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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Freaky!, July 22, 2002
While a bit far fetched I enjoyed listening to this tale from John Saul. The story drew me in from the very beginning and I was anxious to see what happens twoards the end. I have to confess I did like the ending. Some parts of this book were really creepy and this kept me glued to my stereo. It was a tad disturbing to see that the majority of victims were teen agers but it gave the book that extyra thrill and horrific jolt. All the characters were engaging and played their parts nicely. I also liked all the underlining sexual themes in the book; anybody else catch those? The reader did a good job, though at times her mid western accents got a bit too much. She did portray the drama of the book well occasionally going over the top in some of the more vilent scenes. This version contains two audio cassettes and is narrated by a single reader.
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
The buzz you hear is the monotony of the narrative, November 8, 2002
I've read about ten of Saul's novels, and The Homing is definitely my least favorite. The story is indeed far-fetched, but what ruins this novel for me is the sheer monotony of its action. The same thing happens to one character after another. Here's the backdrop: Karen Spellman moves her two daughters from L.A. back to the farming community she grew up in when she marries an old flame; naturally, her teenaged daughter Julie does not want to leave the big city for life on a farm. Julie likes her new step-father well enough, though, and she and her step-brother get along very well (a little too well for step-siblings, if you know what I mean). Her step-grandfather basically hates these new women moving into his dead daughter-in-law's house, but that's not really important. What is important here are bees and all kinds of other insects. First young Mollie is stung by a bee at the wedding and almost dies; only a new, definitely non-FDA approved antivenom saves her. Then Julie is stung, and she has quite a unique reaction to the antivenom. She appears to be perfectly healthy, but she actually feels miserable; worst of all, she inexplicably cannot tell anyone how she really feels, parroting out "I'm fine" phrases against her will to everyone. She starts to wonder if she is going crazy, begins doing things against her will, etc. This mystery ailment strikes one teenager after another-every single time, we have to go through the whole routine once again-teen feels awful, appears normal, can't tell anyone the truth, fears he/she is going insane, begins acting weird. It's like reading the same chapter over and over again, the only difference being the name of the character each time. That monotony is what ruined the novel for me. As for the larger story, it is pretty unrealistic. The death and suffering the reader witnesses is rather out of the ordinary, though. I have one word for you: insects. If you absolutely love insects-bees, ants, scorpions, spiders, mosquitoes, etc.-this is the book for you. If you have some kind of phobia about insects, you will probably want to steer clear of this one. Insects are everywhere in this book, doing all of the worst things you can think of them doing; it's intense enough to make you start itching and feeling things crawling all over you. The story gets slightly gory a time or two, but for the most part the horror just makes you uncomfortable. I think there is also too much of it; Saul goes into detail about the behavior of the insects time after time after time. I am a John Saul fan, but I don't think the storyline here really succeeds. Even if you cut out a couple hundred pages of monotony, I don't think the premise behind everything would hold up very well. Characterization is another weakness here. Karen picks up and leaves L.A. to marry an old sweetheart, but we really don't see any romance between the two; their relationship clearly exists, but we don't get a real look at it. A lot of the dialogue seems forced at times, individuals keep doing the same dumb things over and over again and then going on and on about their bad decisions. I watched these characters move about and interact with one another, but I never really got to know (let alone care about) a single one of them. That is basically the third strike that makes this novel rather disappointing to me. If you buy into the insect foundation of the plot here, you may well enjoy the book. I did not buy into it, and nothing else about the book succeeded in rallying me to its cause. Saul never seemed to put his heart into The Homing, and it shows. I'm still a Saul fan, but this is definitely my least favorite of his novels.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Creepy Crawling Nightmare!, April 5, 2005
When I started reading THE HOMING, I wasn't exactly sure what it would be about. I had previously read, and thoroughly enjoyed, THE GUARDIAN by John Saul and was anxious to start another by this author.
Although I didn't enjoy THE HOMING as much as THE GUARDIAN, it brought out many emotions even if it did go into extreme detail on a wide variety of insects. I'll never look at another bug in the same way again.
While reading, I learned that homing is an insect instinct that leads them home. You can't move a beehive within 5 miles from the previous location or the bees will return to the previous hive location hovering over the empty spot until they drop dead of exhaustion. I also learned more that I ever wanted to about larvae, pupae, etc.
Karen Spellman grew up in Pleasant Ville located outside of San Luis Obispo. After attending her high school reunion, she falls in love with a former classmate, Russell Owen, and they decide to get married. Karen with her two daughters, Julie and Molly, move from Los Angeles ready to live a happily ever after type of life. From the day of the wedding, marital bliss eludes them as one tragedy after another surrounds them.
On Karen's wedding day, Molly (her youngest daughter) is stung by a bee and has an allergic reaction. The local doctor's anti-venom doesn't work and they fly to San Luis Obispo in a friend's plane. New, experimental anti-venom is given to her and the symptoms instantly subside. Dr. Ellen Fillmore, Pleasant Ville's local doctor, asks for some of the anti-venom to have on hand for future needs, and so the evil begins...
The real anti-venom is substituted with a serum that harbors insects in the host's body until they multiply to the state that they are expelled into another host. Sounds pretty gruesome, huh? It is and it gets worse. Since Molly was given the real anti-venom she isn't affected, but when her older sister, Julie, is stung, she is given the substitute and many changes begin to take place. Julie in turn infects some of her teenage friends and the horror is multiplying faster than you can imagine.
Saul creates many believable support characters all eagerly trying to find answers to the many questions raised in this book. He even throws in an A & W owner who is the town gossip and flirt along with a small town cop who is a downright nice guy.
One of the things I didn't like about THE HOMING was that I found it depressing. It seemed as if it was disaster after disaster with few positive things happening to any of the characters throughout the entire book. After awhile it begins to wear on you, and I just wanted to finish the book and be done with it. Looking back, I'm not sure that was because of the goriness or the image of the millions of insects reeking havoc among the townspeople that my mind pictured. Whatever the reason, I read quickly so I could move on to something a little less intense. I think my next book might be that Calvin and Hobbes I have on the shelf!
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