Customer Reviews

Black Lightning

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

In looking over previous reviews I've seen words and phrases like "point of view" and "character development." This leads me to believe that people are either expecting too much of Mr. Saul or they're over-thinking the book. Saul writes horror and thriller novels - he does not attempt to reach the modern literary equivalent of War and Peace each time he puts pen to paper. If that's what he was trying to accomplish, he would be an astonishing failure. To the contrary, he's actually quite successful and good at what he does. He writes entertaining, escapist thrillers that are, at best, amusing and, at worst, a cheap thrill.

Black Lightning is no different than previous Saul novels although it deals less with the traditional supernatural horror elements and focuses on fairly standard "serial killer" fare. But there are problems. The novel is probably 100 pages too long, the ending is poor and the overall plot is merely a slightly enhanced version of hundreds of novels already on bookshelves.

Saul has written better - check out The Blackstone Chronicles. There are better novels and authors but there are also worse. Saul is, as always, middle of the road.

This is the first John Saul novel I've ever read. I hope his others aren't this formulatic and drawn out, only to reveal a disappointing conclusion.

The story is one that, sadly, has been done over and over again in print AND on film. Anne Jeffers, ace reporter, watches serial killer Richard Kraven, whom she helped convict, die in the electric chair. At almost the same time, thousands of miles away, Anne's husband suffers a massive heart attack. Dead for over two minutes, Glen Jeffers recovers, but his personality is just never the same.

The gruesome murders attributed to Richard Kraven start all over again - four years after his incarceration. Who can be the killer? Is there an accomplice? Are these copy cat murders? Who can say?

Unfortunately, anyone who's ever seen the movie "Fallen" or an old 1980's horror film (the name of which escapes me now), knows what has happened.

Saul throws a few mugafins our way, but to anyone experienced in reading a variety of books can see right through the fluff.

The most disappointing aspect of the book is that the ending feels thrown together. It's as if Saul had a specific number of pages that he had to supply to his publisher, and he didn't want to go below or above that number. In short, the book just sort of ends. It's not satisfying.

The police in this book are more bumbling than the team that investigated the Jean Benet Ramsay case in Colorado. They haven't investigated all their leads and the proof that Kraven was the serial killer is never really fleshed out. The central characters don't act believably and the trains of thought displayed don't follow a logical flow.

And when was the last time you heard of a convicted murderer on death row being executed within four years of his incarceration? Four decades maybe - four years - never!

I wanted to like this book, because the writing wasn't bad as a whole. Sure, it was a pulp novel - I knew it would be - but it wasn't poorly written - just poorly thought out and executed.

Anne Jeffers is a Seattle reporter who has been working on a serial killer's case for five years. The man is Richard Craven. For Five years he has terrorized most of the West Coast and many other states. Claiming victims that he doesen't even know and dismembering them. Finally he is caught and sentenced to the electric chair. The terror is now over, or is it? Anne Jeffers husband, Glen Jeffers, has a heart attack at the exact time that Richard Craven is executed. Two weeks later Glen is out of the hospital, but something is different. Lately, Glen has been having visions that make no sense to him, he becomes more aggressive, and he blacks out and wakes up in different places that he rembers. What's wrong with Glen?

I thought this was an interesting book. It is a little hard to follow until you get into the book. For example in Chapter 1 it is Anne's point of view, and in Chapter 2 it is Glen's point of view, then in chapter 3 it is back to Anne's, and so on until later on in the book. This is useful because you get to see what is going on with all of the characters. This was a good book, but it has a lot of graphic violance. Mature audience recommended.

Black Lightning,

Cliché ?

Many writers use this type of story often. Does this take away from the enjoyment of the read? I say NO! I rather enjoyed this book. If I would have listened to what other reviewers had to say I would have never have read John Saul.

Anne and Glen Jeffers find themselves trapped in a nightmare that seems to have no end. A serial killer seems to be haunting them from the dead. Anne and her husband are taken on a whirlwind of a ride.

I thought the book moved at a nice pace, it kept me turning pages. I do not like to give away plot so I will just continue with my overall opinion.

This book does borrow many elements from horror books that have gone in the past, but I believe this genre has plenty of room for more books like this. Overall this book was fun and enjoyable. I never felt bogged down or bored. The pages turned at a nice pace and the story flowed smoothly. John Saul has a very smooth way of telling a tale. Although this book may not be great, I felt it was good and deserved much better treatment than many reviewers gave it. I liked the book well enough to purchase other Saul books.

I haven't read a John Saul book in a few years so I thought I'd catch up. This is a bad one to begin with as it makes the other two I have sitting here look rather unappealing.

The ending, as many have said, is terrible. I was sitting there reading with about five pages of paper left and I couldn't help but thinking, there's no way this can finish off good.

It really made no sense either. Without giving the plot too much away, the explanation of how things happened at the "moment of truth" was just too far-fetched and didn't add a thing to the story.

There were no emotional connections to any of the characters except in the beginning of the book when you feel for Glen (Anne's husband) and Anne herself. But that all goes away very quickly as the boredom begins.

I would not bother with this book.

For diehard fans of Saul's prior bestsellers, this thriller will not let you down. Instead it will take your breath away as it takes you at breakneck speed through the execution of Richard Kraven, a serial murderer, and the psychological terror he placed on and continues to place on Anne Jeffers and the residents of Seattle, Washington. Begin reading this book early in the day. Trust me - you won't be able to put this novel down until its last electrifying page leaves you breathless and spent.

In Black Lightning, John Saul builds his plot around a serial killer of unusual distinction. I have a morbid fascination with serial killers and their motivations, but midway through the book it was quite apparent that Saul was going in a weird direction; glimpses into the mind of the maniac dwindle with time, and the door to insight is slammed shut by the paranormal elements of the story. This is by no means a bad novel; it's always nice to read a Saul novel that has nothing to do with some type of hundred-year old curse or mysterious genealogy. The writing is quite tight and riveting in places. The scenes describing one character's acrophobia attacks are incredibly intense, and the descriptions of the individual murders are painstakingly realistic.

The novel begins with the execution of serial killer Richard Kraven. Journalist Anne Jeffers, who worked diligently to assure the killer's conviction, is there to witness the event. While Kraven is being electrocuted, Anne's husband is suffering a near-fatal heart attack. The doctors don't seem to really do anything at all for Glen Jeffers, but he is soon back home resuming a fairly normal life. Warned by the doctor that her husband's behavior may be changed as a result of the heart attack, Anne and eventually her children become increasingly disturbed by Glen's behavior. They would really have worried had Glen told them he was having blackouts; he continually finds himself having to explain actions he has no conscious memory of having performed. Meanwhile, a new killer is on the loose, committing murders eerily similar to Kraven's handiwork. Soon the killer begins entering Anne's home secretly and leaving her messages. When cops begin finding Kraven's "signature" on fresh murder victims, a signature that no one besides the deceased Kraven and the cops could possibly know about, things go from bad to worse. When the killer finally turns his eyes toward his nemesis Anne Jeffers, things get worse still. This is no average serial killer, as Anne soon discovers when he strikes truly close to home.

The basis of this novel winds up seeming a little hokey. Midway through the novel, the story switched directions on me a little bit, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but by the time I reached the conclusion, this potentially impressive plot really started sputtering. At times, incidents and dramas last a little longer than they should, and this drags down an otherwise fairly brisk story. I can't address the paranormal aspects of the tale without divulging too much information, but it is not quite original and pushes the limits of credulity in the context of the novel Saul constructed around it. There are also a few subplots that seem important early on but sort of fade into obscurity, such as the relationship between Anne and the lead detective. Sometimes riveting, sometimes a little drawn-out, Black Lightning is a perfectly satisfactory horror novel. It makes a good change of pace for Saul, who sometimes seems to get in a rut of old curses and young teenagers. The effort is undeniably there, but unfortunately the book seems to shoot itself in the foot at the very end.

A serial killer is executed at noon in Seattle, and reporter Ann Jeffers is covering the highly controversial event. Across the country, at exactly the same moment, Anne's husband suffers an all but fatal heart attack, requiring multiple efforts at resuscitation. Anne flies home, relieved to discover that Glen will recover. When he's well enough to go home, Anne rejoices, but little by little, it becomes evident that this is not the man she married. The doctor reassures her that some personality changes are to be expected, but Glen sure is acting weird. Meanwhile, although the killer is now dead, there seems to be a copycat starting his own rampage, following the same MO. Did they execute the wrong man?

There are some very gruesome scenes in Black Lightening, and if grisly were all it takes to make a thriller, Black Lightening would be a winner. But much more is required, and this novel misses the mark. Yes, mutilated bodies are discovered, all people that the Jefferses know, and the police think the killings are carried out by more than one person. So far so good. But Saul stretches credulity to the breaking point, and doesn't do it well. Creepy does not equal suspenseful, and in sections, Black Lightening is almost laughable, especially at the end. Preposterous.

...the ending was rushed, loose ends were not tied, and that was disappointing. The beginning of the story was a little slow, but the book eventually started picking up pace as the protagonists, Anne and Mark attempt to find a killer.

I read the book in two days (it was that exciting!), but when I finished the book, I still had questions. Go ahead and give the book a try, but remember that the ending will be a big dud.

I love to read John Saul novels. He captures me from the very first page. The character development in this book was well done. I felt as though I knew Anne and Glen Jeffers personally. My problem with the book was that it was too predictable. I was writing the parts of the story in my head even before they happened. When I came to those parts in my reading, I was disappointed because it was nothing unexpected. This is the only book by John Saul that I haven't thoroughly enjoyed. It will not, however, keep me from reading other selections he has done.