Sunday Punches

I doubt this nypost.com headline will be topped by anything in today’s news: “Incarcerated transgender woman impregnates two inmates at NJ prison.” Even this one doesn’t come close: “West Virginia woman emerges from 2-year coma, names brother in attack.” And here’s one from foxnews.com: “St. Louis man shoots and kills robbery suspect while stopping at gas station for bathroom break.” Sad, but kudos.

Horror is one of my least favorite book genres. It is cruel, sad, featuring the deaths of innocents as well as the evil. I don’t mind it as much in movies, where one spends two hours or less viewing. Someone recommended Creature by John Saul and, noting it was only 282 pages, I gave it a shot. I found it ordinary, although the prose and dialogue are solid. Published it 1989, it’s the story of a seemingly idyllic small town at the foot of the Rockies. The football team is undefeated, fueled by chemical engineering done on the QT by the company that controls most of the area. Soon, the star QB is unable to control his temper and eventually pummels another student. Only a year before, another player had similar difficulties and was sent away. Now a third, the main character, seems to be following that path. I wasn’t surprised by anything that occurs. Although I was eager to be done with the novel, I did not abandon it, curious as to the fate of the characters. The writing about football is mediocre, although folks without playing or coaching experience probably wouldn’t notice. I played high school and freshman ball and coached six years as an assistant. One aspect I hated about the book is that there is no mention of ensuing game results, and it seems the team had no backup QB. A couple of lines would have sufficed. Anyway, 165 users at Amazon have rated Creature, which is still selling modestly, forging to an impressive consensus of 4.5 on a scale of five. I’ll go with 2.5. Born in California in 1942, Saul has had a great run. He wrote ten novels under a pseudonym before breaking big with Suffer the Children in 1977. Most of his books have cracked the New York Times Best Seller list. Cry for the Strangers was adapted as a TV movie in 1983. He also created a video game, John Saul’s Blackstone Chronicles. Kudos on a great career.

Not much action at the floating book shop on this humid day. My thanks to the woman who purchased a hardcover in Russian, and to the congenial middle-aged woman who bought two in that language and this:

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