Customer Reviews

Guardian

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

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.

This is the second book I've read of John Saul's works and so far he is right on target. This book kept me interested the entire way through, no weak spots or slow areas. A real thriller. I challenge anyone to read this and have a problem with it, and I consider myself a picky reader. The ending was good, a possible sequel? However, the ending, I felt, was fairly predictable although adequate. This guy knows how to weave a story and keep you glued to your chair.

GUARDIAN was the first novel by John Saul that I read. I don't remember who recommended this author to me, but I'm very grateful for that advice, even though it cost me a few nights of sleep!

GUARDIAN is the story of Mary Anne Carpenter who moves to Idaho with her two children to become the guardian of her teenage godson who has recently become orphaned (hence the book title). The people in the small town where they now reside don't seem to like her godson, while Mary Anne is trying to understand why they have an aversion to him, she learns about a series of brutal murders in the nearby area. Could they all be connected?

Picturesque Idaho is the backdrop and a teenager that has just lost his parents is one of the main characters, what's so scary about that? You'd think moving to a ranch in Idaho is a dream come true, even if the circumstances are not perfect in the beginning, but this is far from the ideal situation.

Believe me, this is one of the most frightening books I've ever read. It wasn't scary so much for the content and the exact story line, but my imagination went into over-drive because of this book. "What if" became the beginning to many of my ideas and I didn't sleep well for several nights because the premise of this "villain" was so diabolical and present in all of our lives. Could this work of fiction actually come true, not exactly as written, but in an offshoot? You bet it could and that fact is what scared me the most.

I've recommended this book to several friends, all of whom have loved it. Those who never read anything written by John Saul also became avid fans. If you don't mind losing a few nights sleep (first by wanting to finish the book, then because of nightmares) and if you want to be intrigued from the first page until the last, then this is the book for you.

I've read quite a few of John Saul's novels and I have to say I think I'm growing tired of him. This book just doesn't do it for me. His storytelling skills are remarkable but the plot of this book lacks intensity, interest, and believability. I know Saul can do better than this. If you are looking for a better JS book try God Project or Nathaniel. I give this 2.5 stars.

"Guardian" is one of the least memorable books that I've read by John Saul. I had to flip back through it before I started to remember what it was all about.

It starts off in Canaan, New Jersey, where MaryAnne Carpenter lives with her two kids: 13-year-old Alison and 10-year-old Logan--but quickly moves on to Sugarloaf, Idaho, where MaryAnne's 13-year-old godchild (Joey Wilkenson) is suddenly orphaned when his parents die in separate, but suspicious, accidents. Being the godmother, MaryAnne is deemed his guardian, though it's the mysterious man living in the woods with a wolf that the title is referring to, a man Joey unknowingly has a lot in common with.

Shortly after MaryAnne and her two kids arrive on the Wilkenson's ranch, several brutal attacks occur which lead everyone to believe a wild animal is loose nearby--though MaryAnne begins to suspect something else from her moody young charge.

I'm a sucker for werewolf books, so I enjoyed "Guardian." The biogenetic twist on the mutations was a refreshing take, but a lot of the other twists weren't too surprising. The ending is left open for a possible sequel; but, so far, one hasn't been put out, though I prefer it just the way it is. If you're a Saul fan, then you'll probably enjoy this one.

I got this book because I went into a bookshop and i had 5 minutes to pick a book i knew it was gonna be john saul cos i'd read another one of his 'when the wind blows' so i grabbed the first book i could see of his & hey presto. It is a great book with a fabulous ending i find that his books aren't sci-fi horror but they are truly scary. He wrote this book so well you could just imagine every last detail and the characters are so deep you can imagining being them, knowing their inner-most secrets

I read this book a while ago...and I liked it until the end...the ending was weak....and I thought that it was very childish..something that you would expect out of a book written for a 13 year old...not sure if I would read another book by this author...

Again, I was drawn into John Saul's web of words. If one reads the first three chapters, one is quite likely hooked. The whole trouble with Saul's writing is that once you're well hooked, you are likely to reach a point where you want to stop, but it is practically impossible.

The author really goes a bit over the edge this time, and during the last quarter of the book, I felt that he had gone too far in a downbeat plot development, too sad, too much of a real life nightmare some of us have. However, by the ending, I was a bit more accepting of the worst developments in the story.

The ending does leave an opening for a sequel, but I don't expect to find one or that one will be written. The open ending is good as it is because it causes one to speculate about what will happen in future generations.

So the bottom line is that, because of good story telling, I will recommend it to those who understand that this is ultra strong and does have some darn unpleasant scenes and developments in it.

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??