I read this book Years ago.. I STILL THINK ABOUT IT AND SHUTTER!
This book was absolutely horrifying and riveting.

I didn't care much for this book.. In my opinion, Saul hits it out of the park or completely misses it, this book was a miss.. I lost interest in the book pretty quickly.. The children's souls being sucked out by a blade, so that they are roaming around as voodoo zombies (Darkman's children) just did not just did not resonate with me, nor did I find the book very scary.. Oh well..

2 stars for the story.
1.5 stars for the narration.
This was sort of a masterclass in how NOT to narrate an audiobook. Not all the fault rests with the narrator, however. The mouth noise was out of control, something any reasonably skilled engineer could have improved. The pacing was bizarre, sometimes with abnormally long pauses between lines of dialogue and attributions ('she said') or subsequent actions that indicated who had just spoken, while oftentimes the pause between switches in scene or POV was so short as to be jarring. The narration itself violated some of the most basic tenets of the art: do not orate, you are not on a stage, but speaking directly into the listener's ear. Thus, a very forced, stilted, hyper-enunciated style is fatiguing to listen to over time. Character voices should sound natural and be distinguishable by subtle shifts in pitch, pacing, emphasis, accent, etc. With the possible exception of books for young children, they should certainly not sound like cartoon characters, and yet, at least half the characters in this book did sound like they were straight out of a Saturday morning special. The narrator's nasality was also grating to listen to. As a final note, there were several instances where a main character's name was pronounced differently within the same paragraph! I'm giving this two stars, simply because I managed to get through it.

A chilling novel about a group of children who have had their souls extracted by a local doctor who has discovered the "fountain of youth" within the thymus gland. This is the first book I've read by John Saul and It wasn't as scary as I was anticipating it to be; however, I do look forward to reading some of his other books!

I was hoping for horror, but was left disappointed. This could have been scary, the dark man and his zombie children, but nope! It was a decent read that dealt with a handful of adults stealing the youth and souls from children so they (the adults) could remain young.

I thought this was a really good story. He doesn't give a whole lot of detailed description about the characters or of the settings in which the story takes place like King but still a very good story teller. After I started reading it, I had to keep reading the next chapter and then the next chapter because I had to find out what happened next. A quick read and one I would recommend to just about anyone.

Read during a weekend at the cottage. n  Definitelyn a cottage read. Kinda too far-out and fantastic for everyday reading at home. (That is what I decided when I flipped through it before buying it used, and read about a Dark Man who sucks out a baby's soul with a needle, leaving the baby otherwise unharmed...)

A very entertaining read as the premise is quite far-fetched. I must say that it is very well written with PLENTY of twists and turns. I thought I had figured out who the Dark Man was, but it turned out I was wrong and I was surprised both by who he was and by the fact that it was revealed relatively early in the book. (I thought I would have to wait until the end to find out.)

There were lots of characters in this one and they were all very well developed and their stories nicely intertwined. Things kinda started getting crazy there for a while and I was amazed at all the deception and careful planning that ensured the story wouldn't end too quickly. The Dark Man went to great lengths to ensure he had access to enough children to harvest, to the point of faking a child's death, but I have to admit that the ending was a let-down. I was expecting something much better. The story finished too fast, and I felt that the climactic scene at the end where the children find out how to reclaim their souls and go to confront the Dark Man and his clients was underwritten. I was expecting much more suspense, much more drama and I guess a little more sappy, mushy, gushy stuff as the children finally came to life. Plus, the ending wasn't spooky enough, after the way the book started, it kinda fizzled at the end. Considering I was reading it in a tent by flashlight, I could have been more scared than I was. (I wasn't - not at all. :/ )

All in all, I recommend this book if you have some time to kill. It is entertaining.

I'm a really slow reader but this book took me less than a week to finish, which indicates how well written it is. The words flow so easily, no endless boring descriptions. The plot is pretty interesting, mysterious, thrilling with a touch of gore and magic which I really enjoy. It's not that unique of a book but it's definitely a good read.

https://devoratoareadecarti.wordpress...

I've read quite a few of this author's books over the years since the days of being a little girl "borrowing" them from my mom's bookshelf. This is one that I had missed somehow and decided to read. It was a bit of a letdown especially considering some of Saul's more recent works. But overall it was an engaging plot.

This book is part dippy as hell and part really entertaining. The science is questionable too. Would having hormones from your thymus gland taken away really take away your soul? There's suspension of disbelieve and then oh come on, that makes no sense! This book was better in Jr. High.

I'm not sure how to classify this one - horror, thriller, or science fiction - so I chose thriller. If you enjoy any of those three, I think you'll like "Darkness". The action is almost non-stop and I didn't want to put down the book