Shadows

Rating:
Summary: John Saul had done his homework very well...but I doubt...
Review: Shadows is really great. Every detail in this novel shows that John had prepared well before begin the first line. I appreciate overall of it. I read this book many years ago but it is still alive in my head. But, well, when he said (by means of using his characters) "everyone knows that comitting suicide is wrong, but why?", it's supposed that he should give some answers to it, whether his own preference or something else. Moreover, I doubt whether gifted children are really hated by their classmates...

Rating:
Summary: Better than most of his books!
Review: Shadows was the first John Saul book I read, and I hungrily tried to read all of his other books in the library. However, none were as clever or as satisfying as Shadows. Yes, the character development is lacking, but the plot is very exciting and very well written, giving the reader inside knowledge that Josh, the protagonist, only discovers at the end of the story.

Mysterious details and character motives are all clarified by the end, without leaving any subplot unfinished. (For an example of such problems, read Orson Scott Card's "Lost Boys.")

Saul's other books are all formulaic, with unbelievable events striking innocent teenagers in small towns, who then "turn bad." This one is a bit different. The "evil" encountered at the Academy that Josh attends is actually plausible and even believable, unlike the science-fiction / ghost story elements of most of his stories. It is also fascinating to read this book set (And written?) during the beginning of the computer craze. What would people turn to in order to create a powerful computer? This book explores the possibilities. It is MUCH better than a typical John Saul book.

Rating:
Summary: A BOOK THAT ONLY JOHN SAUL FANS WILL LOVE...
Review: This is a yet another formulaic horror story by the author of multiple bestsellers in this genre. Plot driven, with little character development, and a prosaically written narrative, the book is mediocre fare, at best.

This time, the horror takes place at The Academy, a school for gifted children. When ten year old, whiz kid Josh McCallum tries to commit suicide after enduring the endless taunts of his less gifted classmates in a mainstream school, his single mother enrolls him in The Academy, thinking that she has found a haven for her gifted son.

There, Josh feels at home, meeting other extraordinarily gifted children and making friends. Run by a Dr. Engersol, the resident mad scientist, and presided over by an ostensibly motherly woman named Hildie, Josh is, at first, taken in by the seemingly comfortable atmosphere of The Academy. Soon, he finds himself becoming friends with a precocious, freckle-faced redhead named Amy.

When a mysterious suicide takes place at the school, it is quickly swept under the rug. Josh and Amy shortly find themselves enrolled in a special seminar run by Dr. Engersol, where it is obvious all is not what it seems. Josh and Amy's idyllic and brief relationship soon comes to a grinding halt, when Amy is caught in the vortex of Dr. Engersol's madness, and Hildie is revealed for what she really is. It is up to Josh to set things right, a substantial burden for any ten year old, no matter how smart.

All in all, this is a book that only dedicated fans of author John Saul will love. All others will find it to be nothing more than a quick, throwaway read.