Faces of Fear: A Novel by John Saul
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Book Reviews of Faces of Fear: A Novel
Book Review: What a bore
Summary: 2 Stars
Wow! this will be my second two star rating this week. I seem to be on a very unlucky book streak.
I have read each and every one of John Saul's books. Actually, I remember, very clearly, reading them as a teenager and how scared they use to make me.
So, John, I ask you! where is the fear? where is the horror? where is the good writing?????
Faces of Fear starts off very slowly - Saul introduces us to a bunch of characters and it takes forever to figure out how they will all eventually manage to merge into a cohesive storyline. We are introduced to our main characters, Risa the mom, Alisson the daughter, Conrad the doctor (you can already see where this is going) and Margot, Conrad's beautiful wife - who is Conrad's masterpiece, after all he is the best plastic surgeon around!
Saul likes to involve young adults into his storyline and this is no exception. I have no problem with this, but I have to say that usually his young adults are just more with 'it' than Alisson seems to be, which, to me, makes her a weak and somewhat boring character. Risa seems like she floats around her life - constantly searching for something and Conrad simply thinks he is god's gift to the world.
This novel is set in the world of the rich so we get lots of descriptions of beautiful mansions and private schools. I wish the characters had been as detailed as the descriptions of the mansion.
But, I could have gotten past all of that IF this storyline was in the least scary, suspenseful or engaging. By page 40, when no action was evident, I started counting how many pages I had left to read (always a bad sign for me). There is no suspenseful build up here, there is not dark, scary places (read Manhattan Hunt Club for a good example of how good a story Saul can write). In the end it ends up being a Frankenstein storyline - boring and totally predictable.
This book is slow, slow, slow and boring!
I am sorry to have to write this poor review - I know that each author pours their heart into their novels, but this book is just boring beyond belief.
I am grateful that I got this one at the library.
Book Review: Disappointing - 2.5/5 Stars
Summary: 2 Stars
Alison's world changes when her mother marries plastic surgeon Conrad Dunn. She moves into a huge mansion in the Hollywood Hills, leaves her public school behind for a prestigious prep school, and makes new friends. Her new friends have all had cosmetic work done on them by Alison's stepfather and give her suggestions on what she should have done.
Although the thought of it creeps her out at first, she agrees to accept breast augmentation as a 16th birthday present. Soon after, Alison discovers a picture of her stepfather's first wife. To Alison's horror, she notices a resemblance between the image in the photo and the work her stepfather is doing on her. Though her mother refuses to acknowledge the strange similarity, Alison becomes increasingly frightened. Digging further into her stepfather's murky past, Alison uncovers dark secrets-and even darker motives-and realizes that her worst fears are fast becoming her reality. At the same time, murders are being committed around L.A. by the so-called Frankenstein Killer.
I actually gave up reading John Saul a few years back but decided to give him a try one more time. Although this was a quick read (not a lot of thought goes into reading Saul's novels), I was less than thrilled with this book. It was pretty boring and predictable.
Book Review: Not his best work
Summary: 2 Stars
John Saul's latest book is not his best. It was predictable and not very suspenseful with plot holes are big anough to drive a Mack Truck through. Plus there is really no explination for why these events are happening. It also borrowd WAY too many plot devices used by other authors in the recent past (and they used them better- Dean Koontz & Mary Higgins Clark) This is the first John Saul book that I have read (and I have read all of them) that really disappointed me. I kept hoping for something to happen that would pique my interest. It never happened. I will say it did start off rather promising, but it went downhill real fast. I recommend either waiting until this book is in the bargain bin at the local bookstore or borrow it from someone.
I purposly didn't give away any of the plot points in case someone wanted to read the book anyway.
Book Review: Ok.....too obvious.....
Summary: 2 Stars
I love his work, but this one was so obvious by the start of the book it was ridiculous. His previous works had so much more depth and really had to be figured out (and it would take me til close to the end to figure it out).
It was so rushed, it kind of reminded me of one of his good novels and then readers digest came along and did their version.
I think that he has gotten into the same trap that a lot of famous authors get into, he can write anything and we will all buy it because he is the author. I hope that he goes back to his original in depth stories that keep me guessing until the very end!
It is a good (VERY quick) read, so i do recommend it, it just could have been excellent.
Book Review: Gay
Summary: 1 Stars
This book seemed to promote homosexuality. I started to read it but as soon as I got to the whole thing with her husband leaving her for another man and she just accepts it and all the gay stuff i threw the book away without finishing it. I think John Saul is coming out the closet in this book-I'm not surprised though. I was a die hard fan up until this novel. The gay stuff was over done and unnecessary, and her as his wife just "accepting it" is unrealistic. Save the gay stuff for gay audiences.
But I'm done with John Saul.