Manhattan Hunt Club

Rating:
Summary: Manhattan Hunt Club
Review: Jeff Converse has been wrongly accused of assault and attempted murder. After his trial on a prison transport, an accident occurs and all that seems to be left of Jeff is a charred body.

Underground below the subways, Jeff finds himself in a small room. There is another convict with him and someone from outside gives them a package. Jeff and the other convict recieve two flashlights and ragged clothes to resemble the homeless, then the game is explained to them. If they find a route to the surface and escape, Jeff and the other man go free. If they are caught, they are killed.

The hunt begins when Jeff and the other convict are released from the cell and begin their escape. They only have the flashlights and their wits, in contrast to the hunters` automatic weapons and night vision goggles. With people to block them at every turn and the hunters close on their trails, the escape will not be easy.

I found this book as a great suspense thriller. Some of the writing was a little weak, but the storyline made up for that. There were twists in the plot and secrets revealed in almost every chapter as the story develops. The beginning started out slowly, but the story catches on quickly. I thought this was a very good book.

Rating:
Summary: very interesting!!!
Review: I read the book on a recommendation and was it ever a good one. I felt I had found a new writer to add to my list, instantly picked up the Right Hand Of Evil, and received another haunted house story. I am sure I just grabbed the wrong one. I will try again in the future but found this one to be a real page turner.

Rating:
Summary: More myth than mythtery?
Review: Not that there's anything wrong with that! Though it's never pushed, I read this tale as allegory. More on that in a sec.

The story grabbed me, but the writing didn't. It struck me as pedestrian. I was disappointed that more wasn't done with such a bone-chilling setting.

The characters are almost archetypes. Some blossom into themselves by being stretched beyond mundane boundaries. Most who don't bend -- who aren't enriched by these events -- are diminished.

Back to allegory. I saw parallels to Christ's life: Many characters' names started with 'J'; there's a sort of crucifixion, death, 3 days in hell and resurrection; good vs. evil. There's even a character who may be said to play the part of Judas, and another that reminds me of Barabbas. A group of people act as Cerberus, guardian of the underworld. You could really dig into the story like that. But hey, that's just me.

THE MANHATTAN HUNT CLUB is good, but not great, entertainment. And if the reader brings something of hirself [sic] to it, the story and characters can be thought-provoking.

Rating:
Summary: The hunt is over!
Review: MHC was a riveting read. I am pleased that John Saul has cleaned up the supernatural element in this latest action/suspense story. However the characters need more development, we also need another bit of drama going on in the sidelines. Double plotting is a great literary gimmick when the author is presenting something not terribly innovative, usually another derivative novel about crime and ugliness. Neil Gaiman certainly presents a more interesting novel about the homeless in "Neverwhere" And we get the best poetical immersion experience concerning the plight of the unwanted in James Herbert's "The Others."

Rating:
Summary: A detestable story fairly well told
Review: Perhaps I am a wimp, but I found this story to have no redeeming quality. It did not even scare me because I could anticipate the outcome from the beginning. The story has a few interesting twists, but it is about the worst in people. I did not even find it believable.

Rating:
Summary: Life & Death in the Subway Tunnels
Review: Jeff Converse, a student at Columbia, is convicted of attempted murder on a woman who he tried to rescue in the subway after she was brutally attacked by a homeless, psychotic man. His girlfriend and father are convinced that he is innocent, but others, including his mother and his girlfriend's father aren't so sure. Jeff resigns himself to serving his sentence, hoping he'll get out in less than a year. During his transfer to the prison, the van is wrecked and he manages to escape to the tunnels under New York City. Thus begins a bizarre existence in the tunnels where the subculture of the homeless, alcoholic, and mentally disturbed denizens of the underworld thrives.

Jeff is accompanied by another escapee from Riker's who is a convicted murderer. They are herded through the tunnels by tunnel dwellers who are determined to block every escape route. Jeff and his partner, Jagger soon learn that they are the prey in a horrifying manhunt that usually ends in the death of the quarry. Jeff's father and girlfriend try desperately to find him and eventually descend into the tunnels to try to find him before the pursuers do.

This novel offers a fascinating glimpse into the subculture of the homeless tunnel-dwellers, their motivations and their commendable survival skills. Some of the homeless are painted in a positive light as good people just trying to get by. The irony is that the pursuers, who are paragons of New York, are far more evil and corrupt than the homeless citizens of the tunnels.

The suspense of Jeff's attempts to escape alive from the underground labyrinth will keep you turning pages rapidly. Although the ending is predictable, the journey is worth it.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful concept--mixed execution
Review: The right-thinking leaders of New York have devised a way to keep their city clean. They form the Manhattan Hunt Club to hunt down and kill criminals who have somehow escaped full justice from the court system. Their killing ground--the tunnels beneath Manhattan. Their beaters--the homeless who make these tunnels their homes.

It's a wonderful concept. The thought of those tunnels running everywhere underneath the city is both powerful and compelling. How can you not want to read this book. Unfortunately, despite his considerable skills as a writer, author John Saul doesn't live up to the promise.

Both villains and the hero (falsely convicted Jeff Converse) are one dimensional. What Jeff wants from his life other than to get out of the tunnels alive is simply unclear. We need a protagonist who strives for more than simply another day of life. Jeff's sidekick in the sewers is even more of a caricature--a man who refuses to admit his gay impulses and kills his lovers (and those he imagines to be his lovers).

To the shallow characters, Saul adds the mistake of relying excessively on coincidence to drive his story forward. What are the odds that Jeff's father would run into the one homeless girl in all of New York who happened to spend the night with Jeff the previous night?

Although THE MANHATTAN HUNT CLUB does disappoint in its delivery, the concept is so compelling that I couldn't help myself. I had to keep reading.

This is a nearly wonderful book. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title

Rating:
Summary: Hunt this!
Review: WOW! That is about all I can say. I read this book in about 6 hours. I could not put it down. All I can say is read this book...will make your skin crawl. If I ever get to NY again, I will be looking down every grate and eyeing all of the people in the subway. (HA HA HA)

Rating:
Summary: The Man-huntin' Hat Club?
Review: What a fantastic and original story! Although we've seen similar tales that describe human beings put into a maze to be hunted by other human beings, I've not come across one that approaches such an old theme so well. Jeff Converse, a young college student finds himself incarcerated for being a good Samaritan. During a prison transfer, an auto accident conveniently occurs. Jeff and his prison sidekick, Jagger are escorted by force to the depths of the New York subway system to be the next prey in a bizarre manhunt facilitated by New York's homeless. But who is the cause for all of this strangeness and why? Dear reader must invest attention to more than two hundred pages to find out! It's good to see that Saul has finally gotten his groove back. The last couple of his creations were somewhat under-whelming. My only caution is that you may find yourself troubled when trying to tell your peers about this story. The title can be a catalyst for tongue-twisting!

Rating:
Summary: What a book!
Review: I could not put this book down! It was bizarre and thrilling through the entire book. John Saul is an awesome writter and I have now pledged to read all his books. Anyone who buys this book will be very glad they did. Enjoy!