I Fell Asleep In the Dark of the Night
Written: Jul 22 '07 (Updated Jul 22 '07)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Might hold a young adult's attention
Cons: Boring, repetitive story
The Bottom Line: A young adult might find it a decent read...but adults should pass.
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| cmaw63's Full Review: John Saul - In the Dark of the Night |
John Saul, at one time, was one of my favorite authors. As time went by I moved forward to other authors, somehow losing Saul on the way. Recently at the local grocery store I noticed his name on the front of a new book at the check-out counter. This book was In the Dark of the Night. In the bag it went.
Let's just get this out of the way now...I have never had to drag myself through a book like I did In the Dark of the Night. The 3 boys enter the secret room... somehow time loses meaning. What seems like minutes are actually hours. That night the boys all have the same dream...something bad happens. The 3 boys enter the secret room... somehow time loses meaning. What seems like minutes are actually hours. That night the boys all have the same dream...something bad happens. Bored yet? I am. Maybe, if the parts between the boys entering the room had differed it would have helped. The same things happened here, too. The 3 out of town boys would be tormented by the 3 boys that live in Phantom Lake, Wisconsin. The out of towners would walk away from the confrontation. The neurotic mother of one of the boys would complain she wanted to go home to Chicago. The father would say no.
I can pinpoint the exact page where my interest peaked...for a bit. This 336 page book, finally, caught my attention at page 266. Then petered out quickly to an uninspiring ending. The premise of In the Dark of the Night gave promise of it being a good one. Three families from Chicago are spending the summer in Phantom Lake, Wisconsin. Best friends, they all look forward to a great time. Eric, Tad, and Kent, the teenage sons of the families, find a secret room that holds disassembled items that had belonged to serial killers. As the boys reassemble the items they seem to have a life of their own and their previous owners whisper to the boys. Are the boys the killers or is it someone else that knows the secret of the room? Too bad the story didn't follow up on the promising excerpt I read.
This appears to be more of a young adult novel than for the age challenged, like me. I can see a teenager understanding the curiosity the boys had, relating to the feelings of being bullied, and an overprotective parent. The limited graphic scenarios, also, lends to a younger audience. As an adult I couldn't relate to anyone except the sheriff trying to keep his town safe and not let it die the tragic death that would happen if the summer people didn't bring their tourist money. And as a mystery/thriller genre reader, I was disappointed in the action/thrill factor.
Normally, I would have put In the Dark of the Night down and never picked it back up. But, I paid $7.99 + tax for this thing and I was going to finish it! Maybe, stories like this is why John Saul fell off my author radar list.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
cmaw63
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 in Pets, Home and Garden, Books |
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Member: Julie
Location: Illinois, USA
Reviews written: 307
Trusted by: 71 members
About Me:
Looking forward to my first grandbaby. She's due November 24!
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