Rating: 
Summary: A Painful Lesson in The 'MUNDANE '
Review: The Lost Boys is advertised as being a suspence/ horror novel the tradtion of Stephen King or Dean Koontz, instead we are treated to one of the most tedious and painfully mundane novels ever published in the modern era.
It begins predictably enough for books of the thriller genre. A family of five struggling with the everyday hum-drum ups and downs of suburban life in America. Okay, we can all relate to that right? No problem there. We spend time with the Fletcher family, getting to know them and thier problems, intimitcies, history, and daily routines.
From this point the story should take off. After we've become comfortable and familar with the Fletcher clan the author, Mr. Card, should take the reader on the wild, white knuckle, pulse racing, edge of your seat ride that we've come to love about the horror suspensce universe.
Instead the Fletchers simply shuffle about thier painfully boring lives. There's no passion, no gamble, no daring in any of them. They whine about the carpet of thier new home, worry about paying the bills, debate over who should take the eight year old to school, battle crickets that infest thier bedrooms, join the local church, the husband,Step, hates his new job and boss, Deanne the wife, obsesses neurotically over her pregnancy and annoying nieghbors.......
I'm not kidding folks, this is as exciting as it gets. The novel drifts along like a dead whale on the open ocean for over FOUR HUNDRED PAGES! Mr. Card takes the reader to a previously uncharted abyss of boredom.
Then comes the religous nonsense. The Fletchers(much like Mr. Card and his family I bet) are Mormons. They drone on tediously about the Gospel and who is or isn't rightious in their local church. Whole chapters are dedicated to who will sing in the chior or read jingoistic dogma from the bible at next Sundays service.
Then the eight year old, Stevie, begins talking to imaginary people and has problems at school. The Fletchers feel it stems from a teacher who gave him a C on a project instead of an A. So, Step decides to conduct his own investigation ala' Woodward and Bernstien to root out and uncover the corruption that has infected his sons second grade classroom.
So he confronts his sons second grade teacher with a tape recorder hidden in his shirt and interogates her with a ferocity not seen since the Spanish Inquisition, terrorizing her until she is brought to tears and nervous breakdown.
Isn't this guy a Morman? you ask. Doesn't he believe in love and compassion? You sure wouldn't know it the way the Fletchers condemn and ridicule anything and everything non Morman from pop songs to a shrink who tries to help Stevie from his various neuroses.
At page 414 something actually interesting actually occurs. A cop shows up and says little Stevie has some type of special power that allows him to communicate with chidren who have been recently abducted. The problem is, at this point in the book, I was so bored I was far beyond caring.
Look, in a nut shell let me explain this book. Lost Boys is religous xenophobia trying to pass itself off as popular fiction. The deadliest threat the free world faces today is religous extremism whether it be Christian or Islamic. This book not only promotes extremism it revels in it.
Rating: 
Summary: Beautiful and heart-wrenching, BUT...
Review: The novel is based on a much shorter work, also called "Lost Boys" by Card. In the short story, Card centers the action around members of his own family. I am assuming that the Fletchers in the novel version are also loosely based on Card's own family (the fact that they are devoted Mormons being a key giveaway). It is no wonder that the family members seem so fleshed out and detailed.I must first say that there isn't as much "plot" in this story as much as it follows the trials and tribulations of a struggling family. And believe me, there are alot of struggles. Money is tight, there's a baby on the way, the older son has social problems at school, and dad is stuck in a job he hates. Throw in a zealot spiritualist out to convert their children, a pedophile co-worker, a serial child-killer, and a number of not-so-nice neighbors, and you've got enough bad things happening to the Fletchers that could fill up an entire season of "Party of Five." However, meandering though the story is, I found myself really caring for this family and what happened to them. (Which is more than I can say for "Party of Five") Card really draws you in, and by the tear-wrenching climax I felt the Fletcher's loss as if it were my own.
Rating: 
Summary: It'll keep you wondering.
Review: The plot is rather simple in this story. It's about a family that go through the harsh pains of reality. You are put into the story, like many of Card's stories, but this one was wrote in a rather ingenious manner. Instead of writing this novel to surprise you after every page, Card simply follows the life of a very religious family. They go through troubles, like any family does, they have their ups and they have their downs. You may be thinking right now, so what is so interesting about this book? Simple, this book is dedicated to the ending. You will get to know these characters so well, you will even notice when they act differently. In this story, you'll be pulled into this family, watching every thorough move they make. The ending of this book is so very mesmerizing, it makes it worth all of the pages you have to read to get there. If you are reading this review because you are deciding if you should purchase and read this book, I highly suggest upon it. If you have ever felt a power as strong as this book, then you must have been struck by lightning.
Rating:
Summary: Great book by a great author
Review: This book does very well, though the story starts slowly the characters are put across believably and comfortably. The depth of development with each person and their relationships is done nicely and the twisted side of a person comes across well too. But the clincher for me in this novel is the ending which is well written and surprising to read. He's done well for himself again.
Rating:
Summary: 2 different books, 2 different ratings
Review: This is a strange book for Mr. Card. It has a horror/thriller story of ghostly friends and disappearing children with a nice selection of potential bad guys, but it is interwoven with a story that could be titled "Diary of a Morman Family". OSC explains how the characters are roughly based on his family members, but does not state whether his family is Morman. The second story is an attempt to sell Mormanism by showing the family as a good hearted American family of Mormans, and uses secondary characters to allow the principals to down play some of the common criticism of Morman doctrine. It comes across as a definite propaganda piece on Mormanism. This may be one book that would be better listened to in an abridged audio presentation. If the horror/thriller elements were left in their entirety, and the propaganda filtered out, you would have a good, fast paced story. I give the horror story a five and the propaganda a one for an average of three. The only reason I give the propaganda a one is it might have merit in a classroom on the study of religious proaganda.
Rating: 
Summary: Powerful, suspenseful
Review: This is great mystery and suspense. If you like being held to the edge of your seat without gore and blood, this book will scare you and simultaneously keep you turning every page. Card writes great believable characters. Parents of you children may find this too close to home to read though.
Rating:
Summary: My first Card Book
Review: This was the first Orson Card book I ever read, I found it in a second hand book store in Bakersfield. As I read the story and the LDS (Mormon) elements fascinated me as a convert to the LDS church myself. As I read further into the story I almost wondered if this was set as a piece of anti- Mormon propoganda.. As it laid the bad out with the good for you to examine. The story so much shows what it's like to be a mMormon in a Non-Mormon town it's scary. However as I finished the story I realized it shows how the faith of our people affects our life for good and ill. The wonderful story of a loving family in a completely different horor story is not to be missed. So if you like ghost stories, if you like family stories, or If you are interested in how different cultures fit together, you will love this story. I've read it several time since and still get misty eyed each time I finish.
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