Rating: 
Summary: Well written and gloriously unspectacular.
Review: I suppose what makes a horror novel successful, above all other criteria, is the degree of suspense felt by the reader; this, of course, varies from person to person. Nathaniel was virtually free of suspense: most of the scenarios that Saul tosses at us are suspense of the cliffhanger variety. That is to say that although there is suspense by virtue of the situation, the reader more or less expects the outcome of each and every situation. This applies to all elements comprising the conclusion as well. It simply isn't a very good book where the story is concerned. But, in order to balance out the review, the writing skill must be mentioned. John Saul can, in short, tell an unenthralling story incredibly well. The details are drawn out to the very last strand of hair, the pace of the story varies incredibly well and, most importantly, Saul keeps a consistent third person tone. Unheard of! If only the story had been better.
Rating:
Summary: Well written and gloriously unspectacular.
Review: I suppose what makes a horror novel successful, above all other criteria, is the degree of suspense felt by the reader; this, of course, varies from person to person. Nathaniel was virtually free of suspense: most of the scenarios that Saul tosses at us are suspense of the cliffhanger variety. That is to say that although there is suspense by virtue of the situation, the reader more or less expects the outcome of each and every situation. This applies to all elements comprising the conclusion as well. It simply isn't a very good book where the story is concerned. But, in order to balance out the review, the writing skill must be mentioned. John Saul can, in short, tell an unenthralling story incredibly well. The details are drawn out to the very last strand of hair, the pace of the story varies incredibly well and, most importantly, Saul keeps a consistent third person tone. Unheard of! If only the story had been better.
Rating: 
Summary: Awesome!
Review: I was so excited to finally read a great ghost story! The way Saul introduces so many characters and themes and just ties them together at the end is truly awesome. I recommend this book to all ghost story lovers!
Rating:
Summary: Awesome!
Review: I was so excited to finally read a great ghost story! The way Saul introduces so many characters and themes and just ties them together at the end is truly awesome. I recommend this book to all ghost story lovers!
Rating:
Summary: John Saul is the master of suspense
Review: John Saul has done it again I have read just about every book ever written by Saul and I think he is in a league with King! I've have never read a story by him I have been disappointed in. Nathaniel has a clever dialogue that kept me guessing to the end of the book. There were characters in there you could identify with living in a small town!
Rating:
Summary: AWESOME!
Review: Just an incredible book from an Author who never seems to weaken in his story lines.. they keep getting better and better. This is definitely a great book if you like the paranormal, for lack of a better word. Get it! Before Nathaniel gets you
Rating:
Summary: A "HAUNTING" NARRATION
Review: Mix yourself a toddy, curl up in front of a fire, and prepare to hear a chilling, spine tingling tale. "Nathaniel" reminds one of the ghost stories told in darkened rooms- those that made listeners shiver with a mixture of fear and delight. John Saul's horror filled narrative explodes with excitement in an arresting reading by first rate vocal performer Laurel Merlington. She injects her performance with just the right amounts of fear and curiosity in this story of evil both real and imagined. Just who is Nathaniel? No one in the small town of Prairie Bend seems to know for sure, but the majority fear him. Some say he's part of a folk tale that has been circulating for generations. Others swear that his spirit is very real and will bring havoc upon the innocent in an effort to avenge past deeds. Still grieving after his father's accidental death young Michael Hall arrives in Prairie Bend. It is he who clearly hears the voice of Nathaniel calling to him, urging him to venture where he has been forbidden to go. Michael obeys and therein lies this terrifying tale.
Listen and discover the dark secrets that refuse to stay buried. - Gail Cooke
Rating:
Summary: A "HAUNTING" NARRATION
Review: Mix yourself a toddy, curl up in front of a fire, and prepare to hear a chilling, spine tingling tale. "Nathaniel" reminds one of the ghost stories told in darkened rooms- those that made listeners shiver with a mixture of fear and delight. John Saul's horror filled narrative explodes with excitement in an arresting reading by first rate vocal performer Laurel Merlington. She injects her performance with just the right amounts of fear and curiosity in this story of evil both real and imagined. Just who is Nathaniel? No one in the small town of Prairie Bend seems to know for sure, but the majority fear him. Some say he's part of a folk tale that has been circulating for generations. Others swear that his spirit is very real and will bring havoc upon the innocent in an effort to avenge past deeds. Still grieving after his father's accidental death young Michael Hall arrives in Prairie Bend. It is he who clearly hears the voice of Nathaniel calling to him, urging him to venture where he has been forbidden to go. Michael obeys and therein lies this terrifying tale.
Listen and discover the dark secrets that refuse to stay buried. - Gail Cooke
Rating:
Summary: A "HAUNTING" NARRATION
Review: Mix yourself a toddy, curl up in front of a fire, and prepare to hear a chilling, spine tingling tale. "Nathaniel" reminds one of the ghost stories told in darkened rooms- those that made listeners shiver with a mixture of fear and delight. John Saul's horror filled narrative explodes with excitement in an arresting reading by first rate vocal performer Laurel Merlington. She injects her performance with just the right amounts of fear and curiosity in this story of evil both real and imagined. Just who is Nathaniel? No one in the small town of Prairie Bend seems to know for sure, but the majority fear him. Some say he's part of a folk tale that has been circulating for generations. Others swear that his spirit is very real and will bring havoc upon the innocent in an effort to avenge past deeds. Still grieving after his father's accidental death young Michael Hall arrives in Prairie Bend. It is he who clearly hears the voice of Nathaniel calling to him, urging him to venture where he has been forbidden to go. Michael obeys and therein lies this terrifying tale.
Listen and discover the dark secrets that refuse to stay buried. - Gail Cooke
Rating: 
Summary: Suspenseful and surprisingly complex
Review: My opinion of this novel vacillated somewhat as I read it, but John Saul pretty much won me over in the end. Initially, I worried that the main characters lacked sufficient depth, and this made me question some of their decisions and actions initially. When Mark Hall mysteriously dies back in the hometown he left years earlier, his widow Janet and son Michael journey to the small farming village of Prairie Bend for the funeral. Mark had never spoken about his home town or family to his wife, so Janet's grief is accompanied by a growing sense of amazement as she discovers things about her husband she never knew. Michael's grandfather Amos is a towering figure in the novel, seemingly loving yet stiff and mysterious, while his wife Anna's importance grows as Janet, Michael, and the reader begin to piece together the events of a night twenty years earlier. Although she is a city girl seemingly oblivious to the obvious weirdness of folks in the rural community, Janet decides to live there on the farm she never knew her husband owned. Her son soon begins to hear a voice calling to him in the night, and he braves the danger of a shotgun-toting hermit to sneak into the man's barn. After meeting the mysterious Nathaniel, a boy regarded by the community as a legend dating back a century, Michael begins to have headaches and begins to change. He sees visions of what happened to his father, and-more importantly-what has been happening for years to a significant number of newborn babies in the creepily quaint village. The things Michael sees and the confrontations he has with his grandfather are well told, although his whining can get tiresome in places. The grandfather is a menacing figure in the story, one who is more complex than I initially thought. Everything in the plot doesn't hold together perfectly, but there are no holes large enough to really matter. There is more to the story and the legend of Nathaniel than expected, and it is worth the wait to hear the women of the family finally reveal the stories they have kept bottled up inside of them for many years. I was especially pleased by the ending, which featured a twist I did not foresee. I wouldn't consider this one of Saul's best novels, but it does make for very interesting reading once you get past the somewhat dull opening pages. I didn't find any of the characters particularly likeable, but my ambivalence didn't matter much in the end. While the novel intentionally left some questions unanswered, Saul's painstaking attention to detail and commitment to reveal his secrets only in due time makes sure the patient reader's interest is peaked at the very end.
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