Product Description

Beyond the sparkling Hawaiian beaches, masked by the deceptive beauty of the rainforest, evil awaits sixteen-year-old Michael Sundquist and his mother, Katharine, an anthropologist who has come to the Islands to study the unusual skeletal remains unearthed on the volcanic flanks of Haleakala, Maui.

Yet far below the black depths of the Pacific a mysterious substance snakes through undiscovered fissures in the ocean floor, as nature itself seems to portend the terror to come.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #295917 in Books
• Published on: 1998-04-29
• Released on: 1998-04-29
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 432 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780449002414
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From School Library Journal
YA?Dr. Katharine Sundquist is hired to work on a short term archaeology project in beautiful Maui. It seems to be an ideal situation for her and her 16-year-old son, Michael, who suffers from asthma as well as the recent death of his father. She soon learns, however, that all is not well in paradise. There is a restricted wing in her high-tech laboratory where secret deliveries arrive at midnight and she discovers that deadly medical experiments are being performed. Then Michael and three friends sneak into a dive shop and help themselves to some equipment. During their night dive, they come upon a contaminated area in the ocean. Back on land, they find that their lungs cannot tolerate oxygen and they can survive only by breathing poisonous fumes. One by one, the boys are killed or simply vanish. When Michael is the only one left alive, Katharine must act quickly to save him. YAs will be engrossed in the computer search for DNA codes, the strange prehistoric or not so prehistoric bones that Katharine unearths, and a mysterious underwater geode from outer space. There is enough adventure and suspense in this thriller to capture the interest of even the most reluctant readers.?Katherine Fitch, Lake Braddock Middle School, Burke, VA
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Saul, who recently took a cue from Stephen King with the release of a serialized novel, The Blackstone Chronicles, here tells of a young archaeologist's encounter with horror in Hawaii.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
In Saul's twenty-first novel of psychological and supernatural suspense, Katherine, burned out from living in New York City and tired of seeing her asthmatic 16-year-old-son beaten up by neighborhood thugs, accepts a research position in archaeology in Hawaii, where she will be working with her former lover. She expects the lush island and the laid-back community to bring only peace and happiness. What she does not know is that a huge seed has emerged from within the crust of the earth, spewed up by violent volcanic activity beneath the ocean floor off Hawaii. The seed had arrived from a planet that had ceased to exist 15 million years ago. Soon, nonhuman life-forms begin to threaten Katherine's son's life, and the fight for survival between human and nonhuman escalates. (As Saul writes in his fascinating afterword, poisonous gases from such a seed can end life on Earth, turning Hawaii's tropical paradise into a death zone; he goes on to say that scientists have theorized that unusual life-forms living on the ocean floor near hydrothermal volcanic vents are surviving and developing with no oxygen and no sunlight, thriving in 500-degree heat on gases such as hydrogen sulfide.) The Presence just might be closer to the truth than we care to admit. At any rate, this frightening novel undoubtedly will be Saul's next best-seller. George Cohen

Customer Reviews

Silly, predictable, and entertaining. It's a Saul story.
You can forget the bogus Maui setting for this book, it's simply a backdrop decoration. This "speculative fiction" story is set firmly in John Saul Techno-Thriller Territory, so it can really take place anywhere. Anyone who has read a Saul novel knows this tale too well - some Meglomanical Corporation has taken over a small town so it may conduct unethical medical experiments on the children and teenagers. Been there and done that in The God Project, Darkness, Shadows, Sleepwalk, Creature, and on and on. But one reads John Saul for dependable fun, not for surprises, and The Presence does have its moments of gruesome fun. It did not stun me, nor did it bore me, it just kept me suitably entertained until the end, which is about all I expect from John Saul.

Left me searching for more...
I adore John Saul's work. He is a fantastic author, and his use of science and its possible evils are twisted and formed into great reading. However, The Presence left me empty. I breezed through the first half in no time- great story! But about 3/4 of the way into it, I realized that I had already figured out the rest of the book. I spent the last pages nodding my head, and waiting for a surprise- unfortunately, nothing came. I loved the setting and his description of Hawaii, and his characters were likeable, as always. Promising story...but doesn't fulfill the promise.

Dissapointing
Im glad this was the fourth Saul book that i read, because if it was the first i would not have bothered with his other books.

I loved the other three, but this one does not live up to the usuall John Saul quality. I found it difficult to pick up and read, almost an effort.