Rating: 
Summary: Exciting and Suspenseful
Review: Ted Conaway's aunt dies leaving him a mansion in St. Albans and a trust fund with some rather strange provisions. A financially strapped alcoholic, he and his wife Janet and three children Jared, Kim and Molly have no choice but to move in. Ted plans to turn it into an inn; but the town's people try to block his plans. The house and the Conway family ancestors are shrouded by mysterious occult events disappearances, sacrifices, rituals etc. stemming from a failed exorcism that seduced a priest away from the Catholic Church. The townspeople fear a resurgence of the evildoings with Conways once again occupying the old homestead. The story pacing is exciting and pulls the reader right along with it. The suspense kept me reading until I'd finished the book in one sitting. This is an excellent read!
Rating: 
Summary: suspenseful, but nothing more
Review: this is true trivial literature. i bought this book in a supermarket and i got exactly what i was buying, something a supermarket is full of. a mass-product. i suppose this book - it is the only one that i have ever read by saul and as far as i am concerned there won't be any more - was written to sell but not to really get to you. saul does not care about REALLY entertaining his readers, about really satisfying them - in my opinion, the only thing he cares about is his wallet. as long as there are enough of those ben franklins in it, he won't write something more substantial. the writing is awful, the characters are shallow and superficial, the father of the family the book's about is the perfect stereotype of an alcoholic, the story is about some mysterious on-goings because of voodoo, involving a dark and bloody family history, a haunted house, and some scenes of stupid blood 'n' guts just to make it, i don't know - "spooky"? - "scary"? I don't know and I don't really much care about this book. As I said, story's bad, charcter's bad, writing's bad, nevertheless, there are some enjoyable scenes, all in all the book's suspenseful, but, believe me, nothing more. If you were looking for a cheap kick I probably would recommend this book to you, but because I am talking to some serious readers here, I say: forget about it. if somebody gave it to you - like as a present - pass it on. you won't miss anything and you won't regret it. thanks for listening.
Rating: 
Summary: Boring with a bad ending to boot!
Review: I'd say 80% of my reading is done in the Horror/Thriller genre, and to those of you who feel naked without a book to read, I say pass this over and find something else. I've read just about everyting by Koontz, King, Preston/Child etc, etc. I picked this up (used thank God) because I couldnt find anything that interested me with my usual stand-by's, and thought why not try someone new...A haunted house? Dreams in the night of horrible things happening to family members? Demon possesion? Please tell me this is a joke, has this not been written five hundred times by every [person] out there? Add to this an ending that is an trite and quick, too quick. Maybe his other books are better, but I'll see what else I can find before I try one of his again.
Rating:
Summary: Typical John Saul--too typical, in fact
Review: Saul's The Right Hand of Evil left me rather unmoved. It's a fairly enjoyable read, but it cannot be called highly original, scary, or awe-inspiring. This is pretty typical John Saul. A dysfunctional family of five-an alcoholic father, rather weak mother, a pair of adolescent twins, and an infant-faces desperation when Ted loses yet another job as a hotel assistant manager due to his drinking. Then comes a call that Ted's aunt, shut up in a sanitarium for decades, is dying. Suddenly, the family inherits a large, old house which Ted decides to make into an inn with the money left to him by an aunt he cared nothing about. Of course, trouble begins brewing immediately. The close-knit townspeople of St. Albans do not want anyone living in that evil house, abandoned for forty years-especially not another Conway. Conways in that house have always meant big, big trouble for the town; stories of murder and evil surround the old house, as do hidden eyes watching and biding their time. Hated and shunned by the whole community, her husband drinking more heavily than ever, Janet decides to take her children and finally leave. Miraculously, though, she finds that her husband Ted seems to have finally changed completely and given up alcohol. For the first time, the family begins to enjoy a normal life of sorts, but burgeoning happiness soon recedes back into terror as Jared, the first-born son begins to change, seemingly taking on all of the bad qualities his father has just overcome. There's a story behind the history of the house, of course, one going back over a century (no surprise here; the whole ancient curse theme is Saul's trademark plot point). We gradually learn exactly what has taken place in the house, but this particular puzzle has few pieces missing to begin with. The tenor of things to come is never really in doubt, although I have no real criticism of the conclusion, which Saul pulled off fairly well. Saul goes all the way this time to give us the ultimate Evil, but his efforts were not quite up to the lofty challenge. There are some suspenseful moments, but Saul replays them often enough to make them rather banal in the end. Character development is rather interesting, particularly in terms of the Catholic priests. My impressions of the priests were made to change a little too quickly and easily, prompting me to wonder just when it had happened. As for the Conway family, I liked daughter Kim, but I could hardly have cared less about the others, particularly Ted and Jared. Since I didn't invest a lot of interest in Saul's characters, I never really cared how the novel might end. There are a few scenes that are sure to bother animal lovers such as myself, so I want to mention that fact here. I always cringe when I see an animal in a Saul novel because animals rarely fare too well in this writer's narratives. Ultimately, I will say that this novel is just a little too derivative of Saul's other fiction, and this time around there is no real zing that certain other of his narratives have. If you've never read John Saul before, you will probably enjoy this novel a lot more than those of us are familiar with his work. John Saul is a talented writer who knows how to tell a story well, and that counts for a lot, but this novel, which aspires to much, falls short of its mark and never really sinks its claws into the heart and mind of the reader.
Rating: 
Summary: Action-packed horror tale
Review: Ted Conway is shocked to learn that he inherited his crazy Aunt Cora's home in St. Albans, Louisiana. Ted and his spouse Janet agree a change in scenery might be just what they and their three children need. So with little to bind them to Shreveport, the Conway brood moves to their late aunt's home, a place that has been neglected for four decades, the time she spent in an institution. The local folks seem unhappy that a Conway once again lives inside the Victorian home because that family denotes evil. The walls flow with violent death that infiltrate the male members of the new residence. As the previously pathetic Ted flourishes amidst his gloomy surroundings, his son's behavior turns ugly in direct proportion. Could an evil essence be transforming the souls of the Conways into something else? John Saul is a fan favorite for his atmospheric horror novels that tear apart the guts of the reader. On the surface, his latest tale, THE RIGHT HAND OF EVIL, provides readers with the essential Saul tale as all the elements of a modern Gothic abound. Though the pace is quite fast and filled with action, the story line never decides between a true gothic and a psychological thriller. Additionally, readers never care what happens to the Conway clan. This novel is one of those could-have-been stories as the PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY flashes through one's mind with the teen representing the picture and Ted being Dorian. Instead of that twist, readers have a horror tale that fails to bring its many subplots to closure. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: Quick ending...
Review: I enjoyed this book for the most part. I could not put it down, and read the last half of the book in one sitting. I felt the end came abruptly, but I find that a lot in the horror genre. I thought there was good character development, and Mr. Saul had me liking and hating characters at his whim. Not much for thrills, but rarely do I find them in books as much as I do movies, others may disagree. Overall, I enjoyed it, and would definitely recommend Creature and the Blackstone Chronicles as well.
Rating:
Summary: Good, but not great.....
Review: I love John Saul, but found this to be a mildly satisfying read--not one of his best. I found it predictable and not as suspenseful as his other books. Treat yourself to "Midnight Voices" or "The Unloved" or "Suffer the Children" before reading this one and you will see what I mean.
Rating:
Summary: The Right Hand Of Evil Deserves a Prize
Review: I am not fond of reading but for school i have to read. When I went to the library I noticed this book. It looked OKAY so I checked it out along with Black Lightning. I was surprized at my reading of this book. In a matter of only 10 days I was swept throught the entire 40 chapters. John Saul grabs hold of you and sucks into the book I was excited to read the next chapter. Another good facter is short chapters. It it weren't for John having short chapters I'd still be reading it right now instead of reading Black Lightning, which is also turning out to be pretty good as well.
Rating:
Summary: Leaning towards mediocre
Review: I would definitely not say this book is horrid but not one of those books where you say bravo. It's simply mediocre. The first 200 or so pages I was entranced by the book, but then the story progressed. This story left some unanswered questions plotwise. John Saul bringing up pentagrams showed he did not do his homework. Pentagrams are part of the wiccan religion, which preaches love, humanity, etc. Inverted pentagrams are part of the whole "Satanic movement." An almost joke was how he described the lord of hell himself.
-pustules on the face, maggots crawling from within, a slithering tongue-
That's not a direct quote from the story but that's basically the description. Even though parts of the story were simply ridiculous, believe me there are too many to laugh at, there are some turns and scares along the way that keep you reading. Especially when you realize a character you have so much hatred for, deserves the complete opposite and that shifts again.
All in all, hilarious details embedded in the story but parts of the plot and story are entertaining but not overly scary, just gruesome.
Rating:
Summary: Well crafted horror with a pat, wrap up ending
Review: This was no John Saul's finest work. It has all the elements of the Saul that cannot allow me to read his books in one sitting - some moments are very vivid and disturbing. Unfortunately, too much of the book is peripheral. The characters are very flat, with little life in them. And the ending seems... rushed. The Plot is well crafted, with (in his typical style) just barely enough hard facts to understand the threat, but enough left out to make it still meysterious, right to the end.
|
