Shadows (Paperback)

This time, the horror takes place at The Academy, a school for gifted children. When ten year old, whiz kid Josh McCallum tries to commit suicide after enduring the endless taunts of his less gifted classmates in a mainstream school, his single mother enrolls him in The Academy, thinking that she has found a haven for her gifted son.

There, Josh feels at home, meeting other extraordinarily gifted children and making friends. Run by a Dr. Engersol, the resident mad scientist, and presided over by an ostensibly motherly woman named Hildie, Josh is, at first, taken in by the seemingly comfortable atmosphere of The Academy. Soon, he finds himself becoming friends with a precocious, freckle-faced redhead named Amy.

When a mysterious suicide takes place at the school, it is quickly swept under the rug. Josh and Amy shortly find themselves enrolled in a special seminar run by Dr. Engersol, where it is obvious all is not what it seems. Josh and Amy's idyllic and brief relationship soon comes to a grinding halt, when Amy is caught in the vortex of Dr. Engersol's madness, and Hildie is revealed for what she really is. It is up to Josh to set things right, a substantial burden for any ten year old, no matter how smart.

All in all, this is a book that only dedicated fans of author John Saul will love. All others will find it to be nothing more than a quick, throwaway read.

Mysterious details and character motives are all clarified by the end, without leaving any subplot unfinished. (For an example of such problems, read Orson Scott Card's "Lost Boys.")

Saul's other books are all formulaic, with unbelievable events striking innocent teenagers in small towns, who then "turn bad." This one is a bit different. The "evil" encountered at the Academy that Josh attends is actually plausible and even believable, unlike the science-fiction / ghost story elements of most of his stories. It is also fascinating to read this book set (And written?) during the beginning of the computer craze. What would people turn to in order to create a powerful computer? This book explores the possibilities. It is MUCH better than a typical John Saul book.

Josh MacCallum is a ten year old with an attitude problem. He's constantly getting into fights at school, talks back at teachers and hates the fact he is living in a boring little desert town. His problem is that he is too smart. The curriculum at school is a joke to him and he is excluded and teased by his fellow students because of his superior intellect. His mother and principle decide to send him to a private school called The Barrington Academy for young students with gifted minds like his own. For the first time in his life, Josh feels like he belongs. But then a mysterious series of student suicides leads Josh to believe that the academy may not be all it is cracked up to be. Are all these suicides coincidental or is there something more sinister behind them?

Shadows is quite entertaining athough it doesn't offer Saul readers anything new. The book takes a while to get going but once we learn the forces at work behind the child suicides it becomes quite interesting. Fans of Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game and the Harry Potter novels ought to enjoy this one as much as I did.