Book Review: The Manhattan Hunt Club

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

The Manhattan Hunt Club     Amazon US PB Amazon US HC Amazon Canada PB Amazon Canada HC
John Saul
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Legal Setting   Thriller
Ballantine, Aug 2001, $25.95, 320 pp.

In NYC, Cindy Allen exits the train at the 110th Street stop when an assailant attacked her and started to smash her face into the concrete. Graduate student Jeff Converse comes to her aid, chasing the perpetrator away, and trying to take care of Cindy. When she regains consciousness, she assumes that Jeff attacked her and begins screaming.

The police arrest Jeff for the crime. He is convicted of attempted rape and attempted murder and sent to Riker’s Island to serve his sentence. Before the van carrying him reaches its prison destination, a vehicle sideswipes it. Jeff manages to get out before the van explodes. His "rescuer" leaves Jeff through the sub-tunnels under Bellevue before releasing him to try to escape in the subway tunnels. The herders chase Jeff as a hunting tribe stalks its prey and all exits contain members of the clan.

Any reader who enjoys an action packed thriller filled with pulse pounding suspense will love THE MANHATTAN HUNT CLUB. The tunnel scenes are not for the claustrophobic yet the underground subculture comes across as a thriving society. Though the legal thriller was heading towards greatness, the turn into sociological thriller works because John Saul takes his audience on an express ride that requires one sitting to determine whether the hunters captured their quarry.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner