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Eye for an Eye: The Doll (Blackstone Chronicles, No 1)
by John Saul
Product Group: Book
Publisher: Fawcett (1996-12-28)
ISBN: 0449227812
EAN: 9780449227817
Dewy Decimal #: 813.54
Mass Market Paperback: 82 pages
Edition: 1st ed
Release Date: 1996-12-28
SKU: 9588
Condition: Very Good
Comments: Binding: Softcover. Condition: Very Good.
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Customer Reviews
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"We should all forget everything that happened there."
Rating  (3)
Date: 2006-01-06
4 out of 4 customers found this reveiw helpful
The first in the six-volume Blackstone Chronicles, An Eye for an Eye: The Doll introduces the major characters, establishes the Gothic setting in a small town in New Hampshire, creates foreboding about the scheduled conversion of the Blackstone Asylum into a shopping mall, and then introduces the "single dark figure that moves through the ruptured stone wall" into the silent Asylum. There it locates the small cubicle containing the artifacts belonging to long-ago residents. When these artifacts are suddenly introduced mysteriously into the lives of the present occupants of Blackstone, death and destruction result.
(No spoilers.) In this volume an antique doll, once treasured by a child-inmate, arrives in the mail at the home of Elizabeth McGuire, wife of the builder/developer of the proposed mall. Elizabeth is pregnant and is unsure whether the doll is meant for the new baby or for her young daughter, who falls instantly in love with it. As the doll works its spell over the lives of the McGuire family, their perfectly ordered world is plunged into chaos.
Saul's horror writing is significantly different from that of Stephen King, to whom he is often compared. King's approach is usually to create a seemingly benign set of characters in a quiet New England town and then to introduce a destructive force, very gradually creating more and more mystery until the book reaches its climax. Saul, by contrast, tells the reader from the outset that the destruction of the Asylum will change everyone's life, then goes about proving it. The result is to reduce the suspense and force the author to keep reminding the readers that "something didn't feel right," or that "a blinding flash of pain" accompanies a particular action.
With characters who have not been developed before they change from ordinary citizen to demon (at least in this first novel), the reader does not identify with them or see the fine line separating normal life from total chaos. Relying on awkward foreshadowing and many clichés, Saul introduces the setting and all the major characters of Blackstone, some of which will be developed more fully in later novels in the series. n Mary Whipple
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great series
Rating  (5)
Date: 2002-07-29
1 out of 1 customers found this reveiw helpful
the sins of the past are catching up to a small town. for years
innocent people were sent to the blackstone asylum and treated
horribly. now many years later, the evil has come back to haunt
the residents of the town. a gift has been sent to the daughter
of the contractor who is supposed to be tearing down the building. it is a beautiful doll. but it is evil incarnate and
makes chucky look angelic. a very good book that all john saul
fans must read.
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Scary and Good......
Rating (5)
Date: 2001-09-27
2 out of 4 customers found this reveiw helpful
This is the first John Saul book I read, so far I did read King's "Green Mile," and this is shorter and it is, very scary well anyways this is John's best keep up the good, work I look foreward to read his future books.
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The Chronicles get off to a rocky start
Rating (3)
Date: 2000-06-19
3 out of 3 customers found this reveiw helpful
I was expecting much more from this first tale in the Blackstone Chronicles. The plot was entirely too predictable, and the characters (save for a few) were shallow and boring. I honestly did not find this tale terrifying in any way. However, this story does set the stage for the next installments, and definitely made me want to read the next one. As dull as it may be, it is essential for the entire scope of the Chronicles.
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Well, *I* didn't find this book predictable or not scary...
Rating (5)
Date: 2000-06-14
3 out of 4 customers found this reveiw helpful
I read the reviews of this book before I read it, and unfortunately, most of the reviews said it was "not scary", "predictable", and "unoriginal". Well, listen up, ya bunch of pea brains! I found this to be pretty scary indeed, very original, and not once did I have any idea of what was going to happen. Dolls creep me out, and little children who love them--obsessively--creep me out even more. This book, for me, at least, was very creepy. I am currently reading Part 2 of The Blackstone Chronicles, Twist of Fate: The Locket. So far, it is somewhat quiet, but then again, this fragile layer of ice could start breaking at any time...
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