Guardian [AUDIOBOOK] (Audio Cassette)

by John Saul (Author), Lee Meriwether (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Despite the high death toll generated by some pretty nasty weapons (claws, fangs, shotgun, fire poker, pitchfork), there's not much terror here because banal details and very ordinary people overwhelm the fear factor. MaryAnne Carpenter, trying to cope with the return of the loutish husband who earlier deserted the family, heads off to Idaho with her 13-year-old daughter and 10-year-old son in order to comfort her recently orphaned godson. Joey Wilkenson's parents have died in mysterious accidents and his mother, MaryAnne's best friend, had named her Joey's guardian. Joey seems an average 13-year-old, if given to understandable bouts of moody withdrawal. But the apparently peaceful mountain valley becomes menacing when a camper is brutally killed, perhaps by an animal, and MaryAnne feels increasingly isolated as winter approaches. Rumors of a wild mountain man or sasquatch circulate, and Joey starts to exhibit strange behavior. Further horrifying events occur, but their final explanation is too pat. A sequel is threatened, but hopefully Saul ( Darkness ) who has done better, will reconsider.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews
Saul's 16th horror novel (Shadows, 1992, etc. etc.) finds the author in a less horrific, even speakable mode, since the pivotal plot device seems possible, if definitely unlikely. Maryanne Carpenter was abandoned by her husband for a younger, prettier, richer woman, and now he wants to return to her and young Alison and Logan. Meanwhile, Maryanne is the godmother of Joey Wilkeson, and when Joey's wealthy parents both die in accidents on their fabulous Western mountain retreat, Maryanne flies to Joey to care for him--and discovers that as Joey's guardian, she's now wealthy herself and need never work again. The pubescent Joey, however, is odd, loves to fade into the hills with his dog and stay away for long periods. What's more, townsfolk have a strong aversion to him. At the same time, a shadowy figure haunts the mountain retreat and soon more bodies drop, horribly bloodied. Does Joey have something to do with these deaths? He, in fact, has strangely inhuman characteristics and is turning into the wolfboy son of the shadowy figure--a man to whom government scientists once gave the DNA of a wolf to discover what immunities he might come up with. But the wolf DNA bonded with his own, and his physical structure and appetite changed so drastically that he parted from mankind and for 14 years has lived in the wilderness--a killer. He and Joey's mother, though, had been lovers and now his DNA has bonded with Joey's. Wisely, as with Lon Chaney, Jr.'s, Larry Talbot in The Wolf Man, Saul works up some sympathy for his canine killers who, after all, are victims of the moon as well as of the government and those hunting them down. Bound for bestsellerdom--like many of Saul's others. -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: Random House Audio (July 13, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679427384
• ISBN-13: 978-0679427384
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.3 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #3,444,449 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars One word: WEAK, July 22, 2000

By	Lisa Krause "dijon46" (Irvine, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Guardian (Mass Market Paperback)

I haven't read a John Saul book in years, but I remembered him being very good, so when I saw this one at the swap meet I grabbed it right away. Unfortunately this book did not live up to my expectations. Like the previous reviewer, I fear that I may have drifted away from enjoying Saul's style.

I thought the writing in this book was really weak for the most part. Problem number 1: The plot was very basic and was stretched too thin. It may have worked as a short story or novella, but not as a 350+ page novel. Thus, in order to fill up the pages, we get lots of repetition (after reading the fifteenth detailed description of Joey's "urges," I was ready to throw the book across the room) and development of useless characters whose ONLY purpose in the story was to be killed in a gory fashion. I read the restored version of THE STAND right before this, and although THE STAND is 1200 pages long it contains far less useless/boring material than GUARDIAN.

Problem Number 2: The prose reeks of false drama. Nearly every chapter or section ended with an over-the-top dramatic sentence fragment. In addition, by the end of the book, most of the paragraphs were one-sentence dramatic statements. This is a great device to use once in a while to trigger a response in the reader, but it kills the tension when practically the entire book reads that way. I was actually laughing by the end of the book because it was getting so ridiculous.

Problem Number 3: This book is predictable! I guessed the two major "surprise" plot elements before the book was a quarter of the way through, and I am usually terrible at figuring out mysteries. Once you figure out what is going on, the story becomes a series of mindless death scenes. Again, I think this is the result of trying to stretch a perfectly good idea for a SHORT piece into an entire novel. The suspense for such a simple (and I don't mean "bad") idea just can't be credibly kept up for so long.

Problem Number 4: The end is unsatisfying, cliched, and an obvious set-up for a needless sequel. Come on John, we know you can do better than this!

I hope I'm not offending any John Saul fans out there, but I really think this novel needed more work before it was ready for primetime. The feeling I got reading this was that he was churning out a formulaic thriller simply for the sake of the dollar$ he would make. It felt like he was hardly trying. I guess that's okay, if you don't mind reading the same thing over and over from the same author, but now I'm scared to pick up any of his more recent stuff. Saul appears to have been stricken with the dreaded John Grisham Syndrome. Here's hoping he'll snap out of it soon.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I've found another favorite Author friends..., June 8, 1998

By	Millard Roswell (Arkansas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Guardian (Mass Market Paperback)

This book was great, and it might take me awhile to get over it. I actually CRIED!(never done that before). I love the way Saul created monsters you could actually feel sorry for. The action near the end of the book was so gut wrenching and intense I practically speed-read from one page to the next to see what happens. I also love the ending, maybe Saul had a sequel in mind??

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Silly, April 4, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Guardian (Mass Market Paperback)

I'm amazed looking at the other reviews for this book that they are all so good. I was very disappointed in this book. I have read several other John Saul books and this is by far the worst I've read. I found it slow moving and the premise weak. The ending seemed as though the whole exercise of writing the thing had been so painful he just wanted to be done with it.

I will say that it's been many years since I last read a John Saul book and I may have just grown out of them.