Rating: 
Summary: IT COULD HAVE BEEN A CONTENDER...
Review: This is a book that might have had a chance had the author not been so self-indulgent. The book was milked for more than it was worth and stretched to the breaking point. It needed better editing, as it was overlong and repetitive. Though the premise was mildly interesting, it falls far short of its intended mark, due to its overall lack of tension. It is not one of the author's better books. It begins promisingly enough, when MaryAnne Carpenter, who lives in New Jersey with a philandering husband and their two children, Alison and Logan, gets a call telling her that her best friend and her wealthy husband have both died accidentally, leaving an only child, Joey. As he is her godchild, MaryAnne travels with her children to Idaho, where the Wilkensons lived on a magnificent ranch. There she discovers that she has been named as Joey's guardian. While there, she notices that Joey is a loner, a strange child who becomes stranger with every passing moment. Joey himself senses that there is something different about him. here There is even a suspicion that Joey himself may have been responsible in some way for the deaths of his parents. Meanwhile, mysterious murders begin to take place in the rural countryside in which Joey lives. Evil seems to be all around them, as a malevolent force begins to strike at them. Who or what is it? Could it be the mysterious stranger who is spotted from time to time? Or is it someone or someething else? The book seems to degenerate into ludicrousness, as the reader is expected to believe that MaryAnne, knowing what she knows, is allowing her children, with and without Joey, to wander around the ranch where the Wilkensons mysteriously died. She permits this, even after savage murders have taken place very close to the ranch. The book further degenerates when the characters seem to be mere fodder for the predator that is out there in the wilderness, waiting for the moment to strike yet again. This book could have been a contender, had its editor seen fit to pare it down to a point where there might still be some tension left in the book. This audiobook, however, is very well read by David Regal in a somber, somewhat sepulchral, tone that suits the tenor of the book and adds to its ambiance. The pacing of the reading is excellent, and the voice transitions of each character are fairly effective. The sound quality of the audiobook is also excellent. While the narration deserves four stars, the content of the book merits only two. I am, therefore, awarding this book three stars.
Rating: 
Summary: one of his best
Review: this is a very clever, entertaining story that really makes you feel for the characters. the ending is very unique & special - more hopeful than most endings.
Rating:
Summary: captivating....... a real page turner
Review: This is the second book I've read of John Saul's works and so far he is right on target. This book kept me interested the entire way through, no weak spots or slow areas. A real thriller. I challenge anyone to read this and have a problem with it, and I consider myself a picky reader. The ending was good, a possible sequel? However, the ending, I felt, was fairly predictable although adequate. This guy knows how to weave a story and keep you glued to your chair.
Rating: 
Summary: In my opinion....
Review: This was not one of John Sauls best works. With his books, I am usually so drawn in my the 10th page that I can't put it down. Even with The Homing, which I didn't really care for but read all the way through, was better. I got 100 pages into this book and stopped. I had problems with the main characters. And that husband!! I won't even get started on him... The only characters I like were killed in the beginning. And the main woman character... I had no sympathy for. I didn't even want to know why the kid did what he did and what made him do it. I just couldn't read anymore of it.
Rating: 
Summary: The book captured me within minutes
Review: This was the first John Saul book I have ever read. It Wowed me so much, that ever since I have be finding and reading anything and everthing written by Saul. The story is easy to read (with 1 or 2 slightly slow parts) and keeps you turning pages long into the night. The characters are very well developed and even though it is "supernatural" in contant he really leads you to believe that it is real. Let me say one thing, out of the 12 Saul books I've read, I have never been disappointed!
| 
