The Manhattan Hunt Club

May 21, 2001
Why mess with success? Twenty-four novels and 24 years down the road, Saul continues to deliver the same sleek pulp entertainment that he's been selling—in high numbers—since his debut with Suffer the Children
in 1977. This time out, Saul sets his melodramatics mostly below the surface of Manhattan, in the tunnels populated by the homeless. Because of mistaken eyewitness testimony, Columbia University architecture student Jeff Converse has been convicted of attempted rape and attempted murder. En route to Rikers Island, the police van carrying Jeff is rammed, and Jeff is taken by a homeless man into the tunnels, only to be locked in a room with another prisoner, homicidal maniac Francis Jagger. Days later, Jeff and Jagger are released into the tunnels, told that if they make it to the outside world, they live; if they don't, they die. Eventually we learn that an elite group of Manhattan power brokers has created a club devoted to hunting convicted malefactors and having their bodies stuffed in the manner of big game trophies, using the underground homeless as beaters in the hunt. Meanwhile, Jeff's fiancée and father search desperately for Jeff, first above ground, then below. The novel builds suspense steadily, but reaches full steam only when Saul plunges his principals mercilessly into the stygian underworld of Manhattan. The premise of a Manhattan Hunt Club skirts absurdity, as do the villainous members of the club, but Saul scores points about society's treatment of the homeless. The prose is serviceable, the action rough, intense and often distasteful—in other words, this is vintage Saul. (Aug.)Forecast:With major ad/promo, including a sample chapter in the mass market edition (June) of Saul's
Nightshade, this will reach the author's fans. Expect many to travel with Saul into the nasty depths, only to breathe deeply as they look up from the book to a sandy beach and clean ocean waves.

August 1, 2001
When Jeff Converse is convicted and sentenced to prison for an assault he didn't commit, he believes matters couldn't get any worse. Of course, he's wrong. While being transported to prison, he's kidnapped and thrown into the tunnels below the New York subway system, where he's the latest participant in a game in which humans are hunted for sport by a group of the city's business and civic leaders. The only way Jeff can win is to make it to the surface alive, which, not surprisingly, proves more difficult than it sounds. Complicating matters further is that the only people on the surface who believe Jeff is still alive are his father and his ex-girlfriend. The prose is often clunky and the characters lack real dimension, but nonstop action keeps the book moving at a brisk pace. Rather typical thriller fare, but since Saul's 22 suspense novels (including The Right Hand of Evil) have won him a huge fan base, this one will be popular in public libraries. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 4/1/01.]Craig L. Shufelt, Lane P.L., Fairfield, OH

Copyright 2001 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2001
This latest book by best-selling Saul is certain to thrill his fans and other readers who appreciate a good suspense novel. This author of more than 20 best-sellers books now details a nightmarish game in which a conspiracy of New York's wealthy and evil elite hunt human quarry in the city's abandoned subterranean tunnels. One of the hunted is Jeff Converse, a New York City college student who, after being falsely convicted of a brutal crime, is kidnapped as he is being transported from the courthouse and left below the streets in the endless maze of forgotten tunnels that exist beneath the city. Here, in the pitch-dark, with no weapons, food, or water, he is left to try to survive the hunters. The going is rough for Jeff--rats, insects, and a population of frightening derelicts only add to his troubles. When he finds an abandoned purse containing a barely functioning cell phone, his luck begins to turn and using his ingenuity, he masterminds a thrilling climax. This is an enjoyable and clever yarn, packed with plot twists, improbable conspiracies, and lots of two-faced characters; guaranteed to generate high demand.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2001, American Library Association.)