While I did enjoy parts of this book, I was mostly disappointed. The pace is rather slow for me, takes a bit to get going. It feels like they were trying to build suspense maybe, but if you read the back of the book, you already get the gist of it. I mean only a cat is killed in the 1st half of the book. I did like that it was based in Wisconsin (I live there lol), and that it was a real lake used too. However, calling it up north was a stretch. I guess if you don't live in WI the southern part of the state is north, but not what would be called up north, or the far north. I guess that bit is a tad picky, but like I said, I live in WI lol. I was hoping for more of the mothers' fears, that were made very clear to start, would take a bigger roll. But, also here, feels like they were just trying to build suspense. Then only brought it up a bit here and there. Also did not like that almost every time a name was used; it was 1st and last name. It makes you feel like there are going to be more characters, but no, just some quirk of the author, I guess. I did like that they used serial killers' items and that they seemed to be still attached to them after death. However, this never really gets sorted out. All the voices they hear and the time that goes missing for them when they are in a room never gets explained at all. I feel like there could be a good book in here somewhere, but to me it fell short.

Don’t get me wrong this is a good read and I liked how things tied into the story. But the ending itself just killed it for me.

I was not the target audience for this book, clearly. It's written for rich white men. As per usual. I should know better by now than to read horror by white men but whatever.

WARNINGS: A cat AND a dog die in this book. Gore. Insensitive treatment of mental illness. Rampant misogyny.



Complaints:

- The misogyny. Oh, the misogyny. The whole "women be crazy" routine makes me want to vomit. There are a lot of sub points here. Dan undermining his wife in front of their kids multiple times, dictating to her what will be done and what she can and cannot do, making fun of his wife in front of friends and their children for her (very obvious) anxiety disorder, talking down to his wife like she's a child in every single conversation, the women all being thoroughly domesticated (the cooking, cleaning, shopping, while the men sit on their asses and talk about who knows what inane subject), and I'm sure there's more but I can't think of it. Every single female character in this book was a prop with no personality.

- Revisiting the wife's anxiety disorder, like I didn't look to see when this was written but she obviously has anxiety. Instead of this being treated with any degree of sensitivity, every single character mocks her and patronizes her for it. No one offers any comfort or solutions, they just tell her she's stupid and act exasperated with her. Her own children even do this, because they have observed it from their tyrannical father.

- The plot of this book is as follows: some rich boys get into things that aren't their business, murder a cat, and collapse the economy of an entire town.

- I literally cannot feel pity for rich people. These rich motherfuckers come in to exploit this town and casually stay in houses that the residents could never even hope to afford, harass the residents, and without even a hint of remorse destroy the entire town. Their attitudes are unbearable; when they return in the epilogue, they even have the audacity to make comments about Cherie and Adam and how terribly their lives must have gone because fuck poor people right?

- Adam is not even that bad a character. He's abused by his father, oppressed by the class system, AND is expected to kiss the asses of his oppressors. I'd be angry, too.

- The only good character in this book is Riley Logan, and he dies.

- OH, speaking of which, the police come into Riley's home and murder his dog. His extremely old, dying dog. And then leave the body there in his home. Like they seriously just come in, shoot his dog for no reason, and leave the body for him to find. This guy has literally nothing, is poor as shit and mentally ill, and his dog (and crow) are the only things he has at all, and these people just casually come in and take that from him just because.



So yeah I mean I guess if you like serial killer trivia and you can ignore the misogyny, mental health insensitivity, and upper class perspective on class struggles you might like this book.

It took so long for this to become interesting. Usually, a John Saul book grabs me right away and I can't put it down, not the case here. Once I got into it, it did hold my attention and the last 40% flew by, just took a while to get there.

March 2011 Group Read in the John Saul Lit Group. I read this when it was first released in 2006, but I actually enjoyed In the Dark of the Night better the second time around.

Three families rent houses for the summer. One house, Pinecrest, has secrets that it has been keeping hidden for years. Three friends discover the secret room with secret items holding horrific secrets. Bound together by this discovery and the weird shared occurrences after are what make this book one heart pounding reveal after another. The ending is satisfying with adds to the enjoyment of the book.

Narration: Mel Foster does an excellent general narration with several voices for different characters. Being noise sensitive, I found it jarring every time the narration involved a phone call or the "voices". These narrations were modulated and had a hallow echo sound. I would have enjoyed the narration much more without that modulation.

A real page-turner. In a lot of ways, it's just a haunted house (well, a haunted shed) story, but it's told in such a brisk manner that you want to keep reading. A affluent family goes on a summer vacation to a place with a nasty history, and then bad stuff happens. Terrible synopsis, but great story. If I have any problem with it, it's that I feel it could have used a bit more toward the end, which felt a tad rushed. Otherwise, awesome story.

One of the things that John Saul does so well is make the supernatural seem real by inserting fantastic elements into an utterly believable story and makes it a thrilling ride. In this book, Saul explores teenage angst, summertime romance, class warfare, anxiety, small-town gossip and big-city politics, family dynamics and, oh yeah, the psychology of serial killers and the legacies they leave behind.

In the Dark of the Night is not for the squeamish. The body count ultimately rivals that of Carrie while the creepiness surpasses It. Thomas Harris would see a little of his Lecter in this chilling tale.

After getting a taste of the idyllic summer life at the Pines in previous years with his friends Kent Newell and Tad Sparks, Eric Brewster and his family finally has the opportunity to rent a house on Phantom Lake for the season. But their home is no ordinary cottage--it's a mansion whose previous owner, Dr. Hector Darby mysteriously disappeared ten years ago after the town's only other unspeakable tragedy. Eric begins to explore the unusual property before he and his buddies make some unreal discoveries. Macabre nightmares follow.

What makes In the Dark of the Night work so well is the way how effectively Saul captures each character through dialogue and actions. Other books I have recently read have been bereft of such details, but Saul scatters the seeds of suspense inside a seemingly ordinary adolescent struggle between Eric and local boy Adam Mosler over the affections of Cherie Stevens.

I highly recommend this book for those who like dark thrillers about serial killers.

Chiller Thriller - knocked off one star for gruesome gore, but great plot. We join Jack, Ed, Jeff and Liz for a harrowing tale of murder revisited!

Good characters, although I wanted to slap some sense into Merrill. Mr Saul does a great job of portraying teenagers, even though he doesn’t have any. Aside from the obvious, they all seemed like actual everyday people.

If you are a Stephen King fan you’ll like this, too.
Trivia - the Borden Lighthouse In Fall River, MA is named for Lizzie’s family!

I used to be a John Saul fan. Not so much anymore. I guess there is some suspension of belief with supernatural horror, but this one was way outside what I would call reasonable. Knowing that the "supernatural" influence was based on real life killers (and an accused and never proven guilty one) and their spirits or whatever infused into the objects that they used as part of their crimes... I'm sorry- that's a load of it, no matter how you cut the crap cake. And how stupid are these boys to have taken so long to Internet search "crazy serial killers with initials of.." no.. They just STUMBLED on to the answers somehow. Given that the book was printed in 2007, the teenage boys should have had their cell phones practically glued to their hands, but apparently no one in the book had cells at all. They did somehow know who Jack the Ripper was, but none of the more infamous, grisly, and recent murderers? Not knowing Lizzy Borden, I can understand... She isn't in the stream of consciousness of our society and there has been ONE movie made about her. But all the rest have been within the last half century and made huge waves in the news and societies understanding of serial killers and psychological issues that cause people like this to evolve. The author never even gives a plausible explanation on how their "evil essence" imprinted on the objects or WHY the doctor was collecting the items at exorbitant costs. The book was a waste of time, and the last couple I've read before this were disappointing too.

Три приятелски семейства заминават заедно на почивка през лятото в малкото градче Фентъм Лейк. Синовете им Ерик, Кент и Тад са най-добри приятели. Семейството на Ерик се настанява в огромната вила Пайнкрест на брега на езерото, чийто предишен собственик – Доктор Дарби е изчезнал мистериозно преди години. Ерик е щастлив, защото ще може да прекарва много време с приятелите си Ерик и Тад, за да ловят риба и да задяват местните момичета(‘щото видиш ли, в големият град момичета няма..?!?!).
Плановете на момчетата малко се променят, когато откриват тайно помещение пълно със зловещи предмети, от което и тримата са силно привлечени. С всяко следващо влизане притегателната сила на тайната стая става по-силна, а когато приятелите започват да сглобяват предметите, започват да се случват странни и ужасяващи неща.
Ще започна с нещата, които ми харесаха, защото не са много. Хареса ми мястото на действие - малък курортен град и донякъде мистерията около зловещата вила Пайнкрест. Атмосфера определено имаше, макар да не беше нищо особено, кошмарите, които момчетата сънуваха бяха зловещи, но и за тях обяснение нямаше. В историята около изчезването на Доктор Дарби имаше хляб, но и тук авторът само загатна за случилото се. Ако например имаше две времеви линии - преди и сега, щеше да е къде-къде по-интересно! Образът на бездомникът Логан беше интересен, но авторът успя и него да опорочи..
Толкова с положителните неща, нека премина към това, което не ми хареса. Първите двеста страници бяха изключително скучни и не се случи абсолютно нищо интересно. Многократно заспивах, след като се опитвах да прочета поне десетина страници на сядане..Джон Сол беше отделил страшно много страници на отношенията на Ерик, Кент и Тад с местните момчета, които не харесваха летовниците. Местните, които нито ги превъзхождаха на брой, нито на нищо, тормозеха тримата приятели, които в очите на читателя заприличаха на абсолютни мухльовци. Темпото беше доста бавно за мен и първите двеста страници най-спокойно можеха да се поберат в петдесет, като скуката можеше да стане поносима поне донякъде…
Към края нещата се пораздвижиха, но финалът беше колкото дразнещ, толкова и нереалистичен. Опитът за отворен финал си остана направо смешен. Образите на героите бяха плоски и повърхностни, мистерията, доколкото я имаше, беше на ниво за осмокласници. Произходът на злото си остана неясен, а се надявах на някакво обяснение как и защо духовете на серийните убийци са се вселили в зловещите предмети. Например някакво проклятие или друга свръхестествена причина..
Сравненията на автора с Леймън, Кунц и Кинг, които за разлика от Джон Сол имат някаква оригиналност в хорър жанра, са направо смехотворни. Кунц и Кинг са просто от друга планета спрямо Джон Сол, а един Леймън например, щеше да запълни скучните моменти с много безсмислен секс и реки от кръв, и книгата пак нямаше да е шедьовър, но поне щеше да е четима. Макар стилът на автора да наподобява малко този на Леймън, що се отнася до изграждане на образи и сюжет - плоски, като в стар хорър филм от средата на 80-те и началото на 90-те години. Разликата е, че Сол залога на мистерията, за сметка на чисто натуралистични сцени на секс и брутално насилие от страна на Леймън. Е, резултатът е чиста скука, която може и да се хареса на деца до максимум 14-15 години.
За съжаление първата ми среща с Джон Сол се оказа разочарование. Реалната ми оценка е около 2,5 звезди, но 3 са твърде много, така че свалям на 2 звезди!

Long and drawn out and a disappointing story.