Psycho

It was a dark and stormy night when Mary Crane glimpsed the unlit neon sign announcing the vacancy at the Bates Motel. Exhausted, lost, and at the end of her rope, she was eager for a hot shower and a bed for the night. Her room was musty but clean, and the manager seemed nice ... if a little odd.Norman Bates loves his Mother. She has been dead for the past twenty years, or so people think. Norman knows better though. He has lived with Mother ever since leaving the hospital in the old house up on the hill above the Bates Motel. One night, Norman spies on a beautiful woman that has checked into the hotel. Norman can't help but spy on her. Mother is there though. She is there to protect Norman from his filthy thoughts. She is there to protect him with her butcher knife.This classic horror novel, which inspired the famous film by Alfred Hitchcock, has been thrilling people for more than fifty years. It introduced one of the most unexpectedly twisted villains of all time in Norman Bates, the reserved motel manager with a mother complex, and has been called the first psychoanalytic thriller.

From AudioFile

Regardless of your age, it's likely that you've viewed the famous shower scene from the Alfred Hitchcock movie PSYCHO, or its remake. This is the book that inspired the thriller and introduced Norman Bates, the seemingly mild-mannered manager of the Bates Motel, where madness lurks. Paul Garcia turns in a strong performance as the twisted villain. As Bates, Garcia can be childlike and simple or harsh and threatening--and just strange enough to keep you wondering. He's much less demonstrative with regard to most of the other characters, especially the potential victim, Mary Crane. His portrayal of Sam and Lila, the town's storekeepers is especially weak. Still, Norman as played by Garcia is clearly the star here, and Garcia is top-notch as the character that counts the most. A.L.H. © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine

About the Author

Robert Bloch (1917-1994) was a horror, suspense, and science fiction writer and screenwriter, best known for the novel Psycho. Altogether, he wrote over 220 stories collected in over two dozen collections, two dozen novels, screenplays for a dozen movies, and three Star Trek episodes. His many awards include the Nebula, Hugo, and World Fantasy awards (including Lifetime Achievement), and five Bram Stoker Awards. His autobiography, Once around the Bloch, was his last major work.Paul Michael Garcia, an AudioFile Earphones Award winner and former company member of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, received his classical training in theater from Southern Oregon University, where he worked as an actor, director, and designer.

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