The Presence – John Saul

 

Review: The Presence – John Saul
By: Hantie Hartzenberg
I listened to this book via the Audible App from Amazon. Fantastic app guys!! I listened to this particular book, because I also listened to The God Project, also by John Saul. The God Project(2014) was a fantastic book. This book, however, not really so fantastic. It was good, don’t get me wrong. The plot has plenty of suspense. But the word ‘suddenly’…. I cringed every time I heard the word. Overused. Now the book was written in 1997. It was probably a fad at that time to substitute a whole sentence of observations and feelings of the characters with the word suddenly. No matter, the characters was wonderfully explained, rounded and one thing John Saul can do very well, make them human. An everyday person like you and me. On that ability I give him a full 5 stars. The end I did not see coming. I had to know. No spoilers, sorry. On the storyline I give 3.5 stars. The story was great, but not his best work. Thank you for the story, John. I did enjoy it.
On the narrator – Phil Gigante – You did a fantastic job on the narration of this story. You really did bring it to life. Some of the voice variations, I think, could’ve been very difficult, but you pulled it off. On your storytelling abilities I give you a full 5 stars. Well done.
Thank you again to Amazon for the Audible app. It’s really an easy to use app with a wide variety of books.

With thanks to Goodreads:
The Presence
John Saul
3.76
3,382 ratings 156 reviews
“Enough smoothly crafted suspense to keep readers turning pages long after dark.”– The Seattle Times

Beyond the sparkling Hawiian beaches, masked by the deceptive beauty of the rainforest, evil awaits sixteen-year-old Michael Sundquist and his mother, Katharine, and anthropologist who has come to the Islands to study the unusual skeletal remains unearthed on the volcanic flanks of Halekala, Maui.
Yet far below the black depths of the Pacific a mysterious substance snakes through undiscovered fissures in the ocean floor, as nature itself seems to portend the terror to come.
Then, with the sudden, unexpected death of Michael’s friend, a disturbing truth dawns: the corporation that is funding Katherine’s dig has a far greater investment than she ever imagined–an investment in medical terror. And her son may be part of their hideous grand plan. . . .

“A suspenseful thriller . . . provocative . . . Nicely done, indeed.”–Kirkus Reviews
“Classic Saul . . . A potent brew.”–Publishers Weekly