Darkness [Paperback]

John Saul (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 1992

Villejeune, Florida. A secluded little town at the edge of a vast, eerie swamp. Far from prying eyes. Far from the laws of civilization. Here folks live by their own rules -- dark rites of altars and infants, candles and blood.

Years ago the Andersons left town with a dream. Now they are back. To live out a nightmare. Something has been waiting for them. Something unspeakably evil. It feeds on the young and the innocent. And soon it will draw their teenage daughter into its unholy embrace....

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The prologue of veteran horror writer Saul's ( Second Child ) new novel is wonderfully scary: A pregnant teenage "swamp rat" of the Everglades, spying on a secret meeting of "the Dark Man" and "his children," sees a friend offer up her newborn baby, whereupon the masked Dark Man plunges a knife into the infant. Right after that, the teenager's husband promises to deliver his own child "the night he's born." The story proper begins when 16-year-old Kelly Anderson, all her life having suffered nightmares of a menacing old man and now sure she's pregnant by him, tries to kill herself. She recovers and moves from Atlanta with her adoptive parents to her grandfather's house just north of the Everglades. Kelly becomes friends with Michael, her age and also adopted, who admits to similar nightmares and a sense of dread. Michael's adoptive mother, meanwhile, feels a strange kinship to Kelly. The secrets of the Dark Man--his identity and his fountain-of-youth formula--are revealed halfway through the book, and thenceforth the story slides into descriptions of relatively tame to-and-fro-ing, mostly in the swamp, and the revolting revenge of "the children" on a group of nasty but well-preserved old men. Saul's ending is cozily sentimental.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Publisher

Villejeune, Florida. A secluded little town at the edge of a vast, eerie swamp. Far from prying eyes. Far from the laws of civilization. Here folks live by their own rules -- dark rites of altars and infants, candles and blood.

Years ago the Andersons left town with a dream. Now they are back. To live out a nightmare. Something has been waiting for them. Something unspeakably evil. It feeds on the young and the innocent. And soon it will draw their teenage daughter into its unholy embrace....

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Bantam; later printing edition (May 1, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553297260
• ISBN-13: 978-0553297263
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 0.8 x 7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #352,930 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

House of Reckoning is John Saul's thirty-sixth novel. His first novel, Suffer the Children, published in 1977, was an immediate million-copy bestseller. His other bestselling suspense novels include Faces of Fear, In the Dark of the Night, Perfect Nightmare, Black Creek Crossing, Midnight Voices, The Manhattan Hunt Club, Nightshade, The Right Hand of Evil, The Presence, Black Lightning, The Homing, and Guardian. He is also the author of the New York Times bestselling serial thriller The Blackstone Chronicles, initially published in six installments but now available in one complete volume. Saul divides his time between Seattle, Washington, and Hawaii.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars first impressions, November 25, 1999

By 

Angel Wong (New York City) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Darkness (Paperback)

this is the first john saul book i read. yeah i know everyone in the review said it but its true, although i dont know why.anyway, i found it gripping, creative and somewhat simple. unlike those other huge novels, this one had limited characters, maybe due to the fact this is based on a secluded town. i wouldnt say this is really much of a horror book, but i could say its a soft-sided b rated movie type of thing. it has great description about the swamp setting and it has an interesting twist about the dark man. which i wont say.speaking of the dark man, he is an interesting person, if not a weird one. the story i think is basically about how the influence of the dark man takes toll on the town, and the price a person would pay for eternal life.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Too predictable to be compelling, November 3, 2002

By 

Daniel Jolley "darkgenius" (Shelby, North Carolina USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Darkness (Paperback)

Although the underlying premise of this novel is rather ridiculous when you think about it, Saul manages to make the story work. It's not terribly thrilling or suspenseful, however. There is no surprise to be found in the conclusion because the clues to what mysteries this tale contains are glaringly obvious early on. Darkness is Saul's take on the old eternal life theme. While the Dark Man is rather creepy and mysterious early on, his true identity, purposes, and methods are revealed halfway through the book, leaving the reader with a long sprint toward a finish line of foregone conclusions. The medical and scientific aspects here are rather laughable, really, and a little inconsistent (not to mention somewhat disgusting) in the end.

The setting of the novel both helps and hurts it. Most of the action takes place in the Florida swamps, a setting I myself find quite unappealing (although Saul has tourists lining up to explore the dangerous, disgusting swamps, small children and babies in tow). It's certainly creepy, what with all the strange sounds and movements taking place in the dark shadows, not to mention alligators, crocodiles, water moccasins, and other deadly beasts roiling and slithering their way through all of the actions. I got a little tired of one individual after another getting lost and trying to find his/her way home in this ruthless environment, though. As soon as one person turned up, another ran out and got lost, starting the whole swamp search ordeal over again.

I can't voice my criticisms of the story without giving too much away. I will just say that this novel is much less believable than most of Saul's fiction. For that reason it didn't strike too strong of a chord in me personally; the fact that the main plot twists and ultimate conclusion were so obvious also left the novel incapable of truly grasping my complete attention and fascination. In less talented hands, this story could easily fail miserably because of its flimsy relationship with reality, but, as I said, John Saul makes it work. I was in no great hurry to reach the conclusion, but I also never felt compelled to toss the book aside without finishing it. If you've never read Saul before, I wouldn't recommend letting Darkness be your introduction to his work-it is not quite up to his normally high standards.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I finished it in two days cause I couldnt put it down!, March 31, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Darkness (Paperback)

Darkness was the first Saul book I ever read and ever since I've been hooked. I loved the setting and the storyline was so imagintive. It makes you wonder what really goes on the those swamps when you're not looking. I would definetly recommended it!