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The Presence

john saul

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"Enough smoothly crafted suspense to keep readers turning pages long after dark."-- The Seattle TimesBeyond the sparkling Hawiian beaches, masked by the deceptive beauty of the rainforest, evil awaits sixteen-year-old Michael Sundquist and his mother, Katharine, and anthropologist who has come to the Islands to study the unusual skeletal remains unearthed on the volcanic flanks of Halekala, Maui.Yet far below the black depths of the Pacific a mysterious substance snakes through undiscovered fissures in the ocean floor, as nature itself seems to portend the terror to come.Then, with the sudden, unexpected death of Michael's friend, a disturbing truth the corporation that is funding Katherine's dig has a far greater investment than she ever imagined--an investment in medical terror. And her son may be part of their hideous grand plan. . . ."A suspenseful thriller . . . provocative . . . Nicely done, indeed."-- Kirkus Reviews"Classic Saul . . . A potent brew."-- Publishers Weekly

432 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published May 28,1997

This edition

Format
432 pages, Mass Market Paperback
Published
January 1, 1997 by Ballantine Books
ISBN
9780449002414
ASIN
B002AE5NMO
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Those years garnered him a nice collection of unpublished manuscripts, but not a lot of money.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, 99 votes)
5 stars
31(31%)
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35(35%)
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33(33%)
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99 reviews All reviews
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oniongurl
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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When I picked up this book I really didn't know what to expect, fully prepared to dnf it. John Saul calls his work speculative fiction. I call it science fiction, key word: Fiction (with fantasy mixed in). I was intrigued and the basic story which follows a mom, her son and old/new boyfriend kept me reading. They are witnessing mysterious happenings and seeking to know more. Unfortunately this brings peril into their lives. It kept me reading. However, the end was disappointing as I believe in Creation and God's word in the Bible therefore (the story) lost me.
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PeacefulAutumn1
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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I rather liked this story. I thought it was very interesting & presents some things to ponder. I also thought it had a good ending. Glad I finally got around to reading it :-)

I would have liked more information on the Alien Seed Theory - more explained about how humans adapted from the alien seeds sent out from a dying planet.


Join us in the John Saul Lit Group on Goodreads. We're always reading a John Saul title. The Presence is featured as our group read for November-December 2011. Visit the group anytime by clicking here: http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/3...
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Enma10th
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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Dissapointing book from Saul, in my opinion. Dull and really predictable. Bad lecture. The story was good. The book, awfull.
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Box-Sama
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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I love John Saul books. He is almost as good of a horror author as Stephen King. His writing style is unique and that is what makes him one of my favorite authors. I haven't read a book of his I haven't liked yet, they are all so great. I would reread any of his books anytime but there are too many to go into detail about each one.
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Cren-
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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John Saul has been a staple in my literary life for quite a long time. Since my early teens, I’ve owned some of his books or picked them out of the library because I knew that I would never be disappointed. No matter what the subject matter is, no matter what the description - though it’s usually vague - I’d start reading it and finish it within two or three days, such was the case with the Presence.

Surrounding Michael Sundquist, a lot of strange things happen. Though he reacts better to things than any sixteen year old boy that I’ve ever met or could imagine, he still has a touch of realism to his character and his desperation to stay true to his dream despite pain and loss. His mother is a strong female character who will do anything for her son, but the book does bring in an unnecessary love interest. It’s good to see that being a male for once.

The Presence, though it’s name and it’s cover suggest that it is a horror story, definitely comes off more as a science-fiction thriller. The terminology is all easy to understand, the plot is very easy to follow and you don’t need to be a ‘science-nerd’ to delve deep into this novel. It’s something that can be read quickly, even though it is lengthy. It’s hard to put down and a delight to read. I hated having to take breaks to do some adulting. Highly recommend.

8/10
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Rachiba
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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Mostly read on an airplane! Slightly sci-fi fare, totally fine for an airport read.
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nadaci901
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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I...don't even know where to begin with this one, partly because I finished it last weekend, but had problems logging into Goodreads until today. I guess the first thing I should say is the title has no bearing whatsoever on the plot. It seems like it's going to at first, with the anomalous bones discovered on Maui, and later a signal from space, but ultimately it's meaningless. It's like if Jurassic Park had been called, I don't know..."The Looming" or something.

But the title isn't the only thing that doesn't make sense here. The motivations of the antagonist are...non-existent, as far as I can tell. We're given absolutely no credible reason for why he's researching the McGuffin that drives the plot, aside from the need for the story to have a villain. Is he trying to weaponize it? Use it to help people adapt to an increasingly-polluted world (and make a profit in the process)? Who knows?

Heck, the way the McGuffin works doesn't even make a lick of sense. So, the McGuffin is a sphere from space that contains gas/spores/seeds that make anything that breathes it in allergic to oxygen, and only able to breathe a cocktail of toxic gases. It was apparently sent by 15-million-year-old humans from a distant star, as their sun was about to go nova, to try and seed other planets with their DNA...except, it affects everything that breathes it. And human beings clearly breathe oxygen. Oh, and the effects seemingly wear off after a couple weeks. The more I type, the dumber it all sounds. And don't even get me started on the red herring plot line of the bones.

Two stars for a good initial setup, but an absolute disaster of an execution. At least, narratively. There are elements here that work pretty well in a vacuum: the teenage feeling of invincibility leading to disaster, being in the wrong place at the wrong time and having it change your life forever, etc. It's just unfortunate that these interesting, human themes are attached to...this.
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