Brainchild - John Saul

Author's product rating:   

Would you read it again?	Yes
Story	Good
Characters	Good
Readability	Good
How does it compare to other works by the same author?	Very good

Advantages:	Good storyline, interesting characters
Disadvantages:	Nothing comes to mind

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Reading has been part of my life for as long as I can remember, starting with Enid Blyton stories as a youngster and progressing through to the teenage horror novels.

As a teen, a horror novel was only good if it grossed me out! Does anyone remember reading the early James Herbert stories such as The Rats and The Fog? I couldn’t read these now because I’m much more squeamish and prefer psychological horror to the blatant ‘blood and guts’ that I used to enjoy back then.

Okay, so what’s the point you may well ask? Well, the reason I’ve mentioned these early stories is because I believe I made a natural progression to John Saul and then Stephen King; both authors seem to rely on psychological thrills rather than the blood and guts of old.
This was the eighth novel written by John Saul according to what I’ve discovered. Some of his earlier work includes “Suffer The Children” and “All Fall Down”.

***Brainchild***

“La Paloma was once home to a proud Spanish heritage and is now a thriving modern community high in the California hills where a boy named Alex is about to become the instrument of a terrible, undying vengeance.”

That’s what the first paragraph on the back of the book says – interested?

Alex Lonsdale was the most popular boy in school with a promising future, if he would only apply himself and try harder. Everything seemed perfect until he went to his first prom and had an argument with his girlfriend.
What started out as a great evening ended in tragedy. A horrific accident left Alex in hospital fighting for his life, having sustained serious brain injuries.

His parents were willing to do just about anything to save him.

Raymond Torres had succeeded in becoming one of the countries leading experts on the structure and functioning of the human brain. He was also an expert in reconstructive brain surgery. Torres descended from the original Spanish settlers and although he went on to be a successful physician owning his own practice, he didn’t feel as if he belonged in the community. His mother, Maria, insisted the ‘gringos’ looked at him as if he were a second-class citizen. Maria couldn’t let go of the past.
Despite being the only person who might be able to help, Alex’ parents had reservations about him but were willing to go along with anything he said, including signing a huge waiver, in the hopes of getting their child back.

Once the waiver had been signed and Torres was relinquished of any responsibilities, Alex was transferred to his clinic for surgery.
When Alex awoke the next day, seemingly normal, the surgeon was hailed as a miracle worker and Mrs. Lonsdale would hear nothing bad said about him. Mr. Lonsdale on the other hand was wary and a little troubled!

Alex’ recovery was truly remarkable. He was able to walk, talk and now seemed to be a genius, the only problem was he had absolutely no emotions and his eyes were blank.
His memory appeared to be returning slowly but not in the usual fashion, what was wrong?

There is so much I could write about the story but I think it would spoil it for you so I’ll leave you with just a taster!

The characters almost come to life in this story, I really felt for Alex’ parents after his accident and I loathed Raymond Torres. He was arrogant and incredibly self-centered, with an intense cold streak that was very well portrayed. His motives for helping Alex were well concealed and not completely revealed to very close to the end of the book.

The reactions from Alex’ friends was excellently described, from the frustration to his endless questions to the uneasiness they felt around him once it became quite obvious that he wasn’t the same person they knew beforehand. His girlfriend Lisa showed some wonderful reactions to his lack of emotion, which I felt, was conveyed well. What would you do if your partner suddenly didn’t want to hold hands like you always had or pulled away when you tried to kiss them? I’m sure I’d be upset and confused.

The only thing I wasn’t too happy with was the convenient ending but I suppose it was kind of obvious that it would finish the way it did. I honestly can’t think of another kind of ending!

The story has a lot of historical references to early California when it was originally a Spanish mission but they don’t interfere at all, they just enhance the atmosphere that Saul wants to create about racism and how some people insist on holding onto the past.
The Mexican/Spanish settlers were treated as second-class people and still work as housekeepers, usually in the big houses, haciendas, that were originally theirs! I have no idea whether this is actually true but that’s the way Saul portrays it.

On the whole I would certainly recommend this one, especially if you like psychological thrillers. John Saul doesn’t ramble quite the same way that Stephen King does so this is much shorter at just 342 pages!

My copy was printed in November 1985 by Bantam Books and cost me the princely sum of 2.50 (haven’t the prices gone up over the years!) but I did find it at Amazon and they have it reprinted in 1991; you can get a used copy from them for roughly the same price I paid way back when.
You can also find this at e-bay, they had one on sale for just 1.00!