John Saul Resident Scholar Profiles
TOP SCHOLAR: Somer Robb
SCHOLARS: Greg Bryant
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| Review Summary |
Fifteen year old Angel Sullivan has been enduring the taunts of cruel classmates and the angry abuse of her father. Angel's family moves to the town of Roundtree, MA, where a new home and a promising job for Angel's unemployed father awaits them. But when she is shunned by her new classmates, Angel falls deeper into despair until she meets Seth Baker, a fellow outcast.
Seth tells Angel about the murders that hangs over her family's home and the whispered rumors that something supernatural still dwells there. Uncertain whether the stories are true, Angel and Seth try to contact whatever haunts the home. Guided by a vengeful spirit they uncover the shocking events that lay buried beneath Roundtree.
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Greg Bryant, Resident Scholar
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Ballantine, March 2004, 25.95, 368 pp.
ISBN 0345433327
Fifteen year old Angel Sullivan has no friends and is tormented by her peers. Her father drinks too much and has been fired from so many construction jobs nobody in town who will hire him. Marty's wife Myra loses herself in religion as a way of coping with her unhappy home life. When her sister Joni calls and informs her there is a perfect home that they can afford in Roundtree, Massachusetts, they buy it because Myra's brother-in-law gives Marty a job.
Angel loves her new home on Black Creek Crossing and believes she will make new friends at school but instead the students start tormenting her. The only person who befriends her is Seth Baker, a pariah like Angel. Both teens notice inexplicable happenings in the house and a black cat with a definite agenda. He leads them to a place on the basement stairs where a book is found in a hidden panel and then he makes them follow him to a camouflaged cabin in the woods. There they open the book and what they find between the pages allows them to finally get revenge on their enemies.
Drawing on the Salem Witch trials and the folklore on haunted houses, John Saul creates a tale so vividly chilling and horrifying that readers will want to sleep with the lights on. BLACK CREEK CROSSING is not the typical haunted house story nor is it a modern day retailing of the Salem witches but an amalgam of the two. The protagonists draw reader sympathy from the very beginning which is why the ending is such a shock. Mr. Saul has written another gothic horror novel that is unforgettable.
Harriet Klausner
Harriet Klausner, Resident Scholar
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| Detailed literary breakdown of Black Creek Crossing |
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Composition of Book
Descript. of chases or violence - 20%
planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 35%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 25%
Descript. of society, phenomena (tech), places - 20%
Tone of book
- suspenseful (sophisticated fear)
- scarey (primal ax-wielding fear)
FANTASY or SCIENCE FICTION?
- fantasy story on current Earth
Inner Struggle
Yes
Plotlet:
- coping with mental/magical powers
Is this an adult or child's book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
Horror story?
Yes
Horror plotlets
- the witch chased me on her broomstick!
Main Character
Identity:
- Female
Profession/status:
- student
Age:
- a teen
Has magical/special powers?
Yes
Magical/mental powers of main character:
- can cast many different spells
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events?
Yes
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- very athletic
- quite fatty
Main Adversary
Identity:
- magical being
- Male
Age:
- a teen
Profession/status:
- student
Has magical powers?
Yes
Magical/mental powers of main antagonist:
- can cast all sorts of spells
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- a moderate amount
- an above average amount
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- healthy but a geeky weakling
Setting
Earth setting:
- current (early 21st century)
Takes place on Earth?
Yes
Style
Person?
- mostly 1st
- mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death?
- no torture/death
- explicit references to deaths
scientific jargon? (SF only)
- none/very little science jargon needed
- some scientific explanation
How much dialogue?
- significantly more dialog than descript
- roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s).
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