Faces of Fear: A Novel
by John Saul
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Book Reviews of Faces of Fear: A Novel
Book Review: Pretty Darn Good for a John Saul novel!
Summary: 4 Stars
Saul's 35th Novel! Plastic surgery, My Space and homosexuality, oh my! Other themes in this book include: wealth, perfection, teens, online predators, self, perception, image, change and ego. This was not bad for a John Saul novel, not bad at all! Right away I found the story intriguing and Saul was able to keep my interest throughout the book, although as the story went on, it became just a little unbelievable. The one thing I am impressed with more than anything is this book's ending! I've been a Saul fan for over a decade (since I first read The Blackstone Chronicles: The Serial Thriller Complete in One Volume (Blackstone Chronicles) as a teenager), and this ending was not typical off the wall John Saul; the ending was normal with a nice conclusion to the story.
This book was originally "The Face of Fear" but Saul changed the title slightly so it wouldn't be confused with a Dean Koontz book by the same name. I would still rank The Homing and The Manhattan Hunt Club higher on the list of Saul's best, but I think fans will enjoy this story of "The Frankenstein Killer"!
Book Review: Disappointing - 2.5/5 Stars
Summary: 2 Stars
Alison's world changes when her mother marries plastic surgeon Conrad Dunn. She moves into a huge mansion in the Hollywood Hills, leaves her public school behind for a prestigious prep school, and makes new friends. Her new friends have all had cosmetic work done on them by Alison's stepfather and give her suggestions on what she should have done.
Although the thought of it creeps her out at first, she agrees to accept breast augmentation as a 16th birthday present. Soon after, Alison discovers a picture of her stepfather's first wife. To Alison's horror, she notices a resemblance between the image in the photo and the work her stepfather is doing on her. Though her mother refuses to acknowledge the strange similarity, Alison becomes increasingly frightened. Digging further into her stepfather's murky past, Alison uncovers dark secrets-and even darker motives-and realizes that her worst fears are fast becoming her reality. At the same time, murders are being committed around L.A. by the so-called Frankenstein Killer.
I actually gave up reading John Saul a few years back but decided to give him a try one more time. Although this was a quick read (not a lot of thought goes into reading Saul's novels), I was less than thrilled with this book. It was pretty boring and predictable.
Book Review: Reviewed for Midwest Book Review
Summary: 4 Stars
15-year-old Alison Shaw enjoys her middle-class life with her parents, a real estate agent and a TV production manager. However, her world is turned upside down when her parents' marriage dissolves after her father reveals he is gay. Alison's mother marries acclaimed plastic surgeon Conrad Dunn, whose wife committed suicide after a boating accident left her perfect (albeit surgery-enhanced) face permanently scarred. Alison moves with her mother to Dunn's mansion and has trouble adjusting to an affluent lifestyle with friends who think nothing of paying thousands of dollars for clothes and indulging in plastic surgery to fix perceived flaws. Meanwhile, a demented murderer named the Frankenstein Killer is harvesting parts of women's faces, as well as their adrenal and thymus glands, leaving behind mutilated corpses. As the killer picks up the pace, Alison and her mother are peripherally aware of the frantic search by the police, although unaware that Alison may be the motive behind the killings.
Faces of Fear, Saul's 35th novel, has mystery, suspense, characters wholesome and likable and those adroitly portrayed as evil and maniacal. Although slow to start, the book does pick up speed, yet savvy readers will figure out the mystery well before it is revealed.
Book Review: Storylines right out of current events.
Summary: 4 Stars
Avid reader of John Saul found this book to be among the best of his modern works, Yes, sometimes predictable but is still enjoyable. Gore hounds will probably love it. I've read some very bigoted reviews regarding a few gay characters, such as, "pushing the homosexual agenda" (?!?) Some of these "reviewers" (bigots) actually try to insult Mr. Saul by claiming he must be "coming out". Well NEWS FLASH... JOHN SAUL IS GAY. To claim he's "pushing an agenda", is idiotic. The man has written over 30 novels and this contains his first true gay characters. So lets move on. This book also contains some great political shots which also are rare in a Saul novel, there a great subtle one regarding FOX news. To me this book seemed that Saul was finally feeling courageous enough to throw a little personal points of view into his work. I would not recomend this to a first time Saul reader, for that it would be "THE UNLOVED", "SECOND CHILD",SUFFER THE CHILDREN","NATHANIEL". But a fun read none the less.Book Review: Predictable down to the end.
Summary: 3 Stars
I like about 1/2 of John Saul's work that I have read (about 10 books now). This book fits right in the middle, I neither really liked it or hated it (like I did Midnight Voices). It is probably his most predictable work I have read though.
From the main character's father's new love interest at the beginning, to the climax at the end, it was easy to guess what was going to happen. I kept wating for a huge plot twist but it never came.
The characters are pretty stereotypical too. The obnoxious overbearing reporter, the snobby rich kids, all the way down to the rude 911 operator.
I will have to admit though that I was into the book the final 50 pages and looked forward to reading it at the end. No real shocks or scares in this one, and it was a nice change of pace for Saul, his victims in this book were over the age of 15, something I haven't seen in many of his works.