Horror Aficionados discussion

Our winner for the month of April is an oldie but a goodie! Suffer the Children by John Saul.

Please be careful of spoilers and use spoiler tags when necessary. Happy reading everyone!

Good luck!

The first John Saul novel and the first one I ever read, it's been almost 40 years since I read it. I've been re-reading him the last couple of years so maybe it's time I picked this one up. On to the Kindle store.

I'll join in this one!!

Yay, John Saul!!! 😃

I haven’t read this in 6 thousand years 🤣😂

Me either!

😉

Just ordered this. It will be my first John Saul book.

I’ll be here, my library has this.

Don’t know anything about the author or the book. Hope I like it.


Zain

I will be here too - my library has it available.

I don't think I have a copy of this book anymore since I read it as a teenager. On to Amazon.

I found this through my library app. I'm excited to get it started!

Melissa ♥ Dog/Wolf Lover ♥ wrote: "I haven’t read this in 6 thousand years 🤣😂"

Same here!!!

Just ordered it from Amazon. Looking forward to reading this one.

Zain wrote: "Don’t know anything about the author or the book. Hope I like it.


Zain"

He is a great author, he doesn't seem to get the love or respect that other authors get on Goodreads though. This a good book though,I do prefer his ghost stories though. Personal favorites being "Hellfire" and "The Unloved".

Scott wrote: "Zain wrote: "Don’t know anything about the author or the book. Hope I like it.


Zain"

He is a great author, he doesn't seem to get the love or respect that other authors get on Goodreads though...."

Those are two of my favorites!

Cool! So how does this work, we all read this book in April and discuss?

Kris wrote: "Cool! So how does this work, we all read this book in April and discuss?"

Exactly, Kris! Post where you are in your version of the book, (chapter number, percentage, page number) and then we use spoiler tags to comment as we go along. That way it doesn't spoil things for those readers that haven't reached that point yet.

looking forward to it :) I've never read him before.

I haven't read this. I'll go check it out.

I went on a John Saul kick last year reading “Second Child”, “Hell Fire”, and “The Unloved”...looking forward to reading this along with you all.

just finished ... superb!

Anja wrote: "just finished ... superb!"

Wow! I haven't even started yet. Hoping to later today.

I started yesterday--I'm surprised at how little I remember!

I'm on chapter 5 now. I really enjoy the narrative style, but I'm not sure yet what I think of the story. There are enough flaws with the characters to keep them interesting, but I don't know that I like anyone in particular. There's enough mystery to keep me reading so I'll keep with it and see what happens.

Hi! I’m joining in on this & I think this is the first time I’ve actually joined in on a group read here (I’ve tried in the past but my TBR is constantly overflowing lol)! This is my first John Saul and I was so scared I was gonna hate this right away, but I’m on chapter nine & definitely intrigued!

Well I’m either going to be late or have to put it on the back burner. I can’t find my old paperback copy and my library one is due in a few days! We shall see ugg

After l began reading Saul’s book, l felt that there was something very familiar about it. Then I remembered that I read a lot of his books when I was in seventh and eighth grade.

Just like I’ve outgrown a lot of horror author’s, because they just aren’t scary enough for me, John Saul is also on the list.

So far I’m enjoying this, never had read this author before. I am liking his style of writing I may have to read more from him afterwards!
Depending how I like the remainder, I’m thinking I’ll finish this one

I’ve never read John Saul. This is my first.

Only a few chapters in so far. The intro/prologue is disturbing; nothing "horror-ish" has really happened yet, but the atmosphere is building nicely. I can tell that I'm not going to like the main male character..

I finished this today. I felt it took a little while to get going, but once it did, I enjoyed it. I'm not 100% sure how I felt about the ending just yet. I may need to digest it for a few days before deciding.

Before I even begin this one, is there animal abuse in it?

I don't know about animal abuse. I haven't encountered any yet but . . .

(view spoiler)[ There is child abuse (i.e. rape, incest, & assorted violence both verbal and physical). None of the scenes I've read are explicit, but the content is DARK and the intimations cannot be missed. . (hide spoiler)]

Unless there is more later in the book (I’m ch 9 currently) I’d saw the only animal abuse I read was the very beginning, and it wasn’t super in-depth in my opinion ,during the prologue. It’s been child abuse or domestic abuse mostly.

Ok thank y’all.

Latasha wrote: "Before I even begin this one, is there animal abuse in it?"

There was some scattered throughout the story. Not a ton, and not incredibly detailed, but some exists.

ah, that's right. I forgot the prologue with the rabbit.

Ok thank you for the warning

Like many of you, this is my first John Saul. This was his first novel, correct? I hit chapter eleven... For those of you just starting, keep at it. It's starting to slowly draw me in.

I have gotten to about 70% done and it most definitely picks ups!
It has gotten me all in my feels a few times bc of Sarah. How they treat her and the things she goes through. The terminology they use for her, ie being “disturbed “. even though I know it’s “time appropriate “. I’m a mother and one of my sons is special needs. He was nonverbal for a long time, so this hits home for me in many aspects. The way Sarah expresses herself is very accurate and not too far fetched, which I appreciate. I have dealt with all of the same struggles thus far. I hope this book continues to be a good representation, and I also am hoping that she gets some sort of “character immunity “ and nothing happens to her!

Latasha wrote: "Before I even begin this one, is there animal abuse in it?"

I read this in high school and don't remember a thing but I just saw this on someone's review (view spoiler)[A hole. In the ground. Living people. Animals. A cat. A cat gruesomely murdered. Children emotionally tortured while forced to hold..and dance..with said cat. (hide spoiler)]

You might want to skip it for now or forever.

Oh thank you! Yeah, I’m out.

I just finished the book.....I feel like I have to let it settle a bit. There were definitely some graphic moments, but I do have to say I enjoyed reading it. even with the uncomfortable bits.

This was my first John Saul book and I will say it wont be my last. I really enjoyed it.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

It took me a few days to prove this book and here’s my review of it with some spoilers in it if anyone was interested in reading what I thought.
I gave it 4 stars, I would’ve give it like 4.5 if I could’ve. The only thing I was disappointed with in this book was the amount of Sarah we get. I wish there was more to it. But over all I probably would reread and I will definitely be looking into more John Saul now!

I am starting this one very late...about 50 pages in so far.

This one had good moments, I’ll give it that.