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House Of Reckoning (2009)

by John Saul(Favorite Author)

3.77 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

0345514246 (ISBN13: 9780345514240)

languge

English

genre

Horror

publisher

Ballantine Books

review 1: I have been a fan of Saul since I was barely a teenage girl. Now that I'm older, I still enjoy most of his books, even though he is not a fantastic writer. This book reads like all his other books. Meaning his style of writing has not changed. He never creates really deep characters or places. He manages to get away with this by coming up with an unusual & engaging story. An exception to that is The Manhattan Club. Pretty impressive for Saul. Written a bit better than most of his books.I consider most of his books four star books & figured this would be the same (though I hoped it would be a five)! I had to give it three. The problem is the story doesn't make sense. I will try to explain without ruining the book for you:There are "characters" who are very very bad. Evil in... more fact. A main character becomes rather afraid of them. Two other main characters are having strange dreams & it is related to the very evil "characters." Suddenly these evil "characters" are protecting all three of the main characters!?! When prior to that they seemed to be threatening one of the main characters to the point that this characters pets tried to protect them. It just didn't flow and left me baffled. The evil "characters" are in fact evil! Very evil! It just doesn't make sense. This ruined the book. If they were either good OR bad it would have made a four star book.If you or your teens are big Saul fans then, sure thing - get the book. It's good enough to read & it is entertaining. If you have never read Saul or aren't too sure then just check it out at the library first.
review 2: REVIEWED: House of ReckoningWRITTEN BY: John SaulPUBLISHED: October, 2009This book was okay. Not great, not terrible, but pretty standard horror fare. Haunted mental asylum, religious fanaticism, and bullied children with paranormal abilities all included within. I didn’t really care for any of the characters, except the father, who was the only one who seemed to have any real depth of feeling. Everybody else was sooo two-dimensional. I hated the decisions that Sarah Crane constantly made. I suppose that was the author’s intent to create outrage over how she is treated, but it was very heavy-handed, so obvious. Outcast child gets picked on the same way, ridiculed the same way, it just seems so trite. The only times she “talked back” were at the most inopportune moments, yet when she really should have voiced a defense of herself, she doesn’t, such as the dog attack scene. There were very few “surprises,” and most everything was easily guessed from the beginning. Finally, when Batina and the children join forces in the house, is when the book becomes satisfying, and the background of the House explored (even if more questions were raised than answered!). However, all the revenges – though gratifying – seemed somewhat systematic. The epilogue broke voice from the rest of the book, but was funny, and seemed the most “fitting” revenge of all. John Saul’s a talented author, but this book just didn’t seem up to the levels of his competency.Three and a half out of Five stars less

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Reviews (see all)

lovergirl

I have just recently gotten into Saul, in spite of the fact that I have known of him for years. I have tried him various times throughout the years, but could ever get into any of his books until recently.I keep seeing comparisons to Stephen King's Carrie and I just don't see it. First as much as I like King, I found this superior to Carrie...particularly the case file study manner in which Carrie was written. The only things that really were comparative IMHO were the way that Sarah and Nick were bullied and ostracized at school. And the other was the religious fanaticism displayed by Sarah's foster family...But the fanaticism of this foster family didn't resonate as deeply as it does in Carrie, primarily because outside of church this family never really appeared religious or christian in any of their practices....they merely hurl antiquated insults of witch, and Satan's tool, with no real religiousity of their own. Also there is no special power beheld by Sarah, at least not o the level of Carrie's. If anything I found it more reminiscent of "The House on Haunted Hill" and even that is a loose comparison.I found this immensely enjoyable, a pleasant surprise and thoroughly enjoyed the characters even the evil ones. The story line held my attention the whole way, and the ending was above average for my expectations of normal horror/dark suspense stories. I highly recommend this to horror fans, especially those of the haunted/possessed nature.

samburgalur

House of Reckoning is the story of fourteen year old Sarah Crane. When her mother dies and her father accidentally kills a man and is sent to prison, after hitting with his car while drunk leaving Sarah with a permanent limp, Sarah is sent to live with a foster family. Although her foster family treats her terribly, she still finds new friends in a mentally ill teenage classmate and an eccentric art teacher. But, when she starts drawing pictures of places she's never seen and events she's never witnessed, Sarah realizes that her new life may be darker than she had originally thought.Plain and simple, this book is junk. The characters are boring beyond belief; everyone is either perfect disgusting good or terrible small minded evil and there is no real development beyond that. And the events that happen are just mind numbing to anyone that has a logical bent to their mind; I mean I know there are some small minded people out there, but truly, this is overkill. Also, the plot is formulaic and there is no suspense as the reader can see every possible plot twist coming from a mile away. Save yourself the trouble and only read this if you're desperate for something mindless.

Katelyn42595

Mostly a decent relaxing read with interesting characters; however, the book ends abruptly.

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