I want to start off this review by saying that I hadn't planned to read this book at all, but it so happened that I needed a light book to bring to highschool to read when I felt bored and I was kind of feeling the horror genre, so, naturally, I asked Mum – the biggest fan of horror content that I know. Originally, I asked her if she had Carrie in her library, but no luck. Instead, she recommended me John Saul's books, since she had a fair share of them. So, here I am.
First of all, I need to say that I had expected this book to be a little more scary, though I cannot deny its fair dose of creepiness. It wasn't frightening in the ghost-demon-evil entity; no, it was its almost realistic premise that send shivers down my spine. For those unfamiliar with the story, the main character and his family move to Silverdale – a perfect city where everything goes just right. Only... that it is too perfect. It is what happens behind the walls of Tarren Tech and Rocky Mountain High that builds the creepy factor of this story. Who would have thought that these so trusted institutes would  experiment on the children of their employees in order to try and cure different kind of diseases and chronic sicknesses?  
Everything I will be saying from now on is spoiler-material, so read at your own caution. So, as I was saying, the story is both chilling and thrilling because it uses the premise of experimenting on humans and what they become after this lab-rat game. The way the football team was acting on the field was concerning ever since the beginning, and the suggestion of their dangerous roughness was enhanced by the physical descriptions of abnormally big and muscular teen boys, capable of hurting their adversaries critically – thing that, ironically, happened in the second chapter. Not only did Jeff LaConner, the MVP of Silverdale's football team, send Rick Ramirez into a coma, but he also began transforming, becoming more and more dangerous as time passed by; he threatened and hurt Linda Harris after she cordially broke up with him, he pushed his mother, causing her to fall down and break an arm, and he beat Mark until he was barely breathing. With each and every single day, he became more and more agressive, though the changes were not only of psychological nature, but also physical – eyes deepening into the orbits of his head, jaw growing sharper, fingers elongating etc. And all of these changes were caused by the treatment he had undergone at the sportive clinic of Marty Ames.
Surprisingly or not, Blake Tanner, the father of our protagonist, signs Mark up to undergo the same treatment received by Jeff LaConner, not knowing the dark secret that laid behind it. You can all imagine what happened after – same fits of anger, same bloodthirst, same physical transformations. The hormones that were introduced in their bodies turned them into humanoid beasts that ressembled monkeys, but, of course, no one could know what happened to the boys. No one could find out what TarrenTech was doing behind closed doors. So, naturally, they liquidated anyone that tried to reveal scandalous information about their company – they sent Charlotte LaConner to the sanatorium, they killed Doctor MacCallum, they were about to get rid of Mark's mother too if she weren't to escape (though they had eventually killed her). They came up with stories for people's disappearances and, in the end, everyone bought it.
This is why the story is scary. It is frightening because of how easy people can be manipulated by a higher power. It is chilling because history proved that experimenting on humans was something that had actually happened. It is horrendous because we have no idea what happens behind closed doors. And this is why John Saul has done a great job writing this book.

This was my first "grown-up" book that wasn't by Michael Crichton (In 91 I never considered Jurassic Park to be adult...it was about DINOSAURS! And Sphere and the rest never registered as something for the older crowd.) I remember the day I got it from the Scholastic book sale (remember when the big box of books would come once a month and it was like Christmas?) newsletter in middle school. I loved it. It was gross, crass, disturbing, and better yet? Got me in trouble in high school! I performed a monologue from the book for the NC Christian Drama Competition and my score sheet, despite a high ranking on delivery and effectiveness, remained a low 3 out of 4 (lowest) for content which had, and I quote: "ABSOLUTELY No Taste!!!!!" I have never been so proud of a performance. I have had a soft sport for John Saul ever since.

Read it while in HS. Was definitely a younger read. Very entertaining and page turning was not an issue. I enjoyed the book then and probably would enjoy it now as an adult.

I think I will be read all of John Saul's book. They keep you at the edge of your seat and want to keep reading it even though you are tired.

Adolescent rachitique, à cause d'un rhumatisme articulaire qui l'a diminué à l'âge de 7 ans, Mark Tanner sait qu'il déçoit son père, une ancienne vedette de football, qui aurait aimé que son fils suive ses traces. Il adore ses animaux, son chien et ses lapins, et, à défaut de sport ou il se sent déficient, il se passionne pour la photo. Soudain, changement de vie pour la famille, son père, cadre dans une grande entreprise en technologie, vient d'être promu, et ils doivent déménager à Silverdale dans les montagnes rocheuses. Sur place, son coup de coeur initial s'estompe; la ville ne vit que pour le sport et il se sent encore plus exclus qu'avant. Sans compter que les adolescents, et encore plus l'équipe de football américain, sont d'un gabarit impressionnant qui lui rappelle sans cesse sa petite taille et son allure maigrichonne. Il devient ami avec une fille qui se trouve sortir avec la vedette de l'équipe de football. Conflit potentiel, n'est-ce pas ? Blessé, son père l'envoie se faire soigner à la clinique sportive de la compagnie. Remis sur pied, tout à l'air d'aller pour le mieux, mais sa mère et sa soeur sentent un changement.
Et, en plus, qui donc, pousse des cris dans la nuit ?

Un thriller, basé sur un adolescent exclu et sa mère empathique, qui bascule tranquillement dans l'horreur, avec un fonds traitant des recherches scientifiques.

Oh là là ! j'ai dévoré ce livre et j'ai beaucoup aimé. L'histoire est bien racontée et le basculement de thème est fait de façon plausible. Un autre très bon roman de John Saul.

Corre la leyenda que esta novela duró en el mercado 2 meses y fue eliminada por las criticas tan duras que recibió al utilizar los niños como bestias (literalmente) Hoy en día no la veo para nada dura, aunque este ya más que curtido en mil batallas. Y en Saul no es nada sorprendente utilizar al niño como arma de terror, y hace bien, pues junto a los ancianos es el elemento más terrorífico que puedes encontrar. Y los gatos.

Miedo no da. Es más un tema de perturbación por algo que puede ser real y demasiado americano. En un pueblo, se mandan a familias con hijos para que trabajen los padres allí con buen salario. Así puede emplear los esteroides con sus hijos para volverlos auténticos deportistas y militares.

Como lees, este argumento es algo REAL en el sueño americano. Pues el uso de los esteroides anabólicos es muy común y bien visto. Allí ni se discute que haya la mínima posibilidad de su uso, se da por hecho.

Estos niños poco a poco y gracias al exceso de testosteronas se irán trasformando en mitad lo que se desea y restante NO.

The book was very interesting. More interesting than the cover or summary provides. This is a good example of don't judge a book by its cover, and for the first 150 pages, the book has you believing the story is going in a very particular direction. This story had many interesting plot twists, conflict, distraction, and detailed setting. The ending definitely was not predictable. Well, it is, but it isn't. Which is the entire theme of this book, really. The only issue I had was that once the main conflict has been addressed, it seemed a bit rush, and lacks depth of explanation. Like why did it happen? What's going to happen? Etc. This is the first John Saul book I have ever read, but it inspired to take a read through some of other work. It's dark. It's twisted. It's kind of sarcastic. It draws you in.

A prefect job, a perfect town, a perfect house, a perfect school, even the perfect team. Everything is a little too perfect. A quiet little company town, owned and operated by company people where everyone goes to the football games because Silverdale has the biggest players around. And they have their own private doctor who has developed a great vitamin and hormone complex that overcomes being underweight and small stature. Until things start going wrong. And the Tanner family find out the hard way.

De fiecare dată când se întâmplă să citesc un John Saul, ştiu că va fi cel mai probabil echivalentul unui film horror, eventual tinzând spre categoria B, o poveste care, fără a fi memorabilă, se va dovedi plăcută. Poate că John Saul – descoperit cu mulţi, mulţi ani în urmă, în paralel cu Serge Brussolo – nu este cel mai important autor de gen, nici măcar un scriitor de calibru, poate că a repetat de prea multe ori o reţetă epică de succes cu prea puţine variaţiuni, dar esenţial este că de fiecare dată un roman de John Saul „merge”. Un autor surprinzător de prolific, şi încă sunt departe de a putea spune că l-am citit integral. Dar dintre cărţile sale încercate până acum cel mai mult mi-a plăcut – cu un amestec de nostalgie şi interes pentru o poveste reuşită – Creatura. De câte ori văd coperta amuzant-grotescă a ediţiei vechi, publicată de RAO pe la jumătatea anilor 90, parcă m-aş întoarce în timp. Unii au văzut în această poveste tipic americană, cu destule clişee din filmele pentru adolescenţi în combinaţie cu SF-urile clasice ale anilor 50, un soi de replică dată celebrului Frankenstein. Alţii un John Saul apărut cu mult înainte ca autorul să se bucure de celebritatea de acum, un roman de început, uitând că Saul s-a bucurat de succes (comercial, cel puţin) surprinzător de repede. Genul de roman de tranziţie în căutarea stilului şi temei proprii. Recitindu-l recent şi comparându-l cu unele dintre celelalte cărţi ale autorului, îmi dau seama că această Creatură nu este cel mai bun titlu al autorului, dar este o poveste suficient de solidă – cu inerente stângăcii – şi o excelentă introducere în lumea lui John Saul. Un fel de prim pas recomandat.

http://cinabru.blogspot.ro/2012/08/jo...

A powerful high tech company has started a side project in Silverdale, which is a postcard pretty town; only it is just too perfect. An experimental project is being done in e town which transforms small boys into huge strong boys. Marty Ames, the scientist conducting the experiment doesn't know the true extent of what the growth hormone he gives to the boys does, and the experiment has its flaws. Three boys in Silverdale turn ino the monsters and only one of them survives in the mountains outside of town.
The book doesn't end the story completely. There are still some loose ends. At the end, Marty Ames dies and so does. Phil Collins (the head of the football team) and talks of only one incident when Mark comes down from the mountains & hugs s sister and his girlfriend and goes back to his shelter. But Saul says nothing of what finally becomes of Silverdale after the head of the experiment project, and the coach is dead.

I actually give this book a 4.5 stars. It was pretty good. The beginning was slow and it was hard to catch on for me because I saw people like that in school, but I didn't totally understand. Otherwise, the experiments being done to the boys at this clinic was horrific and very sad. No child should be subjected to that.

Due to an unexpected transfer, the Tanner family moves to the small town of Silverdale, Colorado. Because of physical limitations from a childhood illness, their teenage son, Mark, is a small, delicate boy who is more interested in photography than sports, which is a disappointment to his college football star father. But there is something very wrong in Silverdale. The boys in Mark's school suddenly begin to turn into grotesque, violent savages. And Mark finds himself a victim of illegal experimentation by a doctor who is using the children of the town as his test subjects. Can Mark and his family survive?
This is one of Saul's earlier books, and it is one of his usual formulas of illicit medical practices mixed with teenage angst. However, the author also works his usual magic in portraying the characters in such a way that the reader comes to really care for them. The loyalty and confusion of the teenage Mark, the innocence and quirkiness of his little sister Kelly, the determination of his father Blake to have his son live out his own desires and dreams, and the supportive and unconditional love of his mother Sharon, no matter how her son decides to live his life. The unemotional and unfeeling doctor that is in charge of the human testing is perhaps a little archetypal, but Saul has a way of writing even these characters that makes them seem all too real. This provides for a very interesting and entertaining story that will keep the reader turning pages to find out what happens next.