Review: Nathaniel by John Saul

An illustration of a farm at night with a tombstone in the foreground that reads, "Nathaniel," and a rundown barn in the background.

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

An interesting premise marred by one-dimensional characters, half-baked ideas, a lack of horror/suspense, and an ending that falls flat.

In John Saul’s Nathaniel, Janet Hill and her son Michael move to her husband’s farm town following his death.

Everyone is friendly, but Janet and Michael soon learn things aren’t as they seem.
Michael begins hearing the voice of Nathaniel, a local boogeyman, and Janet learns the women in her husband’s family have a disturbing number of stillbirths that they blame Nathaniel for.
Nathaniel then tells Michael his grandfather and Doctor Potter have been killing the babies.

Whether this is true, and if Nathaniel is real, drives the story. However, Saul stretches out these mysteries way too long and the ending doesn’t give a clear answer to either.

If this weren’t bad enough, the story moves at a glacial pace, doesn’t pick up until two-thirds in and lacks any sense of horror or suspense. I kept waiting for it to get scary and it never did.

I’ve read and enjoyed other books by John Saul, but this isn’t his best work. Nathaniel reads like a first or second draft. He doesn’t develop any of the characters at all and they are instantly forgettable.

As for the plot, what little there is, isn’t fleshed out.

Saul introduces ideas and plot points without fully developing them, and then drops them. Was Shadow, the stray dog Michael adopted, just a regular mutt, or was he supernatural? Did Michael wish Ames Hill, his grandfather, dead, or was it an ordinary heart attack? Was Nathaniel real, a ghost/demon, or a figment of Michael’s troubled mind? Did Ames Hill kill Janet’s husband and try to kill Michael, or were they accidents? Is Michael the new Nathaniel?

Your guess is as good as mine as Saul never tells the reader one way or another, which I found infuriating.

Overall, I didn’t enjoy this book and don’t recommend it. I give Nathaniel 2.0 out of 5.0 stars.

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Character Profile: David Green

Introduction

Welcome,

This week’s post is a profile of David Green, pone of the minor characters introduced in my novel Palingenesis. He’s BFFS with Jason, and Josh (one of the three POV characters).

Description

 His full name is David Adam Green. He’s 16, 6’2, 210 lb of solid muscle, with brown hair and eyes. He has a lip ring and his right eyebrow pierced.

Personality

David loves hooking up with girls, pulling pranks with Jason, is big into hip hop and Black culture, and is a chill dude to be around. He takes his education seriously, often having to tutor Jason, and is a regular attendee of his local synagogue. He’s also big into gaming, working out and staying active.

Likes

 He loves video games, rap music, and going to Detroit to hear up-and-coming artists; and exercising by working out, jogging/running, and hiking in local metro parks. David also loves making people laugh at his pranks and antics, even if he must play dumb. He’s also big into going out with Jason to pick up girls. And when he can get away from his family, he loves cutting loose by going to parties and smoking a fat blunt.

Dislikes

David hates having to be the model student, big brother, and mensch, and wishes he could do what he wants in life without worrying about disappointing his family or rabbi.

Goals

 David’s number one goal is saving up to get a car, so he, Jason, and Josh aren’t stuck riding the bus anymore. Second, he wants to become a politician to change things, but will get a degree in something practical like law or medicine to appease his parents.

Desires

 David wants to change the world for the better, to help his community, and be happy. He also wants to live his life the way he wants, free of expectations from his family and religion.

Fears

David fears disappointing his parents and losing their support, being shunned by his religious community, and losing contact with Jason and Josh once he goes away to college.

Morality/Religious Beliefs

Morally, David is Lawful Good and obeys the rules even if he disagrees with them. He takes his Jewish faith seriously but follows Reform Judaism.

Political Alignment

 David is a progressive liberal, and often butts heads with his more conservative parents and relatives.

Call to Action

Thanks for reading and let me know if you enjoy these types of posts. Next week’s post will be on my mental health journey, so reader discretion is advised.

Also, be sure to sign up to my newsletter if you haven’t already here. And if you haven’t bought Palingenesis yet, you can snag a signed paperback copy here.

Character Profile: Oblivion

Description: Oblivion’s true form would drive people mad if they glimpsed it, so he often appears to Travis either as him with all his color drained or a giant, seven-headed, red dragon. He is ageless, having existed since before the universe began.

 Personality:  He is a bit of a curmudgeon, snobbish, and haute. He has a superiority complex and is quick to anger when he feels slighted. He’s also a Machiavellian chess master, often bending the truth or outright lying to turn people to his side.

Likes:  He likes powers, control, and sowing seeds of chaos and doubt in the minds of other. He delights in turning people’s soul evil and causing strife.

Dislikes:  Oblivion hates being imprisoned in the Nullverse and being made to feel impotent. He also dislikes being disrespected by his inferiors, and having his time wasted.

Goals:  His primary goal is getting Travis to fulfill his destiny, so that he will be free of the Nullverse. Second, is exacting revenge on those who exiled him to the Nullverse. And in general, he wants to gather as many souls as possible by corrupting them through their dreams.

Desires:  Oblivion desires power, and the freedom that comes with it, above all else.

Fears:  He fears being powerless and never being free from the Nullverse.

Morality/ Religious Beliefs: Oblivion is chaotic evil, beholden to no laws or moral code, only caring about himself and causing as much pain and suffering as he can. The only thing he values is power, believing it is the destiny of the strong to prey upon the weak.

 Political Alignment: He is an authoritarian, believing might makes rights and has no scruples about using any method to achieve his goals.         

But Not Too Black

Introduction

As I wrote in YA So White there is a lack of Black characters in YA; specifically, Black characters are often rendered as sidekicks to the white protagonists, only there to give them support and advance their arc. Or they are whitewashed, stripped of all their flavor to please the bland palates of white readers.

 And in the worst cases they are reduced to passive objects for the white characters to swoon over, as documented by Aisha Monet in her medium.com article Queer Love Interests of Color and the White Gaze. Be it Blue from Simon v. The Homo Sapiens Agenda, Abbey from Leah Out Loud, Dre from The State of Us, or even Starr from The Hate U Give, Black bodies are reduced to mates for white characters.

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Genesis of a Voracious Reader

If I had to pinpoint where my love of reading came from it would have to be because of my father. As a kid he’d read me bedtime stories like the typical fare: Jack and The Beanstalk, Hansel and Gretel, etc, mixed in with tales of Brer Rabbit and stories he’d made up on the spot. Growing up I always saw him with his head in a book and this sparked my interest in reading. At first I raided his book collection, picking what I liked and then when I was in middle school I discovered the library and practically lived there. I devoured the horror and science fiction sections until discovering the Mythology section and falling in love with it. Roman, Greek, Egyptian, and Norse I read about them all and couldn’t get enough. When I stop to think about it now I completely skipped young adult books and dived right in to adult books. I guess I found them more interesting than the books for kids my age. In high school I discovered a whole new world of stories online and would spend hours on end reading one after another. These stories let me know it was OK that I was attracted to other guys and that I wasn’t alone. I was deathly shy and theses stories provided me a safe space to explore my budding sexuality and not feel like such a freak, but at the same time I couldn’t help but notice that the characters in these stories were all the same blond haired, blue eyed muscle bound guys who instantly found a lover on page one. After awhile I grew tired of these stories that tread the same path and never finding protagonists like me, so I decided to try my hand at writing for the other geeky LGBTQ kids out there who were longing to see diverse character like them.