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House of Reckoning
House of Reckoning
House of Reckoning
Audiobook9 hours

House of Reckoning

Written by John Saul

Narrated by Angela Dawe

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

()

About this audiobook

For more than three decades John Saul has haunted the New York Times bestseller list—and listeners imaginations—with his chilling tales of psychological suspense and supernatural horror. His instinct for striking the deepest chords of fear in our hearts and minds is unerring, and his gift for steering a tale from the light of day into the darkest depths of nightmare is at its harrowing best in House of Reckoning.

After the untimely death of her mother, fourteen-year-old Sarah Crane is forced to grow up quickly in order to help tend her family’s Vermont farm and look after her grieving father, who’s drowning his sorrow in alcohol. But their quiet life together is shattered when her father is jailed for killing another man in a barroom brawl and injuring Sarah in a drunken car crash. Left in the cold care of a loveless foster family and alienated at school, Sarah finds a kindred spirit in classmate Nick Dunnigan, a former mental patient still plagued by voices and visions. And in eccentric art instructor Bettina Phillips, Sarah finds a mentor eager to nurture her talent for painting.

But within the walls of Bettina’s ancestral home, the mansion called Shutters, Sarah finds something altogether different and disturbing. Monstrous images from the house’s dark history seem to flow unbidden from Sarah’s paintbrush—images echoed by Nick’s chilling hallucinations. Trapped for ages in the shadowy rooms of Shutters, the violence and fury of long-dead generations have finally found a gateway from the grave into the world of the living. And Sarah and Nick have found a power they never had: to take control, and take revenge.

LanguageEnglish
Release dateOct 13, 2009
ISBN9781441805614
House of Reckoning
Author

John Saul

Perfect Nightmare is John Saul’s thirty-second novel. His first novel, Suffer the Children, published in 1977, was an immediate million-copy seller. His other bestselling suspense novels include Black Creek Crossing, Midnight Voices, The Manhattan Hunt Club, Nightshade, The Right Hand of Evil, The Presence, Black Lightning, Guardian, and The Homing. He is also the author of the New York Times bestselling serial thriller The Blackstone Chronicles, initially published in six installments but now available in one complete volume. Saul divides his time between Seattle, Washington, and Hawaii.

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Reviews for House of Reckoning

Rating: 3.7791666250000002 out of 5 stars
4/5

120 ratings11 reviews

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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    While the first 35-50 pages were slow, I'm glad I kept going. This novel turned out to be an enjoyable supernatural thriller.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    So glad to see bad people get what they deserve!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    It is official after reading this Novel...John Saul is not going to cut the reader or his characters any slack. One thing you can count on...a toll is going to be taken and vengeance is going to be exacted in some form or another. I am going to put House of Reckoning at the top with his better books. This addition was not exactly predictable, it had some nice twists and turns in it. At first glance one might think he left some holes in the plot, but his pen focused on what was needed to tell the story. Sure he could have bloated the story by about a hundred pages and shed some more light on the situations and flashbacks of certain characters but instead, as with most of his work...he keeps the rubber on the road and by doing this he makes sure the reader stays in engaged.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    REVIEWED: House of Reckoning
    WRITTEN BY: John Saul
    PUBLISHED: October, 2009

    This book was okay. Not great, not terrible, but pretty standard horror fare. Haunted mental asylum, religious fanaticism, and bullied children with paranormal abilities all included within. I didn’t really care for any of the characters, except the father, who was the only one who seemed to have any real depth of feeling. Everybody else was sooo two-dimensional. I hated the decisions that Sarah Crane constantly made. I suppose that was the author’s intent to create outrage over how she is treated, but it was very heavy-handed, so obvious. Outcast child gets picked on the same way, ridiculed the same way, it just seems so trite. The only times she “talked back” were at the most inopportune moments, yet when she really should have voiced a defense of herself, she doesn’t, such as the dog attack scene. There were very few “surprises,” and most everything was easily guessed from the beginning. Finally, when Batina and the children join forces in the house, is when the book becomes satisfying, and the background of the House explored (even if more questions were raised than answered!). However, all the revenges – though gratifying – seemed somewhat systematic. The epilogue broke voice from the rest of the book, but was funny, and seemed the most “fitting” revenge of all. John Saul’s a talented author, but this book just didn’t seem up to the levels of his competency.

    Three and a half out of Five stars
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    High school student Sarah Crane is lamenting the loss of her mother to cancer six months earlier. This tragedy has crippled her father, Ed, and has forced him to seek solace at the bottom of the bottle. And as if things weren't bad enough, his alcohol abuse serves as the catalyst for two horrific events: the manslaughter of a fellow bar patron during a drunken brawl, and the injuring of Sarah in a drunk driving accident. The former deed places Ed in prison and Sarah in foster care. Sarah eventually is taken in by the Garvey family. Ironically, her foster father Mitch happens to be a prison guard where Ed is being held. The Garveys are staunchly (if not hypocritically) religious, and Sarah does not fit in well there. Furthermore, she must face the constant taunts of her new high school classmates, who mock both her permanent limp and her murderer father. The only student with whom she is able to connect is another outcast, Nick Dunnigan, a delusional schizophrenic. Sarah also finds comfort in an art class, taught by a unique character named Miss Bettina Phillips. Bettina resides alone with several dogs and cats in Shutters Mansion, a place that once served as an insane asylum. In eerie fashion, she is able to channel feelings from Bettina's home, and she begins to paint images of Shutters and some of its less-than-friendly past inhabitants. Additionally, while Sarah is painting these unfamiliar images, Nick is having visions of his own that involve acts of violence and terror stemming from the dark heart of the old asylum.

    John Saul is at his best when he gets inside the heart and mind of his teenaged characters, and the team of Sarah Crane and Nick Dunnigan firmly represents teen angst at its darkest and most dangerous. This is a perfectly eerie tale presented just in time for the Halloween season.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Cliche, cliche, cliche. "As if" is the most used phrase in the book. If you've ever seen any horror movie, it's as if you've already read this novel.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This book was a very fast read and was very difficult to put down...If I had the time it could have been a two day read. Story kept me on the edge of my seat. I will say the final 50 or so pages seemed quite rushed and could have spent more time on the ending......nobody wondering what happened to the missing people?...house restoring its self?...other than that the story was pretty good overall.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    There is something pathologically puerile about Saul's books- children are at risk, adults are damaged, the characters are broadly drawn as either good (helpful) or villains (destructive). The endings of House of Reckoning was so abrupt and badly written that it seemed stuck on once the story of the house had been told.While they are simple fairy tales for adults, they do fill a niche by being somewhat compelling and completely unchallenging.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    "House of Reckoning" by John Saul:Simply stated, this book was amazing! Mr. Saul has brought an inanimate object to life. With his words, Saul has literally given life to a house.I first became a fan of Saul's when I read "Faces of Fear", but after reading this book, his place in my forever library is cemented. Saul brings you along for the ride of your life in this story. Having read it a couple of years ago and many others since, it's hard to remember every detail, but I remember that house!Amityville has nothing on John Saul! Wow! No other words are necessary except these two...read it!Reviewed by Terri Ann Armstrong, author of the Menace Trilogy and executive editor for Suspense Magazine
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    I have to agree with the other reviews, not impressed. It sounded like some of his other books...everything was used previously. The characters were not well developed and the story was drug out. In the end I felt like I wasted my time. I waited for it to get better and it never did.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    I listened to this book on audio and perhaps it colored my thoughts but I was very unimpressed. It was full of cliches, the characters weren't very well developed and the whole theme was so tired. I have enjoyed Saul's books in the past and was disappointed with this one.