The Manhattan Hunt Club [Audiobook, CD, Unabridged] [Audio CD]

John Saul (Author), David Daoust (Reader)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 31, 2001

John Saul is at his terrifying best as he takes readers into the vast, dark labyrinth of tunnels beneath Manhattan, home to a bizarre collection of outcasts, and introduces a secret society that uses (and stocks) this underworld as a private hunting ground, with its residents as their prey. When twenty-one year old NYU student Jeff Converse is convicted of a brutal rape and murder that he did not commit, his nightmare has just begun. Jeff is just the latest innocent man to be made a target of the society that controls that underground hell - the Manhattan Hunt Club. A prestigious club near Wall Street, its membership includes many of the city's political and financial elite. Bored with more conventional sport, some of the MHC members can't resist secretly indulging their desire to hunt the most dangerous game in the world - humans.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In Manhattan Hunt Club John Saul plumbs the depths of the Manhattan underground--the network of subway tunnels and secret caverns and chambers where the homeless denizens of the city have created their own society. It's a world Jeff Converse, a young college student convicted of a crime he didn't commit, never knew existed until he is plunged into it after an "accident" that occurs while he is being transported to prison. He soon realizes that it's no accident, but the opening move in a deadly game being played by some of the city's most powerful men and women, a game in which he is the prey and they are the hunters. Jeff's only chance to make it to the surface and survive lies in allying himself with a homicidal maniac who's appointed himself the young man's protector, but whose designs on Jeff are almost as lethal as those of his enemies in the Manhattan Hunt Club.

Saul made his reputation in the horror genre, but he now focuses on psychological terrors rather than things that go bump in the night. His narrative gifts are displayed to great advantage in this heart-stopping thriller; the pacing is flawless and the central characters are very well developed. What keeps this from living up to its fullest potential is the inadequate motivation of the villains, who are largely one-dimensional cardboard cutouts. But that won't keep this otherwise topnotch thriller off the bestseller lists, where Saul (Nightshade, The Right Hand of Evil), like Stephen King, is a perennial contender for the number one spot. --Jane Adams --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Why mess with success? Twenty-four novels and 24 years down the road, Saul continues to deliver the same sleek pulp entertainment that he's been selling in high numbers since his debut with Suffer the Children in 1977. This time out, Saul sets his melodramatics mostly below the surface of Manhattan, in the tunnels populated by the homeless. Because of mistaken eyewitness testimony, Columbia University architecture student Jeff Converse has been convicted of attempted rape and attempted murder. En route to Rikers Island, the police van carrying Jeff is rammed, and Jeff is taken by a homeless man into the tunnels, only to be locked in a room with another prisoner, homicidal maniac Francis Jagger. Days later, Jeff and Jagger are released into the tunnels, told that if they make it to the outside world, they live; if they don't, they die. Eventually we learn that an elite group of Manhattan power brokers has created a club devoted to hunting convicted malefactors and having their bodies stuffed in the manner of big game trophies, using the underground homeless as beaters in the hunt. Meanwhile, Jeff's fianc‚e and father search desperately for Jeff, first above ground, then below. The novel builds suspense steadily, but reaches full steam only when Saul plunges his principals mercilessly into the stygian underworld of Manhattan. The premise of a Manhattan Hunt Club skirts absurdity, as do the villainous members of the club, but Saul scores points about society's treatment of the homeless. The prose is serviceable, the action rough, intense and often distasteful in other words, this is vintage Saul. (Aug.)Forecast: With major ad/promo, including a sample chapter in the mass market edition (June) of Saul's Nightshade, this will reach the author's fans. Expect many to travel with Saul into the nasty depths, only to breathe deeply as they look up from the book to a sandy beach and clean ocean waves.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: CD Unabridged; Unabridged edition (July 31, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1587885891
• ISBN-13: 978-1587885891
• Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 6.2 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (86 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,185,924 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

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Fun But Predictable, August 5, 2001

By 

Sebastien Pharand (Orléans, Ontario, Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Manhattan Hunt Club (Hardcover)

This book is vintage Saul; take too many under-developed characters, place them in a suspenseful plot full of twist and turns which eventually result in a big, suspenseful, over-the-top finale. The Manhattan Hunt Club is a very good summer read; it's the kind of book that reads itself quickly and which you can't help but find entertaining.

The plot is simple in itself; a society of rich, high-class socialites have developed the ulitmate game. They send prisoners down the subway tunnel systems where they hunt them to death. Our main hero, Jeff, becomes a huntee but, of course, he isn't guilty of the crimes he is accused of. He needs to run away from the hunters and survive their attacks. Mix to this about half a dozen more characters, including a female politician, Jeff's father and mother, Jeff's girlfriend and Jinx, a young girl who lives in the tunnels and you get a book that is very full. Maybe even a little too full.

Sure, the tale moves along quickly and it is very suspenseful, but stopping at just a little over 300 pages, the book never gives you the satisfaction of truly knowing any of the characters. Saul spends too much time on suspense and not enough time developing the characters. Hence, you end up not really caring for any of them.

Still, the book offers some great moment and the 75-pages finale is pretty great. This is a good summer read. It's classic Saul, but it's not Saul at his best.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars John Saul Strikes Again!, September 17, 2002

By 

Clarissa "MoonGoddess" (Ontario, California) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Manhattan Hunt Club (Mass Market Paperback)

In "The Manhattan Hunt Club", John Saul weaves a frightening tale of underground Manhattan...

After being wrongfully accused for a crime he didn't commit, Jeff Converse's world was turned upside down in a matter of seconds. But on his transport to prison, an "accident" happens and he is thrust from the police van by strangers that claim to want to help him escape. So without much time to think about the consequence of his actions, Jeff Converse chooses to follow his rescuers deep into the subway tunnels of underground Manhattan where the homeless (or rather, "houseless") now take shelter. But little does he know that he is about to become prey inside this labyrinth of caverns and chambers as he struggles to find his way to the surface before the hunters (which also happen to be guarding all possible escape routes) can kill and then claim him as their prize.

And just to warn you ahead of time: Once you reach Chapter 31, the storyline takes a huge plot twist as the character's reveal their true nature and the book title suddenly becomes crystal clear...

John Saul is quickly becoming one of my all-time favorite writers when it comes to suspense and horror. And while I find "The Right Hand Of Evil" to be slightly better, it's hard to compare the two of them for they're completely different.

I find "The Manhattan Hunt Club" to be a very entertaining thriller that (for once!) doesn't have those dull, page flipping moments in between!

This is highly recommended.

MoonGoddess

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting suspense tale, July 30, 2001

By 

Nick G - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Manhattan Hunt Club (Hardcover)

The promising future of New York City college student Jeff Converse is destroyed when he is accused of a crime he didn't commit.

After the victim swears Jeff is the man who assaulted her, Jeff is convicted and sentenced, but on his way to the prison, he is abducted and lured to the underground tunnels of New York, where he will become game for a vicious group of hunters who call themselves "THE MANHATTAN HUNT CLUB". Determined to escape alive, Jeff will use all his wits to come out the victor, and clear his name.

Jeff's parents are told he is dead, and only after viewing the horribly burned body, does Keith Converse realize his son is alive. Now, teaming with Jeff's fiancée, Keith and Mary Converse must enter into the labyrinth tunnels below the city to find their son and bring him back alive, and put a stop to the twisted individual heading up this murderous club.

`Manhattan Hunt Club' is an enjoyable suspense novel, fans looking for horror will be disappointed. John Saul has taken the high road to action/suspense, and he does a good job of it. Combining a creepy plot, and his usual cast of likable characters, Mr. Saul goes full steam ahead with an action novel that takes off on the first page, and barrels through twist after twist, leading to a shocking and satisfying conclusion.

Nick Gonnella