Rating: 
Summary: I loved it! I think this is the best of John Saul's books!
Review: I enjoyed the Blackstone Chronicles thoroughly. I felt like I was there in Blackstone, his descriptions are so real and his characters are so alive. I couldn't put down this excellent book until I'd read every page. I enjoyed The Green Mile as well, but I much prefer Saul as an author over Stephen King.
Rating: 
Summary: Entertaining, a good idea, but I saw most of it coming
Review: I picked up "Blackstone Chronicles" from a bookstore, not because I had heard anything about it, but because I wanted to read some good horror. Now, having finished the book, I can say that it was well worth the buy. A good idea, an excellent setting and it made the hours pass by rapidly. The downside was however, that the foreshadowing gave the game away from early on. Still, I am now hooked on John Saul and will be on the look-out for his other novels.
Rating:
Summary: 3.5 star rating
Review: My Rating System:
1 star = abysmal; some books deserve to be forgotten
2 star = poor; a total waste of time
3 star = good; worth the effort
4 star = very good; what writing should be
5 star = fantastic; must own it and share it with othersSTORY: From back cover...From the top of Blackstone's highest hill the old Blackstone Asylum casts its shadow over the village. Built in the 1890's, the Asylum has stood vacant for decades. But now, the wrecker's ball is about to strike, smashing into stone-and unleashing a terrible evil, an unholy fear long locked with the walls. Soon, strange gifts will begin to appear on the doorsteps of Blackstone's finest citizens. MY FEEDBACK:
Overall, whenever I read or listen to a John Saul book it is entertaining but not great. There is always some unknown ingredient missing to take the story to the next stage. But with Lee Meriwether portraying the voices in this story, I got the creeps. This was truly a tale of evil and not Saul's normal fixation with only children. I'm still trying to figure out if I like the ending or not because I felt some things were left unexplained. Maybe this was purposely done by the author. Regardless, overall it was an engaging story that left me feeling disturbed at the potential reality of such evil. I liked it!
Rating:
Summary: An excellent book!
Review: In The Blackstone Chronicles, Saul did what should be done: he kept the reader waiting for more. Now, the entire series is available in one book. It shows only very few similarities to The Green Mile, especially in that in this series, the perspective continually changes. If you haven't read the series, pick up this book and enjoy! Anyone who is interested, E-mail me, and I'd be happy to discuss John Saul books. I plan to pick up "The Presence" next week.
Rating:
Summary: Spooooky!!!
Review: I consider it the best book I've read so far by John Saul. Very creepy. Had times late at night when it made my skin crawl. Loved it!
Rating:
Summary: Best Ever!
Review: Its twilight zone in print, it was great! Couldn't put it down. Suspenseful and Creppy!!!!!!! A Must Read
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointed
Review: I have read most of John Saul's books, and I would have to say that The Blackstone Chronicles was extremely disappointing. It was not very suspenseful and the ending was very anti-climatic. Definitely not one of Saul's better efforts.
Rating:
Summary: The Blackstone Chronicles
Review: I picked up this book becuase I had read a previous book by John Saul and loved it. This one is so fast paced, but it doesn't loose you. There are great twists and turns and the pschycology behind it is incredible. I definitely would recommend this book to someone who is looking for a good read.
Rating:
Summary: Are you sure this is John Saul?
Review: I have read nearly all of John Saul's work and this pales in comparison. There was very little suspense in it, unless you read it in the originally published serial format. This novel focuses on the town of Blackstone (New Hampshire?) and the insane asylum built there. Gifts from the old days of the asylum are finding their way into the hands of Blackstone's current populous. With each gift comes some traumatic event and a mystery swirling with it. This is a simple work, but I guess as you read Saul's notes, it's not nearly as simple as it appears due to the serial publishing nature. For those interested in reading something by Saul, I would recommend "Sleepwalk", "The Homing", or "The God Project" over this one.
Rating:
Summary: Horrors, crafting credibility out of the incredible
Review: I'm not a fan of horror fiction; it's not my genre. I read The Blackstone Chronicles as part of a project to read twenty novels, two by each of ten selected authors. Chronicles is the fourth of the twenty, and the first ever by John Saul. By my side, as I write this, is a flyer that tells me John Saul has written 30 straight N.Y. Times bestsellers, including...his six part serial novel The Blackstone Chronicles...." So how, I wonder, could I be so audacious, brazen and insolent to rate this tale a "three..." I've gotten old, however, opinionated, and it's a three. The writer of good horror fiction takes the incredible and weaves it into a cloak of credibility. The author's job is to make the reader believe, or at least vicariously wonder for awhile, if the absurd is possible. To accomplish this, the novelist must create characters that we identify with, and then suck us in to take possession of them in an improbable scene. We ought to cringe, sweat and fear the next sentence, yet have to read on despite our better judgment. I'm sorry Mr. Saul; I read Chronicles in the middle of the night by a lone 75-watt bulb and not once was I afraid of going to the toilet. I liked the town, though. At the beginning of the combined version of the six part series, in the "Dear Reader" section, Mr. Saul admits "I have been living in the fictional town of Blackstone in my head." Me too. I was raised in a small New England town. Although the place where I grew up is not quite like Blackstone, it's close enough. And from the perspective of a young boy, we had some neighbors that were as quirky and scary as the lost souls in the imaginary Blackstone are supposed to be. Still, in the end, especially in the end, the tale didn't work for me. Perhaps the series structure is at fault. Each of the six parts deals with a "gift" that causes mayhem. So designed, the author had to deal with six improbabilities and make them credible enough to make us scared. As I recall, even Steven King will tackle only one implausibility per novel. In the afterword, Mr. Saul mentions that he might again write about the citizens of Blackstone. If he does, I hope it's about just one book-length incredibility, and that his maniacs stay true to character.
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