Helpful Score: 1
Excellent series of mini-novels by John Saul. Could not wait for the next one.
Editor Oliver Metcalf has written a provocative article that implies there may be a curse on the town. The community is outraged. Then Rebecca Morrison disappears and a package appears on a residents front porch. The contents hold the ultimate, grisly key to the horrors of the Asylum. Now, Oliver must confront the fruesome truth of the past..one that threatens to crush all of Blackstone in one final grip of terror.
This is a excellent book. I am a huge saul fan.
This series was ok, but I always find Saul to come up lacking when the story is over.
a great series by john saul
really good series
I wasn't happy with the ending
Was ok - part of a series and I am listing all the books.
Oliver Metcalf, editor of 'The Blackstone Chronicle,' the town's weekly newspaper, has written of the mysterious deaths that have occurred in Blackstone over the last six months, implying that there may be a curse on the town. He is terrified of the old Asylum and gets terrible headaches every time he goes near it. Did something happen to him there when he was a young boy, something so horrible he blocked it from his memory? His uncle, Harvey Connally, received a familiar gift that may help him remember what happened. Will Rebecca be saved in time? In this final part, we finally discover who the dark figure is, although the Blackstone community reaches it's own conclusion. The curse is lifted. The nightmare is over. I am a big fan of John Saul, however, I found this series a bit predictable. In Part 4 of this series, I suspected who the dark figure might be and it turned out I was right. Usually, I am very disappointed when that happens, but it is forgivable here because it worked.
very suspenseful series. Very good books.
another great book to the series. I read these so quickly .
opps sorry I have all 6;)
Final volume of a 6 part serial book (sort of like Stephen King's "The Green Mile"). My 13 Y/O daughter devoured the entire set in 2 days this past summer, and loved it.
I have 1, 5, & 6 right now. If I can find the other 3 in my daughter's room (probable, but far from certain), I will ship them all as one book (for 1 credit). In the mean time, I am listing the three that I have separately in case someone needs to fill in a gap.
I have 1, 5, & 6 right now. If I can find the other 3 in my daughter's room (probable, but far from certain), I will ship them all as one book (for 1 credit). In the mean time, I am listing the three that I have separately in case someone needs to fill in a gap.
Reread.
The final "gift" has been delivered to Harvey Connally, the uncle of Oliver Metcalf, but Harvey is certain the gift was actually meant for his nephew. When Oliver sees the shaving box with a blood-stained straight razor inside, all of the repressed memories came flooding back.
Oliver's father was a monster who had visited his rage upon the patients of the asylum and worse, his own son Oliver. And through Oliver's childhood, Malcolm had been grooming his son to be the instrument of his revenge. From the beginning of the renovation project, Oliver had been having blackouts and performing tasks (without his conscious knowledge) that his father had implanted into his memory years prior.
Between the death of his uncle and finding himself standing above Rebecca holding the straight razor, Oliver finally snaps out of the trance he's been in and realizes what has been going on in Blackstone all along. Now that he's remembered his past, he's been freed of his father's influence and the "curse" is lifted from the town.
This series was great. I love serial novellas and wish they would make a comeback. There was always just enough thrill and suspense in each novella to keep you eager for the next one. The stories were so well written that I was never truly sure who the dark figure was. Not until right before the reveal. I adore John Saul novels and am glad I decided to reread this series.
The final "gift" has been delivered to Harvey Connally, the uncle of Oliver Metcalf, but Harvey is certain the gift was actually meant for his nephew. When Oliver sees the shaving box with a blood-stained straight razor inside, all of the repressed memories came flooding back.
Oliver's father was a monster who had visited his rage upon the patients of the asylum and worse, his own son Oliver. And through Oliver's childhood, Malcolm had been grooming his son to be the instrument of his revenge. From the beginning of the renovation project, Oliver had been having blackouts and performing tasks (without his conscious knowledge) that his father had implanted into his memory years prior.
Between the death of his uncle and finding himself standing above Rebecca holding the straight razor, Oliver finally snaps out of the trance he's been in and realizes what has been going on in Blackstone all along. Now that he's remembered his past, he's been freed of his father's influence and the "curse" is lifted from the town.
This series was great. I love serial novellas and wish they would make a comeback. There was always just enough thrill and suspense in each novella to keep you eager for the next one. The stories were so well written that I was never truly sure who the dark figure was. Not until right before the reveal. I adore John Saul novels and am glad I decided to reread this series.
