Rating: 
Summary: Jean-Claude Van Damme was more convincing
Review: You know, I like these storylines much better when they were movies!
I betrayed my long standing rule of John Saul only in emergency, on the basis of some good reviews. Unfortunately, what I found was the illbegotten offspring of a half way decent Jean-Claude Van Damme movie (hard target) and the sublime Silence of the Lambs.
The storyline was not original, the characters were pat and cliched, the writing made my teeth squeak. Unless you are a solid John Saul Fan - avoid this.
Rating: 
Summary: An Interesting But Confusing Summer Read
Review: The Manhattan Hunt Club is a twisted tale of the New York city underground, where the metropolis' homeless live. Jeff Converse, who was convicted of a crime he didn't commit, found himself kidnapped by some homeless people when he was being transported to Rikers Island. He was taken underground and left there, to be hunted down. Hunted down for what he did-or didn't, by a handful of the city's most respectable and wealthy citizens. He had to find a way to get out before he was another "trophy" in the room of the city's elite.At times this book was quite confusing. When being transported to Rikers island, how could a simple Ford van smash into and heavily damage a security truck? And a lot of the homeless appeared to have a considerable amount of money, but preferred to live underground, because it was too busy on the surface. Why would the city's most prominent figures choose to risk their lives underground? Overall, this book is a good piece of fiction, but at times it wandered too far away from common reality, making some events seem impossible. If you are looking for a story that sacrifices some of it's reality for a slightly more interesting plot, then go ahead and read this book. It really is a pretty good read. Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy it too much.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating premise but too many coincidences
Review: The premise of the story is fantastic and pulls you right in - the idea of a society of elites that hunt criminals in the mysterious underground tunnels of Manhattan pulls you right into this book. The pages fly by as the mystery builds and the hunt begins - but then the coincidences begin. Saul has the characters meeting each other all over New York again and again in a series of extremely unlikely coincidences. Having lived in NYC for years, I found it hard to believe that his characters could keep meeting up randomly like that. Other than that, a really good piece of entertainment.
Rating: 
Summary: This Book Needs To Be A MOVIE!!!
Review: This has been one of the best books I've ever read hands down. In this book expect the unexpected. I've missed hourse of sleep staying up late late reading this. I just couldn't put it down, it was full of suspense, and fear(just imagining how Jeff Converse felt in the pitch blackness of the underground Labrynth). I also couldn't help but to wander if something like this could actually happen. I would love to see an adaption of this for the big screen. Maybe so! Bottom line: bored? wanna read a book to fill-in empty time, read The Manhattan Hunt Club, unless..you're scared...
Rating:
Summary: Edge of your seat thriller.
Review: I could not put this book down. It was one of the best page turners I have ever read. The last few books Saul wrote left a bad taste in my mouth but this one was wonderful. From the one-hundred members of the 'Hundred Club' in New York City, a handful form 'The Manhattan Hunt Club'. They turn known criminals loose in the subway tunnels under the city and then hunt them down. They make a mistake when they, unknowingly, choose an innocent man for their 'hunt'. Very entertaining and thought provoking.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting, Suspenseful, Entertaining Story
Review: I just finished this book last night and really enjoyed it! Some of the events were a bit far-fetched - such as the fact that in the story the one hundred most powerful New Yorkers all come together to hunt criminals who they feel weren't punished enough by their prison sentences (they call themselves the Manhattan Hunt Club). The Hunt Club arranges for the some of society's most violent of offenders to "escape" from custody - and arrange for a homeless person to stand nearby and show them a quick hiding place down in the tunnels of the NYC subway system - where the offenders soon realize they can't get back out of the tunnels and are being hunted like animals. The story revolves around an innocent man who is wrongly convicted - and ends up being hunted. Overall a very suspenseful, entertaining, easy-to-read story that leaves you thinking, "Wow, what if.....?"
Rating:
Summary: Not fantastic, but certainly not heinous
Review: I have a hard time believing that this is the same author who wrote Punish the Sinners, cause that book was ridiculously excellent and I knew that nothing else could be that good. I haven't read a John Saul book in a really long time, nevertheless I picked this one up. It's not throw-into-the-subway-tracks bad type of book, but it's not a gobble up in the first day and pass to all your friends type of book either. Some of the writing is trite and the plot predictable, but there was a pretty good twist concerning one of the main characters. I thought the motivation was a little sketchy, however. Going into too much detail about it will ruin the story, but I just thought it odd that the motivation for this person's actions was based on what they believed had to do with race when there was no indication that race was a factor at all in this characters' development. I figure Mr. Saul was getting a little tired at about page 400 and had to wrap some things up. I also thought the inclusion of a few characters was totally unnecessary. Their inclusion didn't offend me, it just seemed that they were just there to move the plot along. They didn't have any depth or rationale. All in all, this was a pretty entertaining read for my subway commute. Can't say I'll look at my train rides the same way again. On another note, if the homeless situation is really as dire in NYC as it's alluded to in this book, something certainly needs to be done. No one deserves to live that way.
Rating: 
Summary: Happiness is a Warm Gun
Review: Having read and somewhat enjoyed John Saul's past highly formulistic novels, I admit that The Manhattan Hunt Club seemed a book that did not initially hold any appeal for me. Saul's frequent forays into suspenseful and horrific tales of children and adolescents have long since lost any allure. I bought the book from habit more than interest. For half a year, MHC collected dust before I finally found it was the only book remaining that I had yet to explore. Though Saul sticks with a formula, he no longer is a one trick pony. He has boldly gone where he has not been before. Others have crafted similar plots, but Saul manages a few quaint and occasionally nifty surprises. As was typical with many Hitchcock suspense films, Saul takes a totally innocent person and places him at the wrong place and time. For Jeff Converse, his nightmare begins when he attempts to help a woman who has been raped and beaten severely. The victim fingers Jeff as her attacker and his nightmare begins with a prison sentence. The situation goes from macabre to steadily worse, much like Cary Grant's character in North by Northwest. The plot can be predictable at times, but there are indeed quite a few deft turns symbolic of the Manhattan underground that is the central setting for most of MHC. The characters themselves range from unique to one-dimensional, but Saul manages to breathe life into the vast majority. Quite simply, The Manhattan Hunt Club is one of Saul's best efforts in quite a few years. Hopefully, he will be able to maintain this newfound level of intensity and creativity in future efforts. In the meanwhile, MHC is worth the read for those who like their suspense sprinkled with clever surprises.
Rating:
Summary: "Really makes you want to come up for breath!! Chilling!"
Review: John Saul is a consumate storyteller, and a fine craftsman, which he's proven once again with THE MANHATTAN HUNT CLUB! This one takes you into the underground tunnels beneath Manhattan - a gripping story of evil, revenge and madness. A hellofa read! I stayed up until 3:00 a.m. to finish it. I'm a big John Saul fan, but I think he might have surpassed himself this time. Along with the thrills and chills, it makes you think. I doubt anyone who reads THE MANHATTAN HUNT CLUB will find it quite so easy to pass that next homeless person they see without at least a twinge of conscience. Or perhaps even unease...
Rating:
Summary: Cliched Suspense
Review: John Saul has been writing clichéd horror novel after clichéd horror novel for years. Not that that's a bad thing - his novels are usually compelling and, at the very least, fun to read. Manhattan Hunt Club provides Saul fans with a different twist however. No supernatural occurrences, no possessed children, no haunted houses. Instead, Saul gives readers a pretty standard thriller. As with most of Saul's novels, the characters are under-developed, the plot is straightforward, the action often intense but the outcome predictable. Manhattan Hunt Club is a simple novel yet the plot is interesting enough to draw readers in. I personally thought that Saul could have introduced a little more background about the NYC underground world. Additionally, as other reviews have pointed out, the coincidences in the novel were ridiculous. While the novel wasn't at all plausible, these coincidences made it seem even more ridiculous. Overall, Manhattan Hunt Club is a fun read. Its not a fabulous novel, nor is it horrible. Just entertaining.
| 
