the blackstone chronicals followed in suit w/ the green mile. it was a serial novel written in 6 parts over the course of 6 months. the version i read, luckily, had all 6 parts together. i don’t think it would have held my attention otherwise. the book was written ok, even the author admits to mistakes in the afterward. (this, somehow to me, makes the book even greater), i just can’t imagine waiting anxiously for the next installment. i did find myself trying to guess who certain characters were, only to conclude it couldn’t be them, then to find out it was-wonderful! and trying to figure out how each one fit. i was convinced the boy-girl was really oliver. his twin sister’s death was just a fabrication. that his twin sister was really him when he was getting dressed up as a girl. after all she died at about the same age as the boy-girl was admitted to the asylum, never to be seen again. sadly, i was wrong. i had concluded oliver was the dark shadow figure but then when rebecca was kidnapped it through me for a loop. surely she would have recognized his voice as her tormentor. i love when authors fool me. i found the character of megan and sam, the doll, as completely creepy and loved when they were in snippets. all in all, an ok book. it’s a quick read, and since the book is divided into 6 parts you really feel like you’ve accomplished something. don’t think i’d read anything else by john saul but definetly have read much, much worse.