John Saul is a master at creating a conspiracy against children teenagers in a small town environment. His later novels generally follow a pattern of some corporation funding medical experiments being performed on a small town's children. (His earlier novels followed a different pattern which also involved younger children.) Unlike Dean Koontz's "formula" novels, Saul's don't lose their appeal and become repetitive. I think the reason for this is that Saul will kill, maim or hideously change major characters while Koontz generally won't. So the reader is never really sure what will happen or who will live or die. Sleepwalk is another really enjoyable novel that slowly pulls you in until you suddenly realize that you are zooming through the novel, interested in every little thing. Plus in a move I really liked, the "villain" is not really revealed until the last third or so of the novel. I guessed who earlier than that but it did not take away from enjoying the story. ( )

I've had this on my bookshelf for ages and finally picked it up because it was a lightweight paperback to take on the plane. It served its purpose as something to read, but it annoyed me in several ways. The main character was a teacher; I was a substitute and my sister and friend are teachers, and the descriptions of classrooms and schools in the book did not ring true. None of the characters were particularly interesting either and the evil corporation conspiracy storyline was cliche. Plus the story involved around the concept "noble natives" as connected to nature compared to the people in town people who blindly working at an oil refinery, which is destroying nature. It all felt like it was borrowing old ideas, tropes, and stereoypes mixed together into a novel. Not a winner. ( )

An excellent mixture of both the mystery and horror genres. ( )

Generaally I read four books at a time, one each in my two bathrooms, one by my bed, and one out on the porch. When Saul comes along, I generally read straight through, because not only does he continually deepen the unusual feature that is his theme, in this case the conspiracy of a large company to develope a formula that takes over the brains of "agitators," but he also kills off the protagonist and/or people you thought integral to life throuigh the book. ( )

This was my first John Saul book and overall was pleased. A nice quick read that kept me guessing somewhat to what was going on. By midway, I had figured out what was happening and was waiting to see how it was all resolved. The resolution left something to be desired in my mind. It seemed rushed, in that we spent 425 pages building up to the climax, which then only lasted a short 25 pages or so. Characters were developed enough for this story. I don’t really care to see any of them again. Nice story with enough twists to keep me interested. ( )