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Nightshade
Saul Gets Scarier
John Saul has been terrifying readers for more than two decades, and we keep coming back for more. It's easy to see why when you read his latest tour de force, Nightshade, a chillingly creepy tale that will have you looking over your shoulder every chance you get. Stunningly crafted, with a plot that has more twists than a bag full of pretzels, Nightshade promises to be Saul's most compelling novel yet. And given his backlist of grimly horrifying but riveting fare, that's no small accomplishment.
In a small New England town, Joan Hapgood is content with her life until the events of one fateful afternoon trigger a long string of tragedies that threaten both her future and her sanity. It starts when Joan's mother, Emily, who has been steadily deteriorating under the effects of Alzheimer's disease, accidentally starts a fire while trying to cook. To say Joan's relationship with her mother is strained would be a gross understatement. In Emily's eyes, Joan has always been a poor second to her sister, Cynthia, who was beautiful, devoted, and bright. Despite Cynthia's death many years before, Joan still lives in her big sister's shadow whenever Emily is around. Not only has Joan never been pretty enough, bright enough, or loving enough, but she has a bastard son whose father remains unknown -- all unforgivable sins to Emily.
Against the wishes of her husband, Bill, and her son Matt, Joan moves her mother into the Hapgood family home where she and Bill have lived for ten years. Emily's insistence that Cynthia is not only still alive, but present, combined with her viciously acerbic attitude toward Matt and Joan, strains Joan's marriage to the breaking point, forcing Bill to move out. Given that Bill is the only father Matt has ever known, the boy takes the separation hard, becoming understandably angry. When Bill ends up dead during a hunting trip -- possibly shot by Matt himself -- the town begins to wonder just how angry Matt has become.
The death of Bill Hapgood is followed by several mysterious disappearances, including that of Joan's mother, Emily. In each case, the bulk of the evidence points to young Matt, and soon the entire town is close to forming a lynch mob. Matt himself isn't sure what the truth is, for he keeps suffering odd fugue states and imagining that he sees, hears, and smells his dead Aunt Cynthia. For Joan, the intense grief brought on by her husband's death must be set aside as she fights to prove her son's innocence. But no one suspects the real truth, which is so bizarre, so horrifyingly twisted, it will haunt those who survive forever.
For those who like their plot lines well-crafted and convoluted, Nightshade is sure to please. From the unnerving first pages of the prologue to the final sentence on the last page, Saul tosses in enough red herrings and ambiguities to keep readers guessing. Horror fans won't be disappointed either; while the body count is a bit lighter than in some of Saul's other works, there is plenty of blood and gore to be had, and a ghost or two (or are they?) to liven things up.
Beth Amos
416 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2000
64 people are currently reading
1709 people want to read
About the author
John Saul
149 books2,830 followersJohn Saul is an American author best known for his bestselling suspense and horror novels, many of which have appeared on The New York Times Best Seller list. Born in Pasadena and raised in Whittier, California, Saul attended several universities without earning a degree. He spent years honing his craft, writing under pen names before finding mainstream success. His breakout novel, Suffer the Children (1977), launched a prolific career, with over 60 million copies of his books in print. Saul’s work includes Cry for the Strangers, later adapted into a TV movie, and The Blackstone Chronicles series. He is also a playwright, with one-act plays produced in Los Angeles and Seattle. In 2023, he received the Bram Stoker Award for Lifetime Achievement. Openly gay, he has lived with his partner—also his creative collaborator—for nearly 50 years. Saul divides his time between Seattle, the San Juan Islands, and Hawaii, and frequently speaks at writers’ conferences, including the Maui Writers' Conference. His enduring popularity in the horror genre stems from a blend of psychological tension, supernatural elements, and deep emotional undercurrents that have resonated with readers for decades.
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July 27, 2022Well what to say about this book......sigh.
I am going to have to put it down and that is super rare for me not to finish a book by author, John Saul. I have read a lot of his books and usually give his work high ratings as I love his stories, but this book was just super slow with lots of repetition with things happening to the characters. The same things would happen and it just went out like that for most of the book as I did read up to about halfway. I also did not find the story to be that spooky - I was not scared out of my wits like I normally am with ghost stories written by this author.
The other reason I am laying it down as there is quite a bit of emotions with one of the characters that has Alzheimer's as that rings too close to home for me as I was my mother's caretaker up till she passed away as she had Alzheimer's and everything that happens in this story with that character just brings back too much of what I went through with my mom. It was heartbreaking to see my mom go through that and to read a story about it just brings all that heartache back, so I just cannot read this book as it is very emotional for me.
I am not rating this book as I do not rate books I do not finish.
I am going to have to put it down and that is super rare for me not to finish a book by author, John Saul. I have read a lot of his books and usually give his work high ratings as I love his stories, but this book was just super slow with lots of repetition with things happening to the characters. The same things would happen and it just went out like that for most of the book as I did read up to about halfway. I also did not find the story to be that spooky - I was not scared out of my wits like I normally am with ghost stories written by this author.
The other reason I am laying it down as there is quite a bit of emotions with one of the characters that has Alzheimer's as that rings too close to home for me as I was my mother's caretaker up till she passed away as she had Alzheimer's and everything that happens in this story with that character just brings back too much of what I went through with my mom. It was heartbreaking to see my mom go through that and to read a story about it just brings all that heartache back, so I just cannot read this book as it is very emotional for me.
I am not rating this book as I do not rate books I do not finish.
October 26, 2022
3.25/5
This was another well-written John Saul novel. The setup was great and the ending was spine-tingling but the story sagged in the middle and I found myself just thinking "Get on with it" a few times.
This was another well-written John Saul novel. The setup was great and the ending was spine-tingling but the story sagged in the middle and I found myself just thinking "Get on with it" a few times.
May 15, 2011
There was not a time in my life when I didn’t love to read and when I didn’t appreciate a good horror story. By the time I was 12 or 13 YA horror stories were far too predictable and tame for me and I moved on to authors such as Stephen King, Anne Rice and John Saul. Although I never came close to reading everything John Saul wrote, I read quite a few of his books and specifically remember loving Nathaniel so much that I read it multiple times. Granted, my reading at thirty *cough* something is different than my teenage self. Even so, John Saul is one of those authors who I really liked, and I was looking forward to livening up my daily commute by revisiting him.
Apparently my teenage self wasn’t quite the reading snob I thought I was, because Nightshade was horrible. Had I been reading it (rather than listening to the audio version on my way to and from work), it for sure would have been quit after a chapter or two. However, the poor writing quality was just enough that I could concentrate on traffic without missing too much of the story.
Where to begin? Let’s see… Nightshade is the master of telling rather than showing. At no point did the story simply unfold on its own. John Saul told us everything. The majority of the story took place in the form of inner monologue, thoughts and feelings. There was very little dialogue or action. The story was told from an omniscient point of view and we heard the thoughts and some history of so many characters whose inner motivations (or personal conflicts and drama) didn’t really matter to the story. Regarding the characters, everyone was so one dimensional and predictable. Characters either did exactly what was expected of them, or behaved in bizarre ways without their behavior being explained or rationalized at all. Mysteries were only mysteries because John Saul chose to withhold important plot points until the near end of the book. There were issues of mental illness, jealously, delusions, dream sequences and paranormal activity and haunting. Strangely though people were unable to recognize severe mental illness in friends and family members, but ghostly possession put them on the alert that something just isn’t right within seconds of a person becoming possessed. And because John Saul apparently felt the need to cover his poor writing skills with a little shock value, there was some gratuitous violence, a snuff scene/dream sequence and incestuous statutory rape.
In addition to all of the above, the technical writing was beyond redundant. If only I weren’t driving while listening I would have paused and written examples down to share here. But, you will have to take my word for it that so many scenes went something like this,
“When Matt awoke, he smelled a rotten stench. Looking around he saw a person’s dead body covered in blood and flies only a mere feet from him. Suddenly he knew what the rotten stench he smelled upon first awakening was. It was the smell of a putrid corpse”
Well, fucking duh!!! Finally, there were little technical errors that should have been caught by the editor. For example, a woman who was applying makeup used her “pot of rogue.” Who the heck calls it blush “rogue” anymore or still refers to it coming in a pot? At one point, a character wants to know who teenage Matt Moore’s father is, so he spends an afternoon doing internet research. Despite the fact that the man doing the research isn’t a cop, detective, or hacker (he publishes a local, small town community interest paper) he decides that Matt’s mother cannot be his birth mother because, he could find no record of her giving birth anywhere. Um… hello HIPPA???
I didn’t go into this novel expecting it to be great, and even so was overwhelmingly disappointed. Interestingly, when investigating John Saul here on Goodreads, it seems that soo many people also loved him when they were younger teenagers. Huh. And I always felt like such a lone weirdo, being a Catholic School girl who loved reading horror paperbacks in the mid eighties ;) Perhaps John Saul’s entire fan base is comprised of socially awkward, book worm wanna-be rebels? LOL.
Chances are I will give John Saul another try. Rather than read something new, I’d like to go back to one of my old favorites of his. Nathaniel, The God Project or Brain Child. Something he wrote when he was still in his prime. But Nightshade? I’d like to say this was a waste of time, but it did keep me entertained on my way to and from work. Barely.
Apparently my teenage self wasn’t quite the reading snob I thought I was, because Nightshade was horrible. Had I been reading it (rather than listening to the audio version on my way to and from work), it for sure would have been quit after a chapter or two. However, the poor writing quality was just enough that I could concentrate on traffic without missing too much of the story.
Where to begin? Let’s see… Nightshade is the master of telling rather than showing. At no point did the story simply unfold on its own. John Saul told us everything. The majority of the story took place in the form of inner monologue, thoughts and feelings. There was very little dialogue or action. The story was told from an omniscient point of view and we heard the thoughts and some history of so many characters whose inner motivations (or personal conflicts and drama) didn’t really matter to the story. Regarding the characters, everyone was so one dimensional and predictable. Characters either did exactly what was expected of them, or behaved in bizarre ways without their behavior being explained or rationalized at all. Mysteries were only mysteries because John Saul chose to withhold important plot points until the near end of the book. There were issues of mental illness, jealously, delusions, dream sequences and paranormal activity and haunting. Strangely though people were unable to recognize severe mental illness in friends and family members, but ghostly possession put them on the alert that something just isn’t right within seconds of a person becoming possessed. And because John Saul apparently felt the need to cover his poor writing skills with a little shock value, there was some gratuitous violence, a snuff scene/dream sequence and incestuous statutory rape.
In addition to all of the above, the technical writing was beyond redundant. If only I weren’t driving while listening I would have paused and written examples down to share here. But, you will have to take my word for it that so many scenes went something like this,
“When Matt awoke, he smelled a rotten stench. Looking around he saw a person’s dead body covered in blood and flies only a mere feet from him. Suddenly he knew what the rotten stench he smelled upon first awakening was. It was the smell of a putrid corpse”
Well, fucking duh!!! Finally, there were little technical errors that should have been caught by the editor. For example, a woman who was applying makeup used her “pot of rogue.” Who the heck calls it blush “rogue” anymore or still refers to it coming in a pot? At one point, a character wants to know who teenage Matt Moore’s father is, so he spends an afternoon doing internet research. Despite the fact that the man doing the research isn’t a cop, detective, or hacker (he publishes a local, small town community interest paper) he decides that Matt’s mother cannot be his birth mother because, he could find no record of her giving birth anywhere. Um… hello HIPPA???
I didn’t go into this novel expecting it to be great, and even so was overwhelmingly disappointed. Interestingly, when investigating John Saul here on Goodreads, it seems that soo many people also loved him when they were younger teenagers. Huh. And I always felt like such a lone weirdo, being a Catholic School girl who loved reading horror paperbacks in the mid eighties ;) Perhaps John Saul’s entire fan base is comprised of socially awkward, book worm wanna-be rebels? LOL.
Chances are I will give John Saul another try. Rather than read something new, I’d like to go back to one of my old favorites of his. Nathaniel, The God Project or Brain Child. Something he wrote when he was still in his prime. But Nightshade? I’d like to say this was a waste of time, but it did keep me entertained on my way to and from work. Barely.
June 2, 2021
Another great read about one messed up family!! A family with tons of secrets! The thing that this was missing in the supernatural aspect.....or; was there one?
So with this being written in 2000, it reads like a book from the early 80's in that vein of 'Flowers in The Attic', but Saul wrote unlike anyone else.
When 15 year old Matt's grandmother moves into the family home after losing her house to a mysterious fire; Matt's life is about to turn the fuck up side down, and he will learn things about his family that he would of and could have never guessed!! The creep factor in this one was not as intense as 'The Right Hand of Evil' which i read before this one, but it was still a creepy and fun read. This book was a lot more predictable, and as i got further and further....it all came back to me again. OMFG did that sound like a Celine Dion song!? lol. 😱🤦♂️🤣
Matt's aunt Cynthia died 16 years ago, before Matt was born...but is she the disturbed and messed up lady that is coming into his room at night after he has fallen asleep, and wakes him with sexual antics and molestation? Yeah, this is another one that has just 'Hints of' that crazy OLD family member who is obsessed with young boys...... Is that nightshade that I smell? Yikes!
3.5 (rounded up to 4) Creeps!
So with this being written in 2000, it reads like a book from the early 80's in that vein of 'Flowers in The Attic', but Saul wrote unlike anyone else.
When 15 year old Matt's grandmother moves into the family home after losing her house to a mysterious fire; Matt's life is about to turn the fuck up side down, and he will learn things about his family that he would of and could have never guessed!! The creep factor in this one was not as intense as 'The Right Hand of Evil' which i read before this one, but it was still a creepy and fun read. This book was a lot more predictable, and as i got further and further....it all came back to me again. OMFG did that sound like a Celine Dion song!? lol. 😱🤦♂️🤣
Matt's aunt Cynthia died 16 years ago, before Matt was born...but is she the disturbed and messed up lady that is coming into his room at night after he has fallen asleep, and wakes him with sexual antics and molestation? Yeah, this is another one that has just 'Hints of' that crazy OLD family member who is obsessed with young boys...... Is that nightshade that I smell? Yikes!
3.5 (rounded up to 4) Creeps!
April 30, 2010
Brain bleach...I need brain bleach.
September 30, 2021
A 15-year-old boy named Matt lives with his mother Joan and her new husband Bill Hapgood. They also end up taking in Jones mother Emily. There's also a lot of talk of Jones sister Cynthia. Has the story progresses there's speculation that Matt has shot bill in the face while hunting. Matt suffers from nightmares and sees his aunt Cynthia haunting him. She also has sex with him apparently. Then Grandma Emily disappears as well. She has dementia which is really tough on them to begin with. It was so bad Bill left and then came back. As the story progresses and young girl named Becky disappears. Matt goes out to look for her and runs into a couple of football players that beat the crap out of them. In case I didn't tell you he was on the football team before everyone thought he killed his stepdad. Now no one in town likes him. And considering his grandmother disappeared and then the girl that was interested in him, well... So then the girl next door who happens to love Matt doesn't believe he's guilty so she goes to visit. Her name is Kelly by the way. Then everything starts going crazy. So Joan is keeping Becky in a sub basement with her dead mother. She beats the crap out of Matt with a shovel and also beats up Kelly. Somewhere along the way she kills becky. It gets even crazier because now she is really her sister Cynthia. Which is really creepy because Cynthia has sex with her son. Turns out it's really Cynthia's child and Bill is the real dad. But, Joan was terrorized as a child so she developed this split personality and kidnapped Cynthia's baby and raised him herself. Finally at the end of police arrest Joan. Then she's talking to a psychologist as Cynthia who disappears leaving Joan completely clueless as to what happened. Kind of a twisted story at the end there. It took a while to get there but this book was okay. As it progressed you got more and more into it so I suppose that's good. You could kind of see the end coming so it wasn't super surprising. But still a solid book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 3, 2020
"A pair of eyes pierced the darkness, seeming to hang suspended in the blackness, fixing on him with an intensity that made his skin crawl"
This is the book you want to be reading on Halloween night. This story is as close as it gets to actual terror.
A mysterious fire burns the house of Matt Moore's grandmother forcing her to move in with the family.
His grandmother, Emily, suffers from dementia and is persistent on recreating the bedroom of Cynthia her favourite daughter who has long since passed.
Throughout the characters feel as though eyes are watching them, the house constantly fills with the perfume of Cynthia but the most frightening of all is the grip it holds on them and the nightmares that ensue.
Rating: 4/5.
This is the book you want to be reading on Halloween night. This story is as close as it gets to actual terror.
A mysterious fire burns the house of Matt Moore's grandmother forcing her to move in with the family.
His grandmother, Emily, suffers from dementia and is persistent on recreating the bedroom of Cynthia her favourite daughter who has long since passed.
Throughout the characters feel as though eyes are watching them, the house constantly fills with the perfume of Cynthia but the most frightening of all is the grip it holds on them and the nightmares that ensue.
Rating: 4/5.
November 15, 2013
John Saul's haunting novel "Nightshade" had me staying up past my bedtime as I was quite engrossed in it. Horrors from a childhood better left forgotten reemerge when Matt's grandmother moves in. Plagued with dementia, the old lady is convinced her dead daughter Cynthia has come home - much to little sister Joan's dismay.
When a tragedy rocks the family, Matt's life is turned upside down and soon gets worse. People start to go missing and Aunt Cynthia starts visiting Matt leaving behind her scent of Nightshade.
With Matt suspected of murder, grandma missing and Joan battling her ghostly sister, long buried secrets are thrown in the spotlight and reach a bloody terrifying climax.
When a tragedy rocks the family, Matt's life is turned upside down and soon gets worse. People start to go missing and Aunt Cynthia starts visiting Matt leaving behind her scent of Nightshade.
With Matt suspected of murder, grandma missing and Joan battling her ghostly sister, long buried secrets are thrown in the spotlight and reach a bloody terrifying climax.
December 2, 2015
This book is the equivalent of gas station pizza.
It looks alright on the outside, but when you take a bite you realize that you've made a huge mistake.
But you keep on eating it. Partly because you payed for it already and partly because you can't believe it tastes so bad.
I mean, really. This book is just so disgusting. I am all for disgusting, when it has a purpose.
Warning:
This book contains fairly disturbing incest. It is my opinion that Mr. Saul only added incest for the shock value.
It looks alright on the outside, but when you take a bite you realize that you've made a huge mistake.
But you keep on eating it. Partly because you payed for it already and partly because you can't believe it tastes so bad.
I mean, really. This book is just so disgusting. I am all for disgusting, when it has a purpose.
Warning:
This book contains fairly disturbing incest. It is my opinion that Mr. Saul only added incest for the shock value.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 6, 2014
Barely 2 stars. Fairly good idea for a book but the writing didn't have a good flow. It was bland and often trite and gave me a headache. This was my first John Saul book and I'll have to be beyond bored with nothing else to read before I pick up another of his, even though I have 5 more of his in my library. This book could have been a lot better with a minimal rewrite. There just was no flow to the prose.
June 2, 2014
Creepy book but very good. Not for the faint hearted. A book about two sisters. One sister was the pretty popular, mom's favorite. The other sister was the hated one. Oh, and the evil weird mother. She was the cause of all the misery, but the first sister was the evil one, blamed everything on the younger sister.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 20, 2019
😮
This book certainly messes with the mind. It pulls you in and just doesn't want to let go! So many twists and turn I just didn't know what was the truth and what was lies. Brilliant book with brilliant writing 🙌.
This book certainly messes with the mind. It pulls you in and just doesn't want to let go! So many twists and turn I just didn't know what was the truth and what was lies. Brilliant book with brilliant writing 🙌.
October 5, 2012
This book is good I'm finally getting a understanding of it. It is a little weird waiting on it get scarier. I would recommend it to anyone.
October 6, 2018
i really liked this book !!!! from start to finish i just wanted to keep reading
November 19, 2019
Nice twist.
March 9, 2020
A Saul novel with a bit of twist at the end, but does not go beyond his typical motifs. The story centers on a family (mom and her son, who marries a rich guy in New Hampshire small town). The mom's mom is dottering, struggling with Alzheimers, and finally almost burns her house down. She moves in with her daughter and son in-law, but she is really a terrible person, always insulting to everyone. It seems her only love was for her dead daughter from years ago; she even keeps a shire to her in the house.
After to move, 'bad things' start to happen. Mom and dad fight about granny (to put her on a home or not), and dad moves out. Things start to get strange as well. I will stop here so no spoilers.
Saul manages to move the story alone, and the twists as the end were good, but flat characters and lots of stereotypes. 2.5 stars.
After to move, 'bad things' start to happen. Mom and dad fight about granny (to put her on a home or not), and dad moves out. Things start to get strange as well. I will stop here so no spoilers.
Saul manages to move the story alone, and the twists as the end were good, but flat characters and lots of stereotypes. 2.5 stars.
November 12, 2022
i liked it, i don’t know why it has a lot of negative reviews? the plot twist was really good. ig the ending could’ve been better but i still rlly liked it so
June 19, 2025
Simply incredible read. I've read this book before as a child and I was obsessed with it. Fast forward to now, almost 15 years later and this book just takes me back into a world that I've forgotten about. This will undoubtedly be the book that brings me back into reading and I cannot recommend it enough. I haven't done the research but if there isn't a film about this book then I will have no other choice then to make it myself. I picture Connie Britton playing Joan Hapgood, Joel Edgarton playing Bill Hapgood and some young up and coming actors and actresses playing Matt Moore & Kelly Conroe. 10/10 read.
November 14, 2024
My Halloween read ! I'm excited to start!
Well it started out fun... but I can't read about some "cousin" ghost in a incestual relationship with a semi-conscious 16 year old boy. yuck.... done with this
Well it started out fun... but I can't read about some "cousin" ghost in a incestual relationship with a semi-conscious 16 year old boy. yuck.... done with this
May 27, 2021
The characters in this book are very frustrating, it took me so long to read it cuz I kept getting mad LOL but overall it was a solid book
July 19, 2014
I came across some inconsistencies. Here are my thoughts.
P81 does it strike anyone else as strange that a 15, or any aged, child would sleep naked in their parents home?
P95 Patients cannot be strapped into any chair. It's illegal. It would have to be a horrible off-the-grid care home.
"Impulsively, she put her arms around him and kissed him on the cheek."
How does that translate into
"The warmth of his kiss still on her lips."?
Pay attention, John.
This is a very strange book. You hate the evil mother, but you also end up being so disgusted with Joan. This makes it a hard read. At the end it all comes together quite strangely but it's not an enjoyable walk through the woods.
P81 does it strike anyone else as strange that a 15, or any aged, child would sleep naked in their parents home?
P95 Patients cannot be strapped into any chair. It's illegal. It would have to be a horrible off-the-grid care home.
"Impulsively, she put her arms around him and kissed him on the cheek."
How does that translate into
"The warmth of his kiss still on her lips."?
Pay attention, John.
This is a very strange book. You hate the evil mother, but you also end up being so disgusted with Joan. This makes it a hard read. At the end it all comes together quite strangely but it's not an enjoyable walk through the woods.
June 22, 2017
When the very first chapter of a John Saul book features cruelty to a child, you know that he's playing to an old and successful formula. Nightshade is full of menace, with twists and turns, some more obvious that others. It's a story of paranoia, revenge, lust and betrayal, with a supernatural curve of course. Gripping from start to finish, and Nightshade is no short story, Saul has penned another decent horror tale. Recommended for any horror fan, especially if you're bored of the torrent of vampire and zombie books which currently fill the bookshelves.
October 13, 2018
It was a pretty good book in which the plot gradually gets more and more involved. The end was a little simple in that there was nothing said about the way Matt was treated by his classmates and the people in the town or his relationship with his mother/aunt who was, tragically, the victim in a lot of ways. It was sad, because the abuse she had received when she was little tragically ended in her going insane. But, it was also well written in that you really didn't see her being the person who did all the killing until you were pretty far into the book.
September 12, 2019
This author has the ability to surprise me, which is hard to do given all the books I’ve read. I knew there was an element of haunting in the story, but the way it manifested was a total twist. The way disassociative identity disorder and possession reflect one another is masterfully done. And the anguish both Matt and Joan experience is tangible. My sympathies were certainly dragged in too many directions to keep track of.
May 22, 2008
I did not enjoy this book. so much secrecy about what was really going on, and it had a creepy feel to it. not creepy as in scary or "ooh, this is creeping me out in a good way" but more of a dirty creepy "I don't really even want to touch this book" sort of way. the ending was disappointing, and I felt cheated after suffering through the whole book.
September 27, 2014
As a young adult I enjoyed John Saul's novels. They had the right level of creepiness to make my spine tingle.
As a somewhat older adult I still enjoy the odd Saul novel. "Nightshade" had the typial Saul twists and turns and was creepy, not just in a scary way, but a disurbingly sleazy way too.
As a somewhat older adult I still enjoy the odd Saul novel. "Nightshade" had the typial Saul twists and turns and was creepy, not just in a scary way, but a disurbingly sleazy way too.
November 14, 2014
This book sucks! Did not expect it from John. What a disappointment! It's never a good sign when reading a book makes you want to punch the main character lol but it is what it is..I've enjoyed few other books by this author so hopefully, there'll be better ones in the future
April 26, 2021
Not great but it did keep me reading late into the night...
April 13, 2022
ohn Saul’s first published novel in 1977 was Suffer the Children and it immediately became a best seller. He has since written 32 horror novels and he is often been compared to Dean Koontz. His book Nightshade begins with fifteen year Matthew Moore who seems to have the perfect life. He has a loving family and lives in a beautiful home in New Hampshire. Things begin to crumble when his grandmother Emily moves in who is stricken with Alzheimer’s Disease.
Emily’s daughter, Matthew’s aunt Cynthia has died and the elderly woman has a fixation with the deceased. She even recreates Cynthia’s bedroom in the family home Soon members of Matthew’s family begin having terrifying dreams of Cynthia. Matthew begins to smell Cynthia’s perfume in the house. Then deaths begin happening and Matthew becomes a brooding loner. Is Matt the killer? Is Cynthia’s ghost possessing him or someone else and killing innocents? The book will not reveal this secret until the very end.
The novel like most of Saul’s works will keep the reader guessing until the very end as to the true culprit of the murders. The characters are well written and Saul creates a brooding, dark atmosphere in the novel. He makes the transformation of the very likable and personable Michael into a brooding loner very vivid and will have the reader truly routing for him to escape his plight. The deaths can be pretty bloody and descriptive. The novel does drag at certain points but compensates for this with its building tension and descriptive passages and scenes. Saul’s narrative is pretty straightforward and his plots are not overly complex as in many of Stephen King's and Dean Koontz's novels. Because of the slight sluggishness of the novel I give this book four out of five stars.
Availability: Book
Rating: **** Stars (I really liked it)
Reviewer: Van, Reference Librarian
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GENRE: Adult Books for Young Adults; Horror
PACE: Fast-Paced
STORYLINE: Plot-Driven
TONE: Atmospheric; Creepy
LOCATION: New Hampshire
SUBJECT: Aunts; Change; Cruelty in Women; Family Secrets; Fifteen Year Old Boys; Grandmothers; Mothers & Sons; Teenage Boys
Emily’s daughter, Matthew’s aunt Cynthia has died and the elderly woman has a fixation with the deceased. She even recreates Cynthia’s bedroom in the family home Soon members of Matthew’s family begin having terrifying dreams of Cynthia. Matthew begins to smell Cynthia’s perfume in the house. Then deaths begin happening and Matthew becomes a brooding loner. Is Matt the killer? Is Cynthia’s ghost possessing him or someone else and killing innocents? The book will not reveal this secret until the very end.
The novel like most of Saul’s works will keep the reader guessing until the very end as to the true culprit of the murders. The characters are well written and Saul creates a brooding, dark atmosphere in the novel. He makes the transformation of the very likable and personable Michael into a brooding loner very vivid and will have the reader truly routing for him to escape his plight. The deaths can be pretty bloody and descriptive. The novel does drag at certain points but compensates for this with its building tension and descriptive passages and scenes. Saul’s narrative is pretty straightforward and his plots are not overly complex as in many of Stephen King's and Dean Koontz's novels. Because of the slight sluggishness of the novel I give this book four out of five stars.
Availability: Book
Rating: **** Stars (I really liked it)
Reviewer: Van, Reference Librarian
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GENRE: Adult Books for Young Adults; Horror
PACE: Fast-Paced
STORYLINE: Plot-Driven
TONE: Atmospheric; Creepy
LOCATION: New Hampshire
SUBJECT: Aunts; Change; Cruelty in Women; Family Secrets; Fifteen Year Old Boys; Grandmothers; Mothers & Sons; Teenage Boys
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