Black Creek Crossing

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Black Creek Crossing
Author John Saul
Cover artist Phil Heffernan
Country United States
Language English
Genre(s) Thriller Horror novel
Publisher Ballantine Books
Publication date 16 March 2004
Media type Print (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages 368 pp (first edition, hardback)
ISBN ISBN 0-345-43332-7 (first edition, hardback)

Black Creek Crossing is a thriller horror novel by John Saul.

Contents

[edit] Plot summary

This thriller by John Saul is set in Roundtree, Massachusetts, and is about the Sullivan family who have recently moved there. The story is set mainly around the fifteen year old daughter, Angel Sullivan.

Angel is a portly girl who is constantly being harassed and bullied by the other students at school. She eventually meets Seth Baker, a student who was also being bullied at the same school. Seth's father wanted his son to impress other people through sports and the like, but Seth's main interest was photography. After Angel had moved to a house at Black Creek Crossing, Seth takes some pictures of the house, not knowing who lived there. What he did know was that many generations ago, people practiced witchcraft in the area. He also knew that in that same house, a man went crazy and murdered his wife and daughter. Angel's room happens to be the same room that the girl was murdered.

While living in the house, Angel comes across a black cat with a white streak down its chest. Because of the cat's disappearing abilities, she names it Houdini. This cat becomes a focal point of the story as it goes along. The cat liked Angel and Seth, but anybody else it came up to would be attacked. At school, a group of bullies captured the cat and supposedly killed it before stuffing the carcass into Angel's locker.

One day while walking through a trail, before the cat was killed, Angel and Seth are led by Houdini to a small cabin that is built into a rocky cliff. Upon entering, they find a witchcraft book and begin using it. The spells they produce are entirely meant to take out revenge on their punishers. Angel's alcoholic father and her mother are killed from a spell that is suppose to throw her enemies backwards as a defense. Through possession, Seth is able to make one of the bullies kill himself with a razor. He also uses the same spell that Angel used to kill his parents. Aware of their actions, and knowing that they would be caught eventually, Seth and Angel decide to hang themselves on a tree outside of a church.

The story ends with a woman (who shares a name with a historical witchcraft figure from earlier in the book) attempting to buy the house at Black Creek Crossing for a bargain deal. That same woman finds Houdini inside.

[edit] Literary significance and reception

Reception for this novel has not been as great as for some of Saul's work but reviews have been generally favourable.

"In Black Creek Crossing, Saul is totally back to his roots" [1]

For some the Horror or Thriller element of the narrative is not the most striking,

"Saul's ultimate strength in BLACK CREEK CROSSING, however, is his ability to explore the world of adolescent angst, to get into those areas where the triple gratings of school, friends and family rub the skin of the psyche raw." [2]

Or in some cases we get mixed opinion like,

"For the most part Saul did a wonderful job of explaining why certain things were occurring but there are a couple of things that he left hanging..." [3]

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ Schenone, J. (May, 2004). Black Creek Crossing review. Sabledrake Magazine. Retrieved on 2007-11-14.
  2. ^ Hartlaub, Joe. Black Creek Crossing Bookreport review. bookreporter.com. Retrieved on 2007-11-14.
  3. ^ Morgan, Christine (August 18, 2007). Witchcraft Rules According to John Saul’s Novel, Black Creek Crossing. lockergnome.com. Retrieved on 2007-11-14.

[edit] References

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