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3.61 AVERAGE
3.61 AVERAGE
Well, the children sure do suffer. It was an intense read, but relies more on gore and shock to scare and it gets old. There are also a lot of plot holes, and characters acting unbelievably dumb. Spoilers ahead!
1. Why haven't they built a fence around the woods so people don't die in there?
2. The first time you know your daughter snuck outside in the middle of the night, wouldn't you look into childproof locks or something?
3. At the end when they mention prosecuting I had to roll my eyes because it would be the most flimsy case ever made.
4. The Secretary. Here's a major spoiler, but I can't believe how quick she is to dismiss the fact that he wanted to rape his daughter and says his wife is overreacting. Also affairs with secretaries are as cliche as you can get.
5. If Rose was so concerned about leaving the girls alone with the housekeeper, why wouldn't she check before she leave to make sure the housekeeper is awake?!
6. Why did no one realize that Elizabeth is always the one to see the missing person last?
1. Why haven't they built a fence around the woods so people don't die in there?
2. The first time you know your daughter snuck outside in the middle of the night, wouldn't you look into childproof locks or something?
3. At the end when they mention prosecuting I had to roll my eyes because it would be the most flimsy case ever made.
4. The Secretary. Here's a major spoiler, but I can't believe how quick she is to dismiss the fact that he wanted to rape his daughter and says his wife is overreacting. Also affairs with secretaries are as cliche as you can get.
5. If Rose was so concerned about leaving the girls alone with the housekeeper, why wouldn't she check before she leave to make sure the housekeeper is awake?!
6. Why did no one realize that Elizabeth is always the one to see the missing person last?
Eh, way too many loose ends at the conclusion for my taste (and also just odd use of language in places) but the overall plot was interesting. Rather dark in places but still an enjoyable read. I just wish more questions had been answered or things had been better explained at the end.
I don't recall being blown away by any of John Saul's books, but this one stuck more than the others. Perhaps it's because it was my first horror novel. I don't know. There are scenes in this book that still haunt me (don't worry, no spoilers).
A few leaps were taken in terms of characterisation and general plotting, but Suffer the Children was fucked up enough to be intoxicating. The atmosphere that was built around the overall setting of the book brought a fair amount of dread, and the lore behind the wrongness of it all was alluring despite the lack of the needed exposition for the circumstances it influenced. As for the characters, their voices weren’t as distinct as they potentially could have been, considering Saul’s evident adroitness in writing. The embraced ambiguity especially caused the rest of it to fall apart towards the end, but for a composition that took less than a month to complete, this was rather impressive. Can’t say any more about it other than go ahead and try it, I guess.