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3.61 AVERAGE
3.61 AVERAGE
The book was good and grabbed my attention but did not care for the ending at all. Was very disappointed in it.
I read this book as a teenager and re-read it several times over the years - probably my favorite horror book of that time of my life. I recently picked it up after not having read it for 25 years at least. Now it's so disturbing to me that I gave away my original copy. Maybe it's because I'm a parent now but I couldn't stomach the story anymore. I couldn't get through it.
John Saul at his very best! Suffer the Children is a chilling horror classic. The descriptions of setting and character are truly unsettling. This is a great read.
TW: Rape of a child, attempted rape, animal abuse/killing, sexual use of dead animal, domestic violence, suicide, child killing/torturing.
You know there's been a discussion for as long as horror has been a genre about whether a story can go to far, with some people saying stories can and others cannot. But for me this book definitely crosses that line for me. If you couldn't get an idea why from the trigger warnings above, I will also add as a minor spoiler
The only character I actually liked/felt sorry for was Sarah, the rest of them was just terrible in their own ways but I think we were supposed to feel sorry for them. The father, Jack, was an alcoholic who refused to admit was one,
All of that along with the fact that there are many, and I mean many syntax errors mostly dealing with quotation marks. I cannot recommend this book to anyone
P.S.: If the book doesn't tell you the answer to a question pretty much after its been asked, you're not going to get the answer. The ending is terrible and I'm left with more questions than any answers we got.
You know there's been a discussion for as long as horror has been a genre about whether a story can go to far, with some people saying stories can and others cannot. But for me this book definitely crosses that line for me. If you couldn't get an idea why from the trigger warnings above, I will also add as a minor spoiler
Spoiler
every character that has done something terrible in this book gets away with it with no real repercussions except for poor Sarah.Spoiler
. I've read other horror books where child death does happen in the story, but it usually always adds something to the story, and the bad guys don't get away with it. For some reason the author wanted to add these gruesome scenes where lets just say bad things happen to the kids and that's it. It doesn't really add to the story other than another kids gone missing.The only character I actually liked/felt sorry for was Sarah, the rest of them was just terrible in their own ways but I think we were supposed to feel sorry for them. The father, Jack, was an alcoholic who refused to admit was one,
Spoiler
who abused his wife on a couple of occasions, and attempted to rape her onceSpoiler
, also cheated on his wife. The wife Rose was a mess who tried her best to look perfect when they went out, but had a short temper if things didn't go her way. Plus she allowed Jack to still stay around their kids after what he had done. Then there's Elizabeth and Sarah who I can't go into without spoilers. And the most infuriating character was Sylvia, Jack's secretary. She is a hhhuuugggeee enabler for Jack when sheSpoiler
refused to believe that Jack wasn't an alcoholic, helped cheat on his wife with her, her telling him it was ok what he did to Sarah because he didn't rape or kill her, etcSpoiler
.All of that along with the fact that there are many, and I mean many syntax errors mostly dealing with quotation marks. I cannot recommend this book to anyone
P.S.: If the book doesn't tell you the answer to a question pretty much after its been asked, you're not going to get the answer. The ending is terrible and I'm left with more questions than any answers we got.
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Sexual assault
I really need to re-read all of my John Saul books now. I forgot how much I enjoy them. This one is so twisted and sick, and I adore it.
I read When the Wind Blows back in 2011 and now I am reading John Saul again with Suffer the Children, since it was his first novel. While I preferred When the Wind Blows, Suffer the Children did not deny me the opportunity to turn pages at a consistent rate. Saul has that ability! In this novel, we explore life on Port Arbello and meet the mysterious Conger family, whose daughter was kidnapped and killed years before. Jack and Rose, along with their daughters Elizabeth and Sarah, and housekeeper Mrs. Goodrich occupy the house during this generation. Jack and Rose are currently involved in a dysfunctional marriage that is aggravated by Jack's affairs and their daughter Sarah's trauma that causes her not to speak or respond to anyone besides Elizabeth. All of this is going on while children are disappearing one by one, much to the concern of Ray Norton (the Chief of Police) and others that are directly involved.
Like he did in When the Wind Blows, you know what is going on as you read the story. The characters in the story, on the other hand, have no idea as to what is happening. In a way, this strategy creates an intense atmosphere just as much as a thriller that withholds this particular information. This seems to work for John Saul and most importantly, I enjoy it. This novel is not for everyone, especially those that are looking to be satisfied as the story concludes. While I am not going to spoil anyone with any information, I will say that the ending left me a little bit uneasy. On the other hand, I did see the satisfaction through the bit of an open ending. John Saul is definitely an underrated author that classifies himself as a thriller writer, despite being frequently classified as a horror writer. I encourage you to pick up one of his novels and liked this enough to recommend this particular novel!
Like he did in When the Wind Blows, you know what is going on as you read the story. The characters in the story, on the other hand, have no idea as to what is happening. In a way, this strategy creates an intense atmosphere just as much as a thriller that withholds this particular information. This seems to work for John Saul and most importantly, I enjoy it. This novel is not for everyone, especially those that are looking to be satisfied as the story concludes. While I am not going to spoil anyone with any information, I will say that the ending left me a little bit uneasy. On the other hand, I did see the satisfaction through the bit of an open ending. John Saul is definitely an underrated author that classifies himself as a thriller writer, despite being frequently classified as a horror writer. I encourage you to pick up one of his novels and liked this enough to recommend this particular novel!
dark
Kinda sums up what happened to this story. Its basically like a horror movie of the week. Which is fine. It was a lot longer than it needed to be in some areas and confusing in others. It's disturbing to say the least. Not necessarily the stuff that happens, as disturbing as that was, but the way the characters react to most of it. Just ignoring it or not discussing it at all.
Its your average sleepy town, families that have been there for generations, creepy kids. Clueless parents. Things that would bother normal human beings seem to be brushed aside or completely ignored.
Official thought? Meh.
Its your average sleepy town, families that have been there for generations, creepy kids. Clueless parents. Things that would bother normal human beings seem to be brushed aside or completely ignored.
Official thought? Meh.
