The Homing
by John Saul
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From the bestselling author of "Guardian," "Creature," and "Black Lightning," a spine-tingling tale of all-consuming evil as riveting and chilling as any he has ever produced.It will be a sweet homecoming for Karen Spellman. After years of living in Los Angeles, the pretty, young widow and her two daughters are returning to the lush countryside of Pleasant Valley, where Karen grew up. In this verdant, fertile place, Karen hopes to find not only a refuge from urban chaos, but love, for she show more is going home to marry her high school sweetheart.
But something sinister awaits her. Something as primal as nature, as demonic as hell itself. For long ago, a shadowy menace stalked Pleasant Valley. A menace forgotten, thought dead. But only sleeping.
Now Karen's homecoming will become a confrontation with terror as she battles to protect her daughters from a malign, preternatural force that must satisfy its gruesome thirst for innocent prey . . .
From the Hardcover edition.
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Chilling read about a widow (Karen Spellman) who moves from Los Angeles back to her old, small home town when she remarries a farmer. Her children, (sixteen-year-old Julie and nine-year-old Molly) and other children, get stung by bees, with severe reactions that seem to change some of them. Especially Julie. A shady scientist (Carl Henderson) gives them shots (an antivenin) that the children say make them feel better, but they don’t. Why are the children lying, and suddenly disappearing? What is Carl up to in his isolated home? Where are all the bees coming from? There is a lot more to this book, but I don’t want to give anything away. I really enjoyed it. It was very strange and creepy, especially with the bees, ants, and other show more insects. I really hated some of the characters and I couldn’t wait for them to get what was coming to them. Another fine horror read by John Saul. show less
Saul knows how to keep you turning the page, but his perennial habit of killing off the seeming protagonists may be what keeps him number three in the king-koontz-saul race. Besides, the concept of virulent insects breeding in human's is so far out of the biological possibility, it's hard to accept. Fortunately, I just sat back and enjoyed the trip, and maybe that's what you are supposed to do, anyway.
While certain parts of this book seem well-researched, other parts, specifically with the parasitic insects, seem like something from a cheesy sci-fi novel from the 60s. However, The Homing still has a fun story and an interesting premise behind it. I wish that I could have read another work of John Saul's before this, but unfortunately I had to read this one first. It's not bad, but it's not good either.
This book started off okay. Plenty of buildup but just when you expected for things to happen what you get instead is an overly rushed tepid conclusion.
Not bad but then again, not his best. If you're new to John Saul, don't start with this one.
After one to many character mistakes I had to stop. Not his best.
Enjoyed this book.
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Saul has several major themes in his horror fiction; children as victims, and sometimes perpetrators, of evil; technology used for horrific ends; and occult occurrences (is it something external or internal that causes the horrible things to happen to his characters?). While Saul's earlier work has been noted for its extremely gruesome quality, in show more his later writing Saul is trying to restrain that aspect of his fiction. Often his plots revolve around hidden, secret evil that is discovered by an innocent person, who must then battle against seemingly impossible odds to defeat the demon. (Bowker Author Biography) Author John Saul was born in Pasadena, California on February 25, 1942. He attended numerous colleges including Montana State University and San Francisco State College and majored in various areas of study including anthropology, liberal arts, and theater, but never earned a degree. He spent the next fifteen years attempting to become a published writer while working various jobs. His first novel, Suffer the Children, was published in 1977. He has written over twenty novels since then and writes the Blackstone Chronicles. He received the Life Time Achievement Award from the Northwest Writers Conference. He currently divides his time between Seattle, Washington and Maui, Hawaii. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- The Homing
- Original title
- The Homing
- Original publication date
- 1994
- People/Characters
- Karen Spellman
- Dedication
- For
Bruce and Beth Becker
and
Ed and Marie Morrison
Whose support and friendship over the years
have been both invaluable and greatly appreciated.
Also, a special acknowledgment to Larry O'Bryant, <... (show all)br>who was more than generous with his time
and knowledge. Thanks, Larry, and
I hope I got most of it right! - First words
- "You've been wantin' me the way I been wantin' you, ain't you, kid?"
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Then, regaining its footing, it turned and looped away.
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- Members
- 790
- Popularity
- 35,028
- Reviews
- 7
- Rating
- (3.44)
- Languages
- Dutch, English, German, Hungarian
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 19
- ASINs
- 7
