somewhere between psychological thriller and psychological horror. It's thrilling and realistic to it cote. While remaining disturbing and grotesque. I'm not sure I would read anything else by this author, but I don't regret reading this book. The ending was truly everything, and then some. I do recommend. Just be warned you may start itching while reading!
August 24, 2024
Un von gâteau aux pommes un peu grossier qui rassasie et fait plaisir. Tous les ingrédients sont présents: le jeune couple, le bébé, l'appartement idéal a Brooklyn, la vieille proprio un peu gaga et la tension qui grimpe au fil des pages. Rien de nouveau sous le soleil pour ce thriller domestique mais comme j'en lis peu j'étais totalement pris dedans. J'ai tourné les pages comme un dératé jusqu'à la dernière page et j'ai pris beaucoup de plaisir.
May 20, 2024
Sulla falsariga di Rosemary’s baby ma malscritto e con un drappello di cimici demoniache al posto dell’anticristo. È demoniaco leggerlo.
August 3, 2011
This is a great read. Especially if you are a fan of those books where a couple moves into a too good to be true home where the husband works and the wife stays home and unpacks and takes care of the kids and discovers strange happenings type books. Which I tend to love. But there is something for everyone in this novel especially readers who enjoy a well written thriller with a hint of horror.
The Wendts, Alex and Susan, find the perfect brownstone in Brooklyn from a Craigslist ad. It's owned by a somewhat charming elderly landlady named Andrea who takes a liking to them. The couple decide to move into the home where their toddler Emma will finally have a room of her own. Alex is a photographer who owns a business, and his wife, Susan is an artist. She plans on painting in the small well-lit bonus room. Things are exceptionally great at first. They have a sitter who watches Emma during the day and Susan runs errands and fixes up the place while Alex works and helps out the best he can at home and the family enjoys the idyllic location which is close to shopping and historical New York landmarks.
There is also talk of bedbugs. People seem to dread the unwanted insects and they are a horror to get out of the house. Rumor has it that hotels have closed for fumigation and people have moved to rid themselves of the pests. Extermination can work, but sometimes, the bedbugs come back. Susan learns more about the dreaded infestations on the internet when she suspects that she has been bitten. She believes the culprit is a bedbug.
A recommended exterminator gives the place a clean bill of health, but it doesn't help Susan's fears. She becomes consumed with the thought of bugs, and she starts to have horrible dreams. Also mysterious is the couple who used to own the apartment who left without paying their last months rent. Susan finds a mysterious picture of the couple stashed away in a window sil. The handyman, Louis, tells her about them.
This is a fun read. You'll probably stay up late, if you dare, into the night because you won't be able to put it down. It will be a great read when the chilly weather of Autumn rolls in. This book is smooth, polished, and very well done. It's a creepy escape that you're going to love.
The Wendts, Alex and Susan, find the perfect brownstone in Brooklyn from a Craigslist ad. It's owned by a somewhat charming elderly landlady named Andrea who takes a liking to them. The couple decide to move into the home where their toddler Emma will finally have a room of her own. Alex is a photographer who owns a business, and his wife, Susan is an artist. She plans on painting in the small well-lit bonus room. Things are exceptionally great at first. They have a sitter who watches Emma during the day and Susan runs errands and fixes up the place while Alex works and helps out the best he can at home and the family enjoys the idyllic location which is close to shopping and historical New York landmarks.
There is also talk of bedbugs. People seem to dread the unwanted insects and they are a horror to get out of the house. Rumor has it that hotels have closed for fumigation and people have moved to rid themselves of the pests. Extermination can work, but sometimes, the bedbugs come back. Susan learns more about the dreaded infestations on the internet when she suspects that she has been bitten. She believes the culprit is a bedbug.
A recommended exterminator gives the place a clean bill of health, but it doesn't help Susan's fears. She becomes consumed with the thought of bugs, and she starts to have horrible dreams. Also mysterious is the couple who used to own the apartment who left without paying their last months rent. Susan finds a mysterious picture of the couple stashed away in a window sil. The handyman, Louis, tells her about them.
This is a fun read. You'll probably stay up late, if you dare, into the night because you won't be able to put it down. It will be a great read when the chilly weather of Autumn rolls in. This book is smooth, polished, and very well done. It's a creepy escape that you're going to love.
May 22, 2019
Breve e senza troppe pretese, è un thriller che cattura e intrattiene egregiamente. I personaggi sono credibili e invoglia a scoprire come andrà a finire. Unica perplessità sul finale, sul quale nutrivo diverse aspettative.
February 21, 2019
I enjoyed this one quite a bit.
Winters did a good job slowly building up the madness. I liked the gradual pace, the moments of confusion and self-doubt.
The end was a big surprise for me. Did not see that coming.
I'm def. interested in reading more by this author.
4/4.5 stars
Winters did a good job slowly building up the madness. I liked the gradual pace, the moments of confusion and self-doubt.
The end was a big surprise for me. Did not see that coming.
I'm def. interested in reading more by this author.
4/4.5 stars
March 27, 2022
I love haunted house stories. They are one of my favourites. Here I get that and bugs. I hate bugs. I’m still itching after reading it.
Dread, suspense and twists. Oh my.
Dread, suspense and twists. Oh my.
August 11, 2012
There's a great episode of CBS Radio Mystery Theater (circa 1970) called "The Real Printer's Devil" - where a married couple (plus one child) rent a "too good to be true" apartment turns out to be just that, with one of those dark endings that doesn't feel tacked on, and leaves you feeling equally sad and invigorated.
Now I told you that to tell you this: Internet Bookstore 002 suggested Ben H. Winter's "Bedbug" to be based on a review I wrote of Joe Hill's "Heart Shaped Box" - and when I read the blurb, I could see why. Both "HSB" and "Bedbugs" both have plots that sound laughable - in the case of "Bedbugs," in an insect invasion with a "Yellow Wallpaper" or "Turn of the Screw" type twist - only the protagonist *knows* that the weird happenings are really happening. And like all the great "beautiful, happy people lose their shit" type horror, all of the elements are in play: Slightly strained marriage,cute kid, and a "too good to be true" element that has just been introduced that can only make their lives better.
As Susan (protg.) and Alex (dorky-yet-vaguely threatening husband) move into their net brownstone apartment in Brooklyn Heights, Susan begins to get attacked by the following - general anxiety, fears that her husband is being unfaithful, the smell of urine, fears that her life is a lie, and the title monsters that only she can see/feel so let's add mental state to the list and be done.
Ok. That's pretty much it - because none of these things (save the last one, of course) go anywhere. There's no growing sense of paranoia or even just the mounting dread that the whole world may be arrayed against Susan - the distant tone of the writing has the effect of making you think that everyone is just "annoyed" - which ended up having the same effect of me. I knew the terror should be mounting, I kept thinking "I should be scared. I should be freaked out." But Susan only really takes action against the bedbugs - everything else is just "Oh, my husband might be cheating on me and it's causing me to have psychotic episodes, dum-de-dum" - she doesn't investigate ANYTHING that is supposed to be making her weaker, more frayed at the edges, more open to the "thrilling" climax of the book.
That smell of urine, the first major "something is very wrong here" moment? Never mentioned again.
Her husband's possible trysting with the nanny? Susan only worries about it when she interacts with the nanny.
Oh, sure, she can whine about how she feels like her life is going nowhere - but she does nothing to correct its course, nothing to make you root for her. She's already a corpse, just one that's walking around. I couldn't even get the thrill of rooting for the bedbugs after -------------'s Bond Villain Speech, because I had guessed the who, the why and the how after reading 50 pages and the back blurb. And there was nothing to make me forget my "Huh-it's X" guess through out, no grip, nothing.
Honestly, go to the iTunes podcast page and give a listen to "The Real Printer's Devil" - at least it's enjoyable cheese.
Now I told you that to tell you this: Internet Bookstore 002 suggested Ben H. Winter's "Bedbug" to be based on a review I wrote of Joe Hill's "Heart Shaped Box" - and when I read the blurb, I could see why. Both "HSB" and "Bedbugs" both have plots that sound laughable - in the case of "Bedbugs," in an insect invasion with a "Yellow Wallpaper" or "Turn of the Screw" type twist - only the protagonist *knows* that the weird happenings are really happening. And like all the great "beautiful, happy people lose their shit" type horror, all of the elements are in play: Slightly strained marriage,cute kid, and a "too good to be true" element that has just been introduced that can only make their lives better.
As Susan (protg.) and Alex (dorky-yet-vaguely threatening husband) move into their net brownstone apartment in Brooklyn Heights, Susan begins to get attacked by the following - general anxiety, fears that her husband is being unfaithful, the smell of urine, fears that her life is a lie, and the title monsters that only she can see/feel so let's add mental state to the list and be done.
Ok. That's pretty much it - because none of these things (save the last one, of course) go anywhere. There's no growing sense of paranoia or even just the mounting dread that the whole world may be arrayed against Susan - the distant tone of the writing has the effect of making you think that everyone is just "annoyed" - which ended up having the same effect of me. I knew the terror should be mounting, I kept thinking "I should be scared. I should be freaked out." But Susan only really takes action against the bedbugs - everything else is just "Oh, my husband might be cheating on me and it's causing me to have psychotic episodes, dum-de-dum" - she doesn't investigate ANYTHING that is supposed to be making her weaker, more frayed at the edges, more open to the "thrilling" climax of the book.
That smell of urine, the first major "something is very wrong here" moment? Never mentioned again.
Her husband's possible trysting with the nanny? Susan only worries about it when she interacts with the nanny.
Oh, sure, she can whine about how she feels like her life is going nowhere - but she does nothing to correct its course, nothing to make you root for her. She's already a corpse, just one that's walking around. I couldn't even get the thrill of rooting for the bedbugs after -------------'s Bond Villain Speech, because I had guessed the who, the why and the how after reading 50 pages and the back blurb. And there was nothing to make me forget my "Huh-it's X" guess through out, no grip, nothing.
Honestly, go to the iTunes podcast page and give a listen to "The Real Printer's Devil" - at least it's enjoyable cheese.
October 23, 2011
Not for the squeamish or anyone with paranoia regarding bedbugs; this creepy, crawly, quick read is is just the ticket for the week leading up to Halloween. Don't know how well I'll sleep tonight. Itchy!
October 23, 2016
This wasn't the book I hoped it would be, which isn't really the book's fault. Basically it starts out with a privileged New York family whining about things, and ends with the same privileged New York family whining about different things without having apparently learned anything.
December 18, 2016
Rosemary's Baby meets Amityville Horror with parasites sprinkled on top. Woah.
August 4, 2022
Excellent ! Et bien bien glauque :D
April 23, 2025
Honestly not quite sure what the hell I just read… lol bedbugs or badbugs they werent real then they were… like what?! Lol soo confused. I guess for the price of the apartment it was too good to be true.
October 16, 2016
Keep a backscratcher handy
I am terrified of bedbugs and I loved this book. I can absolutely understand being driven to insanity by the nasty little suckers. After making it out of childhood unscathed despite my long, thick hair I was shocked to discover that I had lice a few years ago in my thirties thanks to my boys Contracting them from a neighbor. Apparently the lice treatments do not work as well as they once did but my boys were easily cured with very short haircuts. My long hair got progressively shorter throughout the next few months as I continued to cut it in an attempt to finally rid myself of these Horrors. It was Absolute hell for almost a year. The torture was physical as well as psychological. I felt like these little suckers had waged War on my psyche. It is a war that honestly continues to this day as I have a minor meltdown every time I I have an itchy scalp or I see one of my boys scratching their scalp. I admit to scratching more than a few times while reading this book. I found it horrifying and all too realistic. Awesome.
I am terrified of bedbugs and I loved this book. I can absolutely understand being driven to insanity by the nasty little suckers. After making it out of childhood unscathed despite my long, thick hair I was shocked to discover that I had lice a few years ago in my thirties thanks to my boys Contracting them from a neighbor. Apparently the lice treatments do not work as well as they once did but my boys were easily cured with very short haircuts. My long hair got progressively shorter throughout the next few months as I continued to cut it in an attempt to finally rid myself of these Horrors. It was Absolute hell for almost a year. The torture was physical as well as psychological. I felt like these little suckers had waged War on my psyche. It is a war that honestly continues to this day as I have a minor meltdown every time I I have an itchy scalp or I see one of my boys scratching their scalp. I admit to scratching more than a few times while reading this book. I found it horrifying and all too realistic. Awesome.
September 27, 2021
Around Halloween, I like to read a book that’s on the scary side. Well, Bedbugs is not scary except that real life bedbugs are a true nightmare. This is a story with a moral. “If something seems to be too good to be true people, it probably is.”
I predict that you will hate the main character Susan from the start. Feel sorry for her long suffering husband, and be overwhelmed and sickened by the cuteness over load from their daughter.
It is an entertaining fast read but only 3 stars.
I predict that you will hate the main character Susan from the start. Feel sorry for her long suffering husband, and be overwhelmed and sickened by the cuteness over load from their daughter.
It is an entertaining fast read but only 3 stars.
September 6, 2011
Sleep Tight.
Susan and Alex Wendt are the prefect couple in search of the perfect brownstone – and they find their dream house in the heart of Brooklyn Heights. Sure, the landlady is eccentric, and the handyman drops cryptic remarks about the previous tenants. But the rent is so low; it’s too good to pass up.
Big mistake: Susan soon discovers the brownstone is crawling with bedbugs – or is it? She awakens every morning with fresh bites, but neither Alex nor their daughter Emma has a single welt. An exterminator searches the property and turns up nothing. The landlady insists the building is clean. Susan fears she’s going mad – until a more sinister explanation presents itself: She may literally be confronting the bedbug problem from hell.
On the face of it Susan and Alex have it all. He is a professional photographer with good prospects; she is an ex-lawyer who has given up her career to focus on her passion for painting. They have a toddler called Emma and are blissfully happy with their lot in life. The only fly in the ointment is that their current residence is just a little bit to small for them all to comfortably live in. Susan happens upon a listing for potential new home on the Internet and after a cursory visit, they decide to take a chance and move straight in. Everything seems fine at first but over the following weeks Susan becomes convinced that the new property has an infestation of bedbugs.
The horror that you’ll find in Bedbugs builds at a very slow, gradual pace. Is Susan imagining the whole thing? Is she losing her mind? This story is firmly focused on the torment of a single person. The intimacy in the narrative is the novel’s strongest feature. The reader is present with Susan every step of the way and gets a grandstand view of her as she starts to come apart at the seams. As Susan becomes more and more anxious about the situation her fragile mental state starts to affect her relationship with Alex and everyone else around her.
I particularly enjoyed the internal conversations Susan has with herself, the rational and irrational coming together and battling it out in her head. Ben Winters has a great eye for detail and a good ear for dialogue. The whole of the Wendt family seem very real. Alex, Susan and Emma could be any young upwardly mobile family in New York. Their interactions are believable and very natural.
I was reminded of the best episodes of The Twilight Zone. Susan’s escalating doubts over the state of her sanity, and everyone’s initial indifference to her plight has a classic feel. I think it also helps that there is something marvelously creepy about insects. As the novel heads towards its climax, there are enough unpleasant situations that will make the most stout of heart exclaim ‘Ick’ or ‘Arghhh’ out loud.
Bedbugs is only around two hundred and fifty pages long and I think it is safe to say this falls into the quick read category. If you enjoy psychological horror that you can rattle through in a couple of easy sittings this would be a good choice.
I have a confession to make. While reading this book I did find myself feeling a little bit itchier than normal. I assume that this is normal? I defy anyone to not feel the same.
Bedbugs by Ben Winters is published in the UK by Quirk Books 0n 6th September 2011.
Susan and Alex Wendt are the prefect couple in search of the perfect brownstone – and they find their dream house in the heart of Brooklyn Heights. Sure, the landlady is eccentric, and the handyman drops cryptic remarks about the previous tenants. But the rent is so low; it’s too good to pass up.
Big mistake: Susan soon discovers the brownstone is crawling with bedbugs – or is it? She awakens every morning with fresh bites, but neither Alex nor their daughter Emma has a single welt. An exterminator searches the property and turns up nothing. The landlady insists the building is clean. Susan fears she’s going mad – until a more sinister explanation presents itself: She may literally be confronting the bedbug problem from hell.
On the face of it Susan and Alex have it all. He is a professional photographer with good prospects; she is an ex-lawyer who has given up her career to focus on her passion for painting. They have a toddler called Emma and are blissfully happy with their lot in life. The only fly in the ointment is that their current residence is just a little bit to small for them all to comfortably live in. Susan happens upon a listing for potential new home on the Internet and after a cursory visit, they decide to take a chance and move straight in. Everything seems fine at first but over the following weeks Susan becomes convinced that the new property has an infestation of bedbugs.
The horror that you’ll find in Bedbugs builds at a very slow, gradual pace. Is Susan imagining the whole thing? Is she losing her mind? This story is firmly focused on the torment of a single person. The intimacy in the narrative is the novel’s strongest feature. The reader is present with Susan every step of the way and gets a grandstand view of her as she starts to come apart at the seams. As Susan becomes more and more anxious about the situation her fragile mental state starts to affect her relationship with Alex and everyone else around her.
I particularly enjoyed the internal conversations Susan has with herself, the rational and irrational coming together and battling it out in her head. Ben Winters has a great eye for detail and a good ear for dialogue. The whole of the Wendt family seem very real. Alex, Susan and Emma could be any young upwardly mobile family in New York. Their interactions are believable and very natural.
I was reminded of the best episodes of The Twilight Zone. Susan’s escalating doubts over the state of her sanity, and everyone’s initial indifference to her plight has a classic feel. I think it also helps that there is something marvelously creepy about insects. As the novel heads towards its climax, there are enough unpleasant situations that will make the most stout of heart exclaim ‘Ick’ or ‘Arghhh’ out loud.
Bedbugs is only around two hundred and fifty pages long and I think it is safe to say this falls into the quick read category. If you enjoy psychological horror that you can rattle through in a couple of easy sittings this would be a good choice.
I have a confession to make. While reading this book I did find myself feeling a little bit itchier than normal. I assume that this is normal? I defy anyone to not feel the same.
Bedbugs by Ben Winters is published in the UK by Quirk Books 0n 6th September 2011.
September 28, 2011
Susan is dying to move into a bigger place in Brooklyn, but doesn’t know if she and her husband will be able to afford it since she’s recently quit her lawyer job to take up painting. Then, the perfect apartment becomes available, and with such a low price, they move in immediately. Everything seems wonderful, except for the room Susan has chosen to be her studio. As her concerns with the apartment grow, so does the strain on their relationship and domestic situation. And Susan is also waking up with mysterious bites. Bedbugs are running rampant, but it seems that she is the only one who can see them or is getting bitten. Susan is left to question whether they are really bedbugs, or something more demonic.
I wanted to like this book. It had all the trappings of a fun psychological thriller, with dark tones and was capitalizing on a recent American fear. Who hasn’t heard the sensationalist stories of bed bugs in New York hotels? Plus, many people are very afraid of insects, so the thought of tiny creepy crawlies can result in the kind of book you don’t want to read at night.
Unfortunately, I had a hard time getting through it. The main character, Susan, was really annoying to me. She’s always complaining about something, yet she doesn’t work and doesn’t ever paint, even though they’re paying a nanny to watch her daughter during the day to free her up for making her art. And even though they’re struggling to make ends meet on her husband’s salary, she’s constantly going out to eat and even goes to the salon for a manicure, pedicure, and wax. I just kept feeling like this is an example of what is wrong with America. The book would have worked much better for me if she would have been a person I could root for, instead of against.
There was also repeated mention of something that happened at the beginning of the book (not a spoiler). She notes that a mother pushed her twin babies off of a rooftop, killing them. I kept expecting the story to cycle back to this, to tie it in in some way, but it didn’t. It was just there, maybe meant to flavor the novel? I couldn’t tell, but it irked me that it never was worked into the larger plot.
Things got better about 2/3 of the way through. It seemed that the book was really going to go the psychological route, which pleased me greatly. The tension increased, and Susan began having “issues.” Then, the entire spirit of the book did a big 180. I don’t know why he did it, but the bedbugs ended up being something entirely different than the story was working them up to be, and it didn’t work for me. The ending left me feeling absolutely incredulous, and very unhappy that I had invested so much time for such a poor payout.
I think this book will find its audience, but that audience was not me. I also think that Winters writes well, and the idea for the story was really good. It came down to characterization and ending for me, which bummed me out. Still, there were some nice moments of creepiness, and I felt itchy when going to sleep after putting the book down.
I wanted to like this book. It had all the trappings of a fun psychological thriller, with dark tones and was capitalizing on a recent American fear. Who hasn’t heard the sensationalist stories of bed bugs in New York hotels? Plus, many people are very afraid of insects, so the thought of tiny creepy crawlies can result in the kind of book you don’t want to read at night.
Unfortunately, I had a hard time getting through it. The main character, Susan, was really annoying to me. She’s always complaining about something, yet she doesn’t work and doesn’t ever paint, even though they’re paying a nanny to watch her daughter during the day to free her up for making her art. And even though they’re struggling to make ends meet on her husband’s salary, she’s constantly going out to eat and even goes to the salon for a manicure, pedicure, and wax. I just kept feeling like this is an example of what is wrong with America. The book would have worked much better for me if she would have been a person I could root for, instead of against.
There was also repeated mention of something that happened at the beginning of the book (not a spoiler). She notes that a mother pushed her twin babies off of a rooftop, killing them. I kept expecting the story to cycle back to this, to tie it in in some way, but it didn’t. It was just there, maybe meant to flavor the novel? I couldn’t tell, but it irked me that it never was worked into the larger plot.
Things got better about 2/3 of the way through. It seemed that the book was really going to go the psychological route, which pleased me greatly. The tension increased, and Susan began having “issues.” Then, the entire spirit of the book did a big 180. I don’t know why he did it, but the bedbugs ended up being something entirely different than the story was working them up to be, and it didn’t work for me. The ending left me feeling absolutely incredulous, and very unhappy that I had invested so much time for such a poor payout.
I think this book will find its audience, but that audience was not me. I also think that Winters writes well, and the idea for the story was really good. It came down to characterization and ending for me, which bummed me out. Still, there were some nice moments of creepiness, and I felt itchy when going to sleep after putting the book down.
September 6, 2011
Normally I love to read horror books once the weather starts to get a little chillier. There is something about having that nip in the air and the shorter days that makes me want to curl up on the couch, with as little light as possible, and delve into something that will scare the hell out of me. Sadly, due to time constraints, I had to read this one when it was over 100 degrees outside and not getting dark until after nine o'clock. For once, that didn't bother me, I was still able to forget about my surroundings and get so lost in the story, that I would be checking my pillows for any scurrying creatures before I would set my head down for bed.
I'm addicted to a lot of the horror novels written in the 60s and 70s, and this one has that retro vibe for me. Two of my favorites, Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin and The Sentinel by Jeffrey Konvitz, even start off the same way. Young couple/single woman moves into a new apartment and everything seems to being going right at first. Of course there are always subtle hints that not everything is as it should be. Eccentric neighbors always seem to be around, strange occurrences that only happens to one of them (normally the woman), and a miasma that seemed to hang in the air, slowly suffocating the inhabitants of the apartment.
This book had all of that and so much more going for it. The author had an almost supernatural ability to balance the home life of the Wendt's with the growing sense of apprehension. A lot of horror books I've read will sacrifice the characters for the story. Thankfully Bedbugs isn't one of them. A story that asks the reader to believe in something so personal as a malignant presence that attacks you in the bed, has to have characters that you not only believe, but care about it. As a reader, you have to be able to relate to them. Susan, Alex, and Emma are fully functional, 4D characters that were a treat to know.
The horror was built slowly, it worked it's way towards a simmer, and then boiled over in such a way that the sheer violence of the climax left me holding my breath and gasping for proverbial air. I was horrified, and thrilled by the conclusion even though I saw it coming a mile away. A good horror book doesn't have to throw out an ending that comes out of left field. A good horror novel will allow the reader to figure out the ending, but still horrify them in the end. It's needs to be believable no matter how outlandish the plot points. It's hard to write a credible story that will leave a reader altering their bedtime habits. Bedbugs not only pulls it off, but it pulls it off in such a way that you won't know what hit you until you are going to bed the night after and you are still checking for telltale signs of an infestation.
I'm addicted to a lot of the horror novels written in the 60s and 70s, and this one has that retro vibe for me. Two of my favorites, Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin and The Sentinel by Jeffrey Konvitz, even start off the same way. Young couple/single woman moves into a new apartment and everything seems to being going right at first. Of course there are always subtle hints that not everything is as it should be. Eccentric neighbors always seem to be around, strange occurrences that only happens to one of them (normally the woman), and a miasma that seemed to hang in the air, slowly suffocating the inhabitants of the apartment.
This book had all of that and so much more going for it. The author had an almost supernatural ability to balance the home life of the Wendt's with the growing sense of apprehension. A lot of horror books I've read will sacrifice the characters for the story. Thankfully Bedbugs isn't one of them. A story that asks the reader to believe in something so personal as a malignant presence that attacks you in the bed, has to have characters that you not only believe, but care about it. As a reader, you have to be able to relate to them. Susan, Alex, and Emma are fully functional, 4D characters that were a treat to know.
The horror was built slowly, it worked it's way towards a simmer, and then boiled over in such a way that the sheer violence of the climax left me holding my breath and gasping for proverbial air. I was horrified, and thrilled by the conclusion even though I saw it coming a mile away. A good horror book doesn't have to throw out an ending that comes out of left field. A good horror novel will allow the reader to figure out the ending, but still horrify them in the end. It's needs to be believable no matter how outlandish the plot points. It's hard to write a credible story that will leave a reader altering their bedtime habits. Bedbugs not only pulls it off, but it pulls it off in such a way that you won't know what hit you until you are going to bed the night after and you are still checking for telltale signs of an infestation.
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