The Sentinel Audio CD – Unabridged, September 6, 2016

Genre: Horror FictionPublisher: Ballantine BooksPub. Year: 1974My Halloween book (The Sentinel) for 2018 was written in 1974 by Jeffrey Konvitz. I read this book the year after I graduated high school (dating myself) and I remember it scaring the bejesus out of me. I was wondering if it still could. It did, but with noticeable flaws. As a teen in 1968, I read “Rosemary's Baby.” And in 1973, I read “The Exorcist.” Both books better stand the test of time than this one did. I can see what attracted me back then to “Sentinel.” As a native New Yorker, I enjoyed that the setting takes place in the Big Apple. The teenage me would have found the protagonist, a beautiful but troubled fashion model to be a fascinating character simply because she was a model.The heroine moves into an old brownstone building and befriends the other occupants who are bizarrely eccentric. Sounds like “Rosemary’s Baby” right? Wrong, I actually found these neighbors even spookier (possible spoiler) because the reader is not sure if they truly exist or are part of the model’s imagination. The house is inhabited on the top floor by a reclusive blind Catholic priest, who may or may not be evil. He spends his time sitting at his open window. Yes, such a thought can still scare the Catholic schoolgirl in me. Is our heroine crazy or is she in hell? The book also has an unsolved murder in its plot. This would be the deceased wife of our heroine’s boyfriend. I can’t say any more about him or it would be a spoiler.So why didn’t this book stand the test of time? Well first of all, as an adult I was pissed off that her loving boyfriend uses his hands on her. Plus, her abusive father is written as such an insane deviant he is not a believable character. Not to mention that a lesbian couple are referred to as perverts. Okay, there was no PC in the 1970s hopefully we have all grown. But mostly what bothered me is that the story’s lewdness seems to have been written to shock for shock purposes and that seldom works. Maybe, I am being too critical. Stephen King’s “Carrie” which was published in 1973 also had a crazy religious fanatic parent who beats her daughter. I guess I need to reread Kings first novel to see if it also feels dated. Still, mostly I feel that “Rosemary's Baby” and “The Exorcist” are superior to “Sentinel” because like another King novel “The Stand” they are basically good vs. evil fables. And let’s face it, now we are talking about the Bible. According to the March 2007 edition of “Time,” the Bible "has done more to shape literature, history, entertainment, and culture than any book ever written. Its influence on world history is unparalleled, and shows no signs of abating."

Leí El Guardían en el 86 cuando tenía 10 años y hasta el momento es el libro de terror más fuerte que he leído, fuerte entre lo más fuerte, no hay palabras para expresar el miedo que suelta ese libro. Ahora tuve la oportunidad de leer este, no es tan miedoso pero vale la pena para tener la historia completa. Vale la pena.

Surprising slow, lacks narrative drive; the film is betterI think I was expecting a more "exciting" read but this just slowly plodded along and a lot of the dialogue by the cop/detective was really dumb andconstantly jokey, like from a 70s sitcom. I guess the author was trying to establish character but it works much better in the movie.I have the sequel, THE GUARDIAN, which I haven't read yet. Hopefully it's a more exciting read.

I love historically great horror stories like Rosemary’s Baby. This is not that. My greatest pet peeve is bad dialogue and this book is the exact definition of horrible dialogue. Even if the story is great, you’ll never be able to get past the choppy incoherent and unrealistic dialogue.

I love thrillers and horror movies and this book fits in that category. I really enjoyed reading it and would definitely recommend it to horror buffs.

The story actually would have been really good if it had been well written. The characters were not well developed, so you really don't care about them. They say and do things that seem unnatural. The beginning of the book is a lot of its and pieces about the characters. You do eventually learn more about these pieces in the end, but it takes so long to get there that you've forgotten about that storyline and no longer care. It took me months to get through the book because I just didn't care about the story. In the end, it was a cool story, I just didn't like the journey there.

This is my all-time favorite 'horror' novel. And I include those of King and Koontz. I was unable to put this book down. In fact, I finished it in the car while traveling and asking my husband to drive slower so we wouldn't arrive before I reached the end. Considering I am prone to motion sickness, that is enough to justify my rating. "The Sentinel" takes you by the imagination and draw a you to the twist at the end. Should be on everyone's 'must read' list.

This didn't scare me like I wanted it to, I don't scare so easy...but it was better than the movie which bored me to tears!

I read this book years ago when it first came out and it has always stuck in my mind. I was pleased to see that now it is available on kindle, so I bought it. The story is still great, but it is let down by bad transcription. As a for instance, no gaps between scenes. That is irritating and makes it difficult to tell where one scene ends and the other begins. Shame.

Book is in great condition for the year it was written. The movie was really good can't wait to read the book version!!

Not bad, but too many unanswered. Also I read it AFTER I read the Guardian, which I loved and had a better flow to the different characters.

A very good read and I would like to thank the supplier for getting this quite rare paperback to me.