Guardian: A Novel

I enjoy John Saul, and am pretty sure I've read everything by him that's available. I like that he sets his books in different locales and makes them interesting, in this case: the mountains of Idaho. This is mid-period Saul, and I expected children to be abused and/or murdered, and I was right. He's gotten away from that since, at least less than his beginning with SUFFER THE CHILDREN, brutally unkind to the fates of little kids.I was fascinated with many facets of the book, and characterizations were quite complete. I was disappointed that the lead character, Mary Anne, was such a spineless wimp, and Audrey initially comes off as a saint, later to be found out as a flake. Not enough was said about the government testing conspiracy to give credence to the ultimate outcome. Most of the characters were superficially defined, and few were completely likeable; I was surprised that the lawyer was among the most appealing. I liked Olivia (needed more of her) and the sheriff, and even Joey was defined enough to create a sense of caring about his subsequent fate.The problem really centers around the character of Mary Anne; is she June Cleaver, or just some over-reactionary dim bulb?I've liked all of John Saul's writing, for various reasons, and his settings are described completely. Indeed, the Idaho settings were attractive and appealing. I will continue to read John Saul; I was pleasantly surprised at his latest, THE HOUSE OF RECKONING, probably is very best of all. Hopefully, he's gotten away from the idea of killing off little kids.

Is it worse than what's in your home? Loved this creepy story. The characters were all so memorable and realistic. He set the scene so you felt you were seeing it with your own eyes. I would not be surprised to see this become a movie one day.

I really liked this book. It’s probably my 2nd favorite John Saul book (1st being Second Child). Although I didn’t like the portrayal of any child being hurt or killed. I really enjoyed the setting. Another thing I like about this book is how John Saul shows how cruel children can be to each other; something that is quite common.

This book kept me on the edge of my seat all the way through! There was barely a breath between the different dramas going on in the story.. I am a firm fan of John Saul, and, like Stephen king, he gets to your "bones" with his chilling detail! Guardian was full of twists and suspense....it was one you hated to put down, to even eat! LOL

Good read

I couldn't wait to open this book.It was suspenseful, with twist and turns. I'm wondering if there's a part 2.

great

Very similar to his previous one. No guessing on what happened. To much strum und drang. I couldn't get into the characters since I knew some or more would be killed.