This is the first book-length study of best-selling writer John Saul's psychological and supernatural thrillers. Author Paul Bail compares John Saul's novels to a cocktail: (mix) one part, one part "The Exorcist," a dash of "Turn of the Screw," blend well, and serve thoroughly chillingly. Bail traces John Saul's literary career from his 1977 debut novel "Suffer the Children"--the first paperback original ever to make the New York Times best seller list--to his most recent novel, "Black Lightning" (1995). It features detailed analyses of eleven of his novels. The study includes...

Anne Tyler's novels strike a deep chord of responsiveness in her readers because her novels bring to life contemporary characters to whom we can instantly relate and in whose experiences we can see mirrored our own. Tyler's novels deal with the human experience: relationships between marital partners, between parents and children...between siblings; the meaning of love; the nature of identity; impermanence and change; and loss and continuity. In Anne Tyler novels, life is a complexity whose texture is built out of multiple layers. In this insightful study, Paul Bail shows us how Tyler...