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Blackstone Chronicles #1-6

The Blackstone Chronicles

john saul

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Now, for the first time, the New York Times bestselling serial thriller is complete in one terrifying volume. John Saul, the master of supernatural suspense, John Saul, brings to chilling life the small New England town of Blackstone--and the secrets and sins that lay buried there. . . . — From atop Blackstone's highest hill, the old Asylum casts its shadow over the village. Built in the 1890s to house the insane, the Asylum has stood vacant for decades. But now, the wrecker's ball is about to strike--and unleash an ominous evil. Strange gifts begin to appear on the doorsteps of Blackstone's finest citizens.

Each bears a mysterious history.

Each brings a horrifying power to harm.

Each reveals another thread in the suspensefully woven web of . . .

THE BLACKSTONE CHRONICLES

Part I--An Eye for an Eye: The Doll

Part II--Twist of Fate: The Locket

Part III--Ashes to Ashes: The Dragon's Flame

Part IV--In the Shadow of Evil: The Handkerchief

Part V--Day of Reckoning: The Stereoscope

Part VI--Asylum

527 pages, Paperback

First published January 1,1997
Series
Blackstone Chronicles

This edition

Format
527 pages, Paperback
Published
January 1, 1998 by Arrow
ISBN
9780099270232
ASIN
0099270234
Language
English

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About the author

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john saul

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John Saul grew up in Whittier California where he graduated from Whittier High School in 1959. He attended several colleges—Antioch, in Ohio, Cerritos, in Norwalk, California, Montana State University and San Francisco State College, variously majoring in anthropology, liberal arts, and theater, but never obtaining a degree.
After leaving college, he decided the best thing for a college dropout to do was become a writer, and spent the next fifteen years working in various jobs while attempting to write a book someone would want to publish. Should anyone ever want to write a novel concerning the car-rental industry or the travails of temporary typists, John can provide excellent background material.

Those years garnered him a nice collection of unpublished manuscripts, but not a lot of money. Eventually he found an agent in New York, who spent several years sending his manuscripts around, and trying to make the rejection slips sound hopeful. Then, in 1976, one of his manuscripts reached Dell, who didn't want to buy it, but asked if he'd be interested in writing a psychological thriller. He put together an outline, and crossed his fingers.

At that point, things started getting bizarre. His agent decided the outline had all the makings of a best-seller, and so did Dell. Gambling on a first novel by an unknown author, they backed the book with television advertising (one of the first times a paperback original was promoted on television) and the gamble paid off. Within a month Suffer the Children appeared on all the best-seller lists in the country and made the #1 spot in Canada. Subsequently all 32 of his books, have made all the best-seller lists and have been published world wide. Though many of his books were published by Bantam/Doubleday/Dell his last fourteen books have been published by Ballantine/Fawcett/Columbine.

In addition to his work as novelist, John is also interested in the theater. He has acted, and as a playwright has had several one-act plays produced in Los Angeles and Seattle, and two optioned in New York. One of his novels was produced by Gerber Productions Company and M.G.M. as a C.B.S. movie and currently one of his novels is in development.

John served on the Expansion Arts Panel of the National Endowment for the Arts. He is actively involved with the development of other writers, and is a lecturer at the Pacific Northwest Writers Conference and the Maui Writers Conference and received the Life Time Achievement Award from the Northwest Writers Conference. John is also a trustee and Vice President of The Chester Woodruff Foundation (New York), a philanthropic organization.

John lives part-time in the Pacific Northwest, both in Seattle and in the San Juan Islands. He also maintains a residence on the Big Island of Hawaii. He currently enjoys motor homing, travel and golf. He is an avid reader, bridge player, golfer and loves to cook.

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Community Reviews

Rating(4 / 5.0, 100 votes)
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39(39%)
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100 reviews All reviews
Profile Image for Kimberly .
Itznazo360
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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Blackstone

I love this series! From beginning to end it never lost an ounce of suspense and even had enough horror in most segments to startle me when I was reading at home alone.
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sidewayssix
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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i've read lots of his books. The serial concept totally messed him up. Take my advice...read Stephen Kings instead.
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nekubi_osu
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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This was fun and spooky! The ending was a little lackluster for me but it was a pretty good ride!
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Hbarca
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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I've read so many mediocre new books in the past month that I decided to revisit some of the oldies. I first read this the year I started at university. Of the six stories, the first four are pretty great, after which it peters out a bit towards the end. But it's still very much worth reading. Abandoned asylums are creepy at the best of times, but when past happenings at such an asylum blow back on an entire town and start destroying families, the intensity is ramped up brilliantly. It's also a pretty great small town horror novel. There is a disturbing scene with a dog that dog lovers will find difficult, but I could skip over it because it wasn't stretched out.
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MysteriousBean
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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Wow! This book was amazing. I loved every moment of reading this book and I found it very hard to put down. I find this version (the complete series) of the story/stories better than attempting to locate each individual book. Although I found this book for free at a closing thrift store, it is in my top 5 thriller books. It is extraordinarily well-written. The word choice always kept me on my toes and so did the story! I found the story to be thought out and executed perfectly. I also enjoyed viewing the family tree and town map that is located at the front of this version. I recommend this book to anyone that likes a good mystery/thriller.
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mizzg
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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If you like Stephen King, you will love this one! Like the Green Mile episode books, I waited until all the Blackstone Chronicles were but together. Can't hang around for those series books....don't know why they do them!!!! Great read.
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Silent-_-Scream
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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My mother actually suggested I read "The Blackstone Chronicles," but her and I differ in our book tastes so I was hesitant. I tend to agree with her when she told me this book was good, and I enjoyed the story overall! I liked the horror factor, the idea that every story section was based around the Asylum and Blackstone, and I liked the idea of evil presented throughout the story. There were, however, some aspects of the book that just didn't work for me as a reader.

I don't want to give any spoilers away, so I'll sum up my biggest issue with the final section in this book titled Asylum. I guess I was expected some epic showdown ending to really make sense of all the strange things happening around the town, but in the end it kind of fell a bit flat and left way too many questions unanswered, for my liking anyway.

Still, I did enjoy the read, I liked the stories, the plot, the mystery, and the suspense throughout this originally serial series all compacted in one book!
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SiGow
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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Hey guys! I was looking for a new read to check out while I waited to go back to my local library. While I was browsing the TN reads (Regional Ebook audiobook download system) online library system, this book caught my eye. It is a serial novel called The BlackStone Chronicles by John Saul. This was the first book I have ever read by John Saul in E-book form from the Tennessee Reads (regional e-book and download system) online library system. The Blackstone Chronicles was actually a pretty good read. In each part of this six part serial novel the reader learns of the town's past with the Blackstone Asylum and of the families who receive a mysterious gift that came from the Asylum's evil walls and from the dark presence that resides there like a locket, a doll, a cigarette lighter, a stereoscope, and a razor blade. All of the gifts cause chaos and destruction to the families and this premise reminded me of the "Tales from the dark side" TV series and the Twilight Zone. The storyline was pretty interesting and there were characters that you liked and hated. If you would like to check out this fast-paced read, then definitely check out the BlackStone Chronicles serial novel by John Saul. You'll enjoy it.
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