Rating: 
Summary: John Saul--Presence
Review: ... Very similar to earlier, much scarier best-sellers such as "The God Project" and "Creature", this Saul novel is a little more subdued than many of his pervious works. The story takes place in Haleakala, Maui, among the best (and most volcanic) beaches in the world. Katherine Sunquist, an anthropologist who has come to the islands to study unusual skeleton remains gets much more than what she ever bargained for. Her teenage son Michael has just made the track team and is finally fitting in, yet his physical condition seems to be diminishing and she comes overly concerned. She becomes even more worried when one of Michael's friends unexpectadly dies while walking in the middle of the road. Katharine's biggest fears may become a reality as evidence shows that the organization she is working for may be putting all of its funds into an investment in medical terror--and Michael is the scapegoat. Not violent or scary, yet an intriguing novel none-the-less. Not one of Saul's very best, but certainly worth a read if you're a fan.
Rating:
Summary: John Saul--Presence
Review: ... Very similar to earlier, much scarier best-sellers such as "The God Project" and "Creature", this Saul novel is a little more subdued than many of his pervious works. The story takes place in Haleakala, Maui, among the best (and most volcanic) beaches in the world. Katherine Sunquist, an anthropologist who has come to the islands to study unusual skeleton remains gets much more than what she ever bargained for. Her teenage son Michael has just made the track team and is finally fitting in, yet his physical condition seems to be diminishing and she comes overly concerned. She becomes even more worried when one of Michael's friends unexpectadly dies while walking in the middle of the road. Katharine's biggest fears may become a reality as evidence shows that the organization she is working for may be putting all of its funds into an investment in medical terror--and Michael is the scapegoat. Not violent or scary, yet an intriguing novel none-the-less. Not one of Saul's very best, but certainly worth a read if you're a fan.
Rating: 
Summary: A real good book for teenagers!
Review: a really good book for adults and teenagers!
Rating:
Summary: John Saul--The Presence
Review: Although quite provocative and some-what enduring, this Saul novel is too similar to other novels such as "Creature" and "The God Project" and not nearly as horrific or entertaining. Anthropologist Katharine Sundquist and her track-team hopeful son Michael move to the incredible beaches of Maui in hopes to help a coporation with its research of the architecture at the site. She soon makes some interesting discoveries that do not follow normal geological truths, yet believes that there is nothing harmful that awaits her and her son. However, the death of one of Michael's new friends provides the motive for Katharine to question the ethics of the research and perhaps there is much more to this multi-million dollar dig. Eventually, Michael begins to feel sick and Katharine realizes that not only is she part of an investement in medical terror, but her son may be the scapegoat. Saul has an exceptional craft of not only creating interesting stories but knits them together with beautiful word choice and expression, yet in this novel he seems to focus so much on creating a profound, unique script that he often forgets to actually make it exciting. The first two-thirds of "The Presence" lacks potent emotion, mostly because of Saul's indecision of who he wants the main character to be: Should he focus on how all of Michael's dreams and ambitions could be exterminated because of the extreme measures of a scientist? Or should the story revolve around Katherine's never-ending hunt to find the truth about what is happening on this island? Saul elects to try to emphasize both and the novel suffers from it. "The Presence" is a step below most of Saul's other novels and shows that he struggles to make exceptional thrillers time-and-time again as King and Koontz can.
Rating:
Summary: John Saul--The Presence
Review: Although quite provocative and some-what enduring, this Saul novel is too similar to other novels such as "Creature" and "The God Project" and not nearly as horrific or entertaining. Anthropologist Katharine Sundquist and her track-team hopeful son Michael move to the incredible beaches of Maui in hopes to help a coporation with its research of the architecture at the site. She soon makes some interesting discoveries that do not follow normal geological truths, yet believes that there is nothing harmful that awaits her and her son. However, the death of one of Michael's new friends provides the motive for Katharine to question the ethics of the research and perhaps there is much more to this multi-million dollar dig. Eventually, Michael begins to feel sick and Katharine realizes that not only is she part of an investement in medical terror, but her son may be the scapegoat. Saul has an exceptional craft of not only creating interesting stories but knits them together with beautiful word choice and expression, yet in this novel he seems to focus so much on creating a profound, unique script that he often forgets to actually make it exciting. The first two-thirds of "The Presence" lacks potent emotion, mostly because of Saul's indecision of who he wants the main character to be: Should he focus on how all of Michael's dreams and ambitions could be exterminated because of the extreme measures of a scientist? Or should the story revolve around Katherine's never-ending hunt to find the truth about what is happening on this island? Saul elects to try to emphasize both and the novel suffers from it. "The Presence" is a step below most of Saul's other novels and shows that he struggles to make exceptional thrillers time-and-time again as King and Koontz can.
Rating: 
Summary: not too well thought out
Review: As far as suspensful, horror stories go, this one just tried to do too much. Too many story lines created too many perspectives, and by the end, when Saul tried to tie them together, it just never gelled. The villains were one dimensional, and the twists were a bit forced to say the least. This was my first John Saul novel, and I can't say that I would try another by him unless I was really desparate. Disappointing.
Rating: 
Summary: Captivating!!!
Review: Captivating this book was a real thriller. I had a really horrible time trying to put it down. It had all the elements of a good mystery, horror, suspense and some what of a drama. This book really played my imagination and was highly unpredictable!! A good read and a wonderfully intreging plot!!!
Rating:
Summary: Neat idea, cheesy ending
Review: Cool idea for a story and some neat reading all the way through. But the ending was to easy. It seemed like John Saul was coming close to the deadline for this book so he ended the story with a blob of lava.
Rating:
Summary: Left me searching for more...
Review: I adore John Saul's work. He is a fantastic author, and his use of science and its possible evils are twisted and formed into great reading. However, The Presence left me empty. I breezed through the first half in no time- great story! But about 3/4 of the way into it, I realized that I had already figured out the rest of the book. I spent the last pages nodding my head, and waiting for a surprise- unfortunately, nothing came. I loved the setting and his description of Hawaii, and his characters were likeable, as always. Promising story...but doesn't fulfill the promise.
Rating:
Summary: Not his best, but very enjoyable nonetheless
Review: I agree with one of the other reviews. Jeez, people! So critical! This was a fast-paced book, that kept me turning pages. It wasn't as scary as his others, but I was satisfied with the overall effort.
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