Poquette has a bachelor's degree in English and specializes in writing about literature. In the following essay, Poquette examines the reasons why Herbert uses a disjointed narrative in his novel.

Soul Catcher is a shocking story, which grabs the reader on page one and does not let go until its tragic conclusion. Through the characters of Charles Hobuhet-Katsuk and David Marshall, the reader is drawn into a captor-captive tale, in which the captor is hard to hate and the captive is easy to love. In fact, throughout the story, the two develop a relationship that makes the ending even harder to bear. The book has many contradictions, from the modern helicopters that search in the primitive wilderness to the conflicting attitudes toward the characters. The biggest contradiction, however, is Herbert's use of a disjointed narrative, which he uses to complement the action and add to the characterization...