Nathaniel

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.

Rating:
Summary: What a Mess
Review: Nathaniel is one of the worst horror books I've ever read. The plot is great. The execution is terrible. Michael Hall is an annoying kid, and since he's the main character, the one we are suppose to fear for and identify with that'a flaw. He's supposed to be a preteen but reacts and behaves like a little boy. The womenfolk in this book are all ineffectual victims. There's suo much oddness and death in this town it's ludicrous that the cops and a possee of social workers don't make an appearance. The single most interesting character, including Nathaniel is Amos the grim grandfather who was not above killing to fulfill his vision of how things ought to be and he's one of the bad guys. This book was an all around dissappointment that has put me off Sual's books for good.

Rating:
Summary: The first saul book I read
Review: Nathaniel is so far the only John Saul book I've read, I bought a bunch more, but I just haven't had the time to read them yet. I enjoyed it, but I was a little disappointed with the ending, I thought that Nathaniel was a ghost or something, but the truth was a little surprising and kind of far fetched. People ought to read real literature sometime, though as a teenager, this is literature, i read only this stuff when I was younger.

Rating:
Summary: One of my favorites so far...
Review: Nathaniel is, so far, is the only book I've read by Saul. And I intend to read more. The mystery of Prairie Bend, the setting, is enough to get you going by itself. The hidden secrets of the Halls will shock you till the very end. This novel is very gripping and you will find yourself not wanting to put the book down.

Rating:
Summary: Nathaniel
Review: Nathaniel was a good ghost. Just Anne Rice stories. I feel sorry for Anna Hall for going though a tough life. Like God say be good to the poor. Help those needs help. Anna did needed a lot of help. So did Janet. And we need forgiving. Like people like Amos. He was a nightmare. God says forgive everyone. That's way Jesus die on the cross.

Rating:
Summary: Nathaniel
Review: Nathaniel was good Ghost storie. Like Anne Rice. I feel sorry for Anna Hall for the way she was going through. Her husband was a nightmare. So was Nathaniel was a nightmare too. Like Amos doesn't sound like a forgive. It says in the bible to forgive. As God forgiving us. When we ask. God help though who help themself. Be good to the poor. Like Anna Hall needed a lot of help. So did Janet. And I know poor Micheal Hall was going though a nightmare with Nathaniel.

Rating:
Summary: Legend comes to life in Prarie Bend
Review: Nathaniel, the truculent myth that has the residents of sleepy Prarie Bend whispering his name for 100 years asserts his powers vicariously through young Michael Hall. Family secrets abound and intertwine to hold the raeder spellbound, waiting for the other shoe to drop. Saul drops the other shoe with a wallop, delving into macabre with deft strokes of the pen. A poignant story of rural life peppered with anomoly

Rating:
Summary: Awesome book!
Review: This book was simply awesome! John Saul hooks you in the beginning of the book (with the cyclone and the child birth) and keeps you interested all the way to the end! I love how he describes the characters, and although I only heard a little about Mark, he, Nathaniel, and Micheal are my favorites! And I LOVE the surprise ending.......

Rating:
Summary: very good
Review: This book was so good I couldn't put it away

Rating:
Summary: A Real Page Turner
Review: This is one of his best works!!!I love this book so much I'm going to have to read it again!! The way John Saul writes you can actually feel like your in the story.I get lost in the books losing track of time.If you like campfire tales,urban legends,or folklore, READ THIS BOOK !!!!!!!!