Having read most of John Saul's books, I would rank Midnight Voices very near the bottom of the list. It's a fairly predictable storyline, but it does mark a slight departure from Saul's typical portrayal of some adolescent facing unknown horrors pretty much on his/her own. That's not to say that this novel doesn't have adolescents in danger because it most certainly does, but I think Saul does a decent job of shifting perspective among several characters this time around. When all is said and done, though, Midnight Voices just isn't all that scary or even engaging. While several of the characters experience dread and fear at the mere sight of the story's prominent location - the old Rockwell apartment building in New York City - the building really doesn't seem to convey a particularly strong atmosphere to the reader. There is nothing evil about the place - the only evil comes in the form of the bulding's occupants.

The novel gets off to a great start, with one poor unfortunate husband and father proving that slightly less than perfect paranoia is far less than perfect awareness. He leaves behind a wife and two children who must now try to adjust to different kind of life - one without a nice home and private schools. Enter Anthony Fleming, who quickly sweeps Caroline off her feet. Sure, the kids don't like moving in to the spooky old Rockwell building, but Caroline finds a new sense of peace and happiness in the marriage. Unfortunately, the kids don't adjust to their new life. Their neighbors in the Rockwell are weird, even for old people, and the only other teenager there is mysteriously sick all of the time. Night time is the worst, as both children are increasingly frightened by the sound of whispering voices inside their rooms. The Rockwell houses a deep, dark secret that ultimately puts the very lives of Caroline and her children at risk - but will Caroline recognize the danger in time to save them?

There are two main problems with Midnight Voices. One, the book may have a creepy moment or two but overall the scare factor just isn't there. More importantly, I found the plot of the novel to be surprisingly weak - I would say that the explanation for the goings on at the Rockwell falls well short of Saul's well-established standards. I also just never came to care a great deal about any of the characters in the story, especially poor dumb Caroline. The old Saul magic just wasn't there this time around.

I truly got lost in this book. John Saul wrote another master piece. This book gave me chills. Voices in the walls, stealing the youth of children so a group of immortals can stay young. This was truly a terrifying book.

Tremendo, aunque recuerda a Rosemary's Baby en algunos detalles (la historia no tiene nada que ver).

This is the first John Saul I have read and it definitely won't be the last. Mr. Saul is an incredible storyteller. His plot is solid as well as descriptions and character development.

As far as the story goes, I was intrigued. It was dark and foreboding but with little of the modern gore that seems to define horror these days. This is a type of story that seeps into your subconscious to make your hairs stand up without you really understanding why.

A great thriller to read around Halloween. It reminds me of Stephen King writings.

I read somewhere that John Saul was one of the best horror writers in line after Stephen King and Dean Koontz. So I decided to give him a try. But even before (yeah! 'but even before' - you will know what I mean if you read this book) I was half way through it, I realized I was doing a mistake. Though the basic idea of dead people feeding on children to prolong their life (maybe existence - I don't call it a life) is kind of interesting, the way the story moved was way too pathetic. I was waiting for the redemption to happen at some point of time and it did. Yes; it did in the epilogue. I somehow felt that the epilogue would have made a good prologue for a better story. Maybe that is the spark that inspired the author in the first place; But the book is not worth the wait!

The characters never seemed real and the narration was so made up, I really felt a ninth grade kid could write an essay better than he (yeah! 'better than he' - you will know what I mean if you read this book :P). There was absolutely no style to the writing. The book was filled with "but even", "yet even", "even though" and questions. (who was tony?, "a hotel? why would she be in a hotel? why wasn't she at home?", "how long since the noise had stopped?") Come on! Tell me the story, dude!

"In many places I thought this was a dream. I was in a dream. I am not reading this. It cannot be. I just came back from office and I went to bed and I slept immediately. I can't be reading this. This cannot be a book that was published by a leading publisher. How could I be reading this?" This is how the whole the narration was!!

I wanted to warn people who are planning to try this piece of very poorly executed horror (where is my horror?) - He is no where near SK or DK. I am wondering how this could be a bestseller with an average >3.5 in goodreads. I was cheated by the other reviews. Don't get yourself cheated.

Brilliant

Can't beat a Guid John Saul book and like all his others it doesn't disappoint. Modern or should I say ancient vampires, maybe. Intriguing story. Loved every minute of it.

It could be a four star book, it's competent but with problems.
First off the book wants it to be a mystery what's happening for a long time, it pretends it's a mystery, but everybody should have been able to totally figure out what's happening early. The second issue is the ending, it's drawn out for a long time, it feels like the author was trying to make a word count and was just stretching it. In the middle of the frenzied finale the book suddenly needs to describe at length every little movement.

Continuing with John Saul I read Midnight Voices and was absolutely flabbergasted how good this novel is. After a slow start on the murder of a beloved husband and an eerie dream sequence the horror takes off into a spellbinding story with great reference to Rosmary's Baby and a bit of Ken Eulo's Brownstone series. What is the reason for the elderly people being that friendly to Caroline and her kids? Why is the other young girl living with her foster parants in the Blackwell building constantly ill? Was it coincidence that Tony met Caroline and she moved into his flat together with her kids? Who really is the once famous actress and what about her age? There is some similarity to Rosemary's Baby but the characters and their love for kids is completely different and explained in a very interesting manner. If you're looking for an extremely eerie book with a great story this is the book for you to read. An absolute page turner with a great ending. The book is crying out for a sequel or even a prequel to tell the background story. Horror at its best!

Very creepy, very good

Creepy story but not as great as the others I’ve read by this author.

The story centers on old people sucking the life out of young people to stay alive (and young) forever. The "evil" old people living in the apartment building are over-the-top evil. For example, in nearly all of the chapters of the book, some evil old lady brings "strange tasting" cookies/candy/or fudge for the children to eat, but insists that the mother NOT try any. The kids eat the fudge, get loopy and go to bed at like 5PM. At the stroke of midnight the kids proceed to have "dreams" that the old people in the building are standing in their bedrooms touching them inappropriately. The mother doesn't get suspicious until the old people in the building tie her to a bed and dope her up for several days. When one of the immortal old people finally gets killed, he immediately decomposes. I was glad when the book was finished.