I wanted desperately to scream, "Oh, God! This book sucks! This book really, really sucks!" but the only words I could find were, "It's fine. It's totally fine." And then I finished it. As I closed in on 10 pages I thought to myself, "How the hell is John Saul going to end this story with 10 pages. He did. Which was a giant relief. I then closed the book on the metro, heading into DC, looked over at the guy sitting next to me and punched him in the face from frustration.Okay, I didn't do that last bit. But I did tuck the book back into my bookbag to later donate to my local bookstore for some other poor son of a bitch to read. Hopefully you see this review first!This book would be good if it didn't repeat the same thing over and over and over and over. After reading about the 2nd teen in the book, you understand the plot. Move on, Saul. We get it. If you don't like bugs and spiders, move on. Saul does do very well painting horrific scenes in your head with these things. The ending was rushed. Obviously rushed. If he had wrote the rest of the book like the last 50 pages the book would have been just over 100 pages long and probably a good read. I'm not saying I wouldn't pick up another John Saul book, but if I were you and hadn't read this book, I would find another one first.
The purpose of The Homing is to entertain. This is evident in telling of a fictional story. John Saul presents all the classical components, including setting, plot, and conflict. This book was written as a narration. It is told from a third person omniscient perspective. The theme is not to let personal trauma turn towards others. If the antagonist had sought a way to properly handle their emotional issues and impulses, the biggest conflict in this story would be a love triangle.I appreciate the extensive character development often not shown in books of this length. For instance, Julie remains stubborn, even when she would prefer to go along with what her mother is suggesting. I did not like how much Karen’s description to the reader was similar to Dawn’s. It seemed at first that Karen was Dawn from the future, returning to the town she had left in the prelude. If I could change something about this book, I would better the placement of Dawn’s story between other chapters so that the timelines are easier to straighten out. This novel is quite different from any other I have read. I have read a few murder mysteries, but this is my first accidental-kind of-murder story. Also, The Homing leaves a curious cliffhanger which is unlike most conclusions.
What do You think about The Homing (1995)?
Goede personageschets, maar een ietwat slordig plot waardoor het wat afgehaspeld overkomt naar het einde toe. Het stoort me dat er heel wat mensen het boek maar één ster geven omdat het 'griezelig' is, maar dat weet je op voorhand: Saul schrijft nu eenmaal, zoals Herbert, horrorboeken. En dat is het, niets meer, maar zeker ook niets minder. Goed binnen zijn genre, maar in tegenstelling tot het betere King-werk, ook enkel goed binnen dat genre. Perfect leesvoer als je de griep hebt in de zetel onder een dekentje.
—Christoph Segers
It has been a long time since I returned to any of his books. I know that my tastes have changed, but some authors seem to fall into a "rut".Welcome back, Friend! :)
—Kelly
This was the first Saul book that I read and I thought that it was pretty creepy. The main thing that stuck with me after all these years was the girl unable to vaccumm so she swept the entire room as the bugs in her head couldn't handle the noise. (Note to others: This excuse doesn't go far with your mom in real life and actually gets your fussed at and told to stay out of your brother's books.)Other than that "scene", there is not much that I recall about the novel except that I like it quite a bit and have since enjoyed several other Saul books.
—Ashley
