Rating: 
Summary: Dark Pleasure
Review: I got this book from my Aunt, who gives me "bags of books" to read. Usually I don't find many I love but this grabbed me. I was expecting your usual ghost story but instead, got a thriller that kept me reading all night. It is rather dark, but I didn't "figure it out" until almost the very end, which is unusual for me! Everytime I thought the book was ending, something else popped up to surprise me.
Rating: 
Summary: A family who are the model citizens turn into "psychos"!
Review: I listened to this book on tape while driving to work in my car. Lee Merriwether does a very good job of changing the voices for the characters.
The book moves very fast and has a lot of surprises - some of which are pretty gory. But that's why I read books by John Saul. I read "The Homing" a good many years ago and ever since I have been fascinated by his novels.
In "Nightshade", the ghost of an Aunt who has been dead for many years comes back to destroy the family. The whole town wonders what is happening to this once pleasant family with a star football player. The family has turned into "psychos" and people in the town are turning up dead or missing.
If you like some scary stuff, this is a very good choice.
Rating: 
Summary: A scary, disturbing book
Review: I thought this book was creepy and disturbing. How could it end up being the person it was?? I won't give the book away but I was deeply disturbed and the ending wasn't that great. I don't think I will read any of his other books!
Rating:
Summary: Frightening
Review: I've never read Saul before, but I am pretty certain that I'll read him again. This was a terrifying book full of suspense and twists that kept me turning pages. Unlike many suspense novels I've read, this book doesn't waste much time before it starts getting creepy. Things happen early often in this book. And each time I was sure I had it figured out, Saul blindsided me with a new wrinkle. Great book. Highly recommended for suspense/horror fans.
Rating:
Summary: Frightening
Review: I've never read Saul before, but I am pretty certain that I'll read him again. This was a terrifying book full of suspense and twists that kept me turning pages. Unlike many suspense novels I've read, this book doesn't waste much time before it starts getting creepy. Things happen early often in this book. And each time I was sure I had it figured out, Saul blindsided me with a new wrinkle. Great book. Highly recommended for suspense/horror fans.
Rating: 
Summary: Filler...filler...filler....
Review: Never judge a book by it's cover...as an author this can't be stressed enough...as a reader, I couldn't resist! Unfortunately, I was wrong in this case. The cover was awesome and promised a haunting tale that the story just didn't deliver. I thought I'd never finish this book! It grabbed my attention at the beginning, but by the third chapter, I felt as if I had read the same thing over and over. This happens throughout much of the book as Mr. Saul builds to the stories climax. This could have been a very good psychological thriller and a real page-turner, if it had been told in half the length. Instead I found myself putting it down and walking away, waiting sometimes days before I picked it up again then once again becoming frustrated with the same scenario's, bearing slightly different descriptions. This is a classic example of once hitting the best seller list, always remaining there...we should all be so lucky!
Rating:
Summary: Nightshade
Review: Nightshade is a poisonous European plant, also known as Belladonna. This title implies that something is deteriorating rapidly - the world of New Hampshire's Hapgood family. Actually one more meaning, I'll mention it later in this review.Let's start with the Hapgood house, we've Matt Moore, his mom Joan, his stepdad Bill Hapgood and his grandmom Emily Moore. Life looks great and sweet but it starts turning to nightmare when Emily (she has Alzheimer's Disease, a brain disease that impairs mental and emotional functions) accidentally burns down her own house and moves in with the Hapgoods. Then Emily claimed Cynthia (who is Joan's sister and dead) has returned. Moreover, Matt starts to have erotic dreams that Cynthia satisfies herself on him and leaving behind the pungent scent of her Nightshade perfume. Then one day Bill is killed while hunting with Matt and no doubt Matt is then accused to be the killer. Finally, Joan is trying to find the real killer and the story continues... The author weaves a fascinating prose with dark family incidents. Trepidation, dread, doom all gathering. It's a enjoyable read of horror and suspense.
Rating:
Summary: It will keep you at the edge of your seat
Review: Nightshade is one of the best books I have ever read. It just caught my attention right from the moment I opened the book. It is full of suspense and mixed emotions. As any other book the first few pages are descriptions of the setting and everyone's life but don't let this fool you or prevent you from reading it because soon John Saul will get to the really good part and you will never want to put his book down. The story is about the Hapgoods family. This American family is quite perfect. There is a mother and a father and only one child. A boy named Matthews. In this story it was stunning to see how a young boy's life can change all of a sudden, from having it all, a family that adores him, a stepfather who he sees as a real father, and a mother who cares for him, to having nothing but tragedies one after another. His unhappiness begins when an unexpected fire burns his grandmother's house and they are forced to take her home with them.
From the book we learned that his grandmother, who suffers from Alzheimer, after many years, couldn't accept the fact that her dearly beloved daughter, Cynthia, was dead. His grandmother is not able to face the truth about Cynthia's death, so she decides to think that she is on a trip and soon she will come back home. Meanwhile she keeps Cynthia's memory alive by visiting Cynthia's bedroom and leaving all her belongings intact. When her house burns down she decides to move into Matt's house and she took an empty room and recreated Cynthia's room there. Then Matt is brought back to his childhood fears, he starts having horrible and perverted dreams in which his aunt Cynthia is involve just like when he was a kid. Matt is not the only one that suffers; his mother Joan can also sense the presence of her dead sister. Matthews becomes a victim of his aunt, and he is forced to do horrible unimaginable things that lead everyone, including his mother to doubt him, and finally he is left alone. His real father abandoned him and his stepfather who he had known since he was a baby was now dead; murdered, and many think Matt did it. Now Matt feels like he has no mother, and no friends. He is also blamed for the disappearance of his grandmother, and many other tragic events that will change this charmed boy into a teen full of fear and instability.
Find out why Matt's life all of a sudden changes by reading this incredible book, which will leave you wanting to read more and more. It is absolutely thrilling and absolutely recommendable. The twisted ending would have you at the edge of your seat. Don't miss out on what may be John Saul's most famous masterpiece. Get your copy of Nightshade right away and also find out the reason why it was given its title. You will not regret it.
Rating:
Summary: Don't Bother
Review: Saul is a competent writer. Although his style staggers some when he attempts to get prosaic (I'm thinking of the dozen or so times he tries to describe the pretty sunsets/weather in the book), his craft is not bad. It isn't exceptionally good, but it doesn't grate. It gets the job done, and to that end, I applaud his workmanship.
The plot of this particular tale, however, is nothing more than a hastily strung together conglomeration of stories that have been done to death before him, and done better. Even for a reader searching for nothing more than a good, diverting tale, this book is unfullfilling.
What you have here, essentially, is a ghost story featuring young high-schooler Matt Moore, and his stressed and depressed mother, Joan, both of whom are alternately plagued by Joan's vicious mother, Emily, the spectre of Joan's dead sister, Cynthia, and an entire town's hate and accusations, once the bodies start piling up (or, in most cases, just disappearing).
Rote and tired tales can still be done well, but in this case, Saul has diluted the strength of his story with dull repetition (Matt's inner dialogues of self-doubt, for example, occur far too often and compose a good 1/6th of the 400 pg book), clumsy editing, and a few rather silly plot contrivances (I'm thinking of the final explanation for the deer hunting accident). He does a great job of setting up audience sympathies (particularly when he relates Emily's unmotherly tendency towards violence, and when he shows us the townsfolk's unfounded hatred of Matt), but those sympathies are betrayed by an ending that is watered down and, alternately, unnecessary. Especially the last three pages.
If you want a good ghost story, try King's Bag of Bones. At the very least, don't try here. No offense, Saul. But, hey, you gave it a good shot.
Rating:
Summary: I Slept With The Lights On
Review: This book was chillingly suspenseful. It's a great book for those who love getting their pants scared right off. John Saul was able to create a gruesomely, delightfully scary storyline. The characters seemed to jump to life right off the bat and... wow! I was sucked right in and the next thing I knew I couldn't believe what I was reading. I admit I slept with the bedroom light on until I finished the book.
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