Black Creek Crossing

Rating:
Summary: LOOK ELSEWHERE ANGEL
Review: This is the prolific Mr. Saul's thirty-first book; it shows. It's tired, it's rehash of several of Saul's earlier books in which mistreated teens seek revenge on their tormentors. And it's not even as well done as those earlier works.
We meet Angel Sullivan, an overweight, unattractive 15 year old who suffers endless torment from both boys and girls in her school. Never mind the fact that Angie has little backbone and how can one feel sorry for somebody who doesn't take up for herself, or take advantage of the talents she has? She teams up with Seth Baker, another tormented teen (the boys call him "Beth"), and he too takes the guff without any resistance. Suffice to say, his bully father still beats him with a belt? Come on, Saul, this is antiquated stuff. Angie's mother Myra is a religious fanatic, seeing visions of the Virgin Mary, and allowing her drunken abusive husband to abuse both her and Angel. We have the typical stud villains and of course the catty female wenches to keep harassing the two misfits. Of course, they stumble upon a secret place (led there by the irrepressible Houdini, a black cat that just appears in Angel's room). We have the legend of witches and murders happening in the house at Black Creek Crossing, and we have not one original sequence in the book. At the improbable resolution, we don't even have the satisfaction of all the tormentors getting their just desserts, except the parents of course.
I've always thought John Saul must have had a horrible childhood. All of these teen books smell of abuse, loneliness and revenge. Not a nice way to spend the evening, especially when it's done so pedestrian as in BLACK CREEK CROSSING.

Rating:
Summary: Not the Greatest
Review: While fascinating in subject matter, this story has many inconsistencies and loose ends. The ending with regard to Angel and Seth is strange and doesn't make sense. I don't feel that I wasted my time in reading it, but on the other hand, I wasn't totally satisfied that it was as good as Mr. Saul's previous books.

Rating:
Summary: Something Old, Something New....
Review: While this was a mostly entertaining read, the cast of characters was seemed right out of the horror story master template: outcast teen "heroes", good-looking cool crowd tormentors, unsupportive and/or abusive parents, etc. We've seen them all before- many times! Even the "evil house" theme has been done to death. But if you can take the book for what it is, it can be a mostly enjoyable read to pass a rainy summer day (or night!). My main complaint would be the ending of the story which seemed rushed. The fate of the two main protagonists seemed to come out of left field and the story left several loose ends, namely the fate of two of the main tormentors and also never explained the reason for the "specialness" of the tree, which plays a big part in the story. Not a terrible book, but definately not his best.