Perfect Nightmare: A Novel
by John Saul
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Book Summary Information
Author: John SaulEdition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2006-04-25
ISBN: 0345467329
Number of pages: 384
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Book Reviews of Perfect Nightmare: A Novel
Book Review: Nefarious and malevolent evil makes for a chilling read
Summary: 5 Stars
Perfect Nightmare was my first John Saul book and it was fast, intense and extremely dark as simple words rang truth in my ears like bells and they were terrifying and depressing but made for a really good horror book. There were no super natural monsters, no vampires and witches but a soul of a man so dark and rotten that it chilled me to the bone as I read this book in two days, as it was a very fast and smooth read. I must admit that the story left me feeling down and sad because it was so real and horrifying yet I knew it was a book so I kept reading, if it was a newspaper article I don't know if I would have had the guts to continue.
Kara Marshall and her husband Steve were planning on moving form the charming Long Island home to the city, where Steve worked because they couldn't afford to stay in the house and needed help with their finances. As they decided to put their home out on the market, they unknowingly invited a stranger into their house for an open house who ended up doing the worst harm a mother can imagine; he was responsible for having her only daughter, Lindsay who was a seventeen year old girl, disappear without a trace. I have never read a book so dark and twisted, as the mother's agony was so clearly written, I felt pain as I read it and I felt sick reading about the cold blooded killer who tortured and kidnapped women out of their homes and who were thought to be dead by their family members. I have been told by some people that a loss of a child is the most macabre thing a parent can suffer, and I got a major does of the end, the sadness and the finality of someone else's actions as they ended a mother's happy life and set her life in eternal shadows as her own child was being tortured and pushed to brinks of death. I got to read and feel the emptiness, the sadness, the way the mother knew her child was out there and was not coming back, that no matter what dreams she woke up from that nothing was ever going to be the same. Just as things got bad they got worse very quickly and darkness turned to inky blackness as I had no hope for any of the captured girls.
This was a gloomy, morbid book, and it caught me in a surprise a few times, but I'm glad I read it, as it made me look around more at people and made sure to always keep safe. This really read so realistically that I'm still trying to shake it off, but I know its fiction and it was a good read from a solid and well known author, and I will definitely read more of his stuff.
As someone else mentioned, I don't know hot Saul wrote this, as it was insane and real but I respect him as a writer, as clearly his skills were sharp, and despite the negative reviews, maybe this was too dark for some, to me this was a great read.
Summary of Perfect Nightmare: A Novel
If you open your house to strangers, who knows who might come in. And what they might be after. Or whom. Now, ponder the unthinkable and surrender to your darkest dread, as sinister storyteller extraordinaire John Saul weaves a heart-stopping tale of lurking terror and twisted intent.Every parent?s nightmare becomes reality for Kara Marshall when her daughter, Lindsay, vanishes from her bedroom during the night. The police suspect that the girl is just another moody teenage runaway, angry over leaving behind her school and friends because her family is moving. But Lindsay?s recent eerie claim?that someone invaded her room when the house was opened to prospective buyers?drives Kara to fear the worst: a nameless, faceless stalker has walked the halls of her home in search of more than a place to live.
Patrick Shields recognizes Kara?s pain?and carries plenty of his own since he lost his wife and two children in a devastating house fire. But more than grief draws Patrick and Kara together. He, too, senses the hand of a malevolent stranger in this tragedy. And as more people go missing from houses up for sale, Patrick?s suspicion, like Kara?s, blooms into horrified certainty.
Someone is trolling this peaceful community?undetected and undeterred?harvesting victims for a purpose no sane mind can fathom. Someone Kara and Patrick, alone and desperate, are determined to unmask. Someone who is even now watching, plotting, keeping a demented diary of unspeakable deeds . . . and waiting until the time is ripe for another fateful visit.
From the Hardcover edition.
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