31. "Creature" by John Saul

John Saul makes a foray into Colorado in Creature, a late-80s horrorfest about a "too-perfect" company town hiding a dark secret. Having written one well-received but thus-far-unpublished creature story set in the Colorado mountains, I'm obviously intrigued by the premise. Creature is a fast read, a little too fast--the characters are sketches, and the plot develops too quickly. Saul goes for the jugular on the horror without spending the time Stephen King does in building characters and suspense. But his horror is more consistent than King's, which I find hit-or-miss.