The Blackstone Chronicles: A Serial Thriller

The Blackstone Chronicles is a serial novel in 6 parts. The story has a lot of potential that is never developed. This may be a method that is too constricting on the author and which does not allow him the space he needs to develop the characters and the story.

Each of the six parts deals with a different family: the Hartwicks, Beckers, Wagners, McGuires, Wards and Metcalf/Connally. Each of these families has strong ties in Blackstone as they have lived there several generations. Also in Blackstone is an Asylum (soon to be turned into a commercial center), and each of the families mentioned has had some connection to the asylum, be it family or staff. The Asylum was run by Dr. Malcolm Metcalf, Oliver Metcalf's father. In each of the books a gift finds its way into the homes of each of these families and it brings havoc and destruction. Each object brings out evil and people either go mad and do unconscionable things or "accidents" happen. The items are delivered, or strategically placed, by a dark figure that moves around the Asylum as if it were his home.

The characters in these books are barely explored and thus we never get to fell a connection nor empathy with any of them (well, maybe Rebecca). We are provided with mere glimpses of who these people. The stories themselves are a bit too quick to conclude providing barely any climax to any of the 6 books. In fact, the end climax for me felt fickle, non-climactic and way to quick to end.

For a horror story, the book has very little horror to it, save for tons of mentions of evil lurking somewhere, dark shadows and ....that's it actually. The villain of this story was far too predictable which made me lose a lot of the interest in the book. This was one of the most predictable books I have read.

I was very disappointed by these series, especially the end. It was unsatisfying and unresolved. I would not have changed the end result though, but it should have been better presented. And, can someone explain to me what was the purpose of the end scene with Edna Burham?!


A quick read nevertheless, buy if you like John Saul.

Saul does a good job in bringing to life the small New England town of Blackstone, and of the secrets and sins that lay buried there. For almost two-thirds of the book I was engrossed in the horrors that were taking place and was involved in trying to figure out who was responsible for what was going on. However, my interest in the surviving characters, which were at best superficially developed, started to rapidly wain during the last third of The Blackstone Chronicles; and the finale left me disappointed as I was able to figure out much of the ending earlier on. All in all, reading The Blackstone Chronicles for me was like chewing a piece of bubble gum. It's mildly enjoyable while going through the process but very forgettable soon after finishing it.

I've been reading Saul a long time now. I'm just reading The Blackstone Chronicles because I'd gotten into reading a few other new to me authors and hadn't cycled back around to Saul's work in a while. I'm glad I've picked him up again.

This story was wonderful. Set against the backdrop of insanity and an old asylum, you just can't stop reading it.

As each character receives his or her 'gift', the small town of Blackstone comes more and more unravelled. As more and more deaths ensue, the air of mistrust and suspicion grow. What is happening? Who or what is responsible? The answer is there, between the covers of John Saul's The Blackstone Chronicles. Take a chilling ride into the town, and prepare to shiver!

I read this when it first came out.It was broken down into six short storys that came out about a month apart.I loved the characters in this especially Oliver Medcalf and Rebbeca.It was scary and had alot of mystery in it

The first four parts were decent to good -- a lot of good things happening. But then it quickly went down. The last part was totally stupid. I was lost. I didn't get it. Where did the story go? It's books like these that get my blood boiling for wasting my time.