One of the worst translations I have ever read. Almost ruined the reading experience.
The book was filled with cringe-worthy cliches, but I could forgive it for trying to go into too many technical details for 1992.
Reinforces my opinion that Stephen King is The King.

Not as shocking as it was in 1992....however still a good thriller! Don't enroll your kids in "The Academy".

Here is a link to my video review of this book from my Youtube channel; AreYouIntoHorror? :
https://youtu.be/Oc2CRilUyKc


For the 389 pages, this books pacing takes you on a high speed trip into Scientific messed up Child Horror as only John Saul could do, back then! You had to have read this YEARS ago, or really be into science bred horrors dealing with the human brain.....for this to not be too dated to where it effects the storyline. Josh is a young teen age boy, who has lost his twin Adam, and his dealing with this loss is taking a toll on him. With both he and Adam being extremely smart, his parents enroll him in The Academy...a huge old mansion that has been converted on an oceanside cliff into a prestigous school for uniquely smart and very different kids. Upon arrival there is a scene that will stick with you forever.....it is that creepy. Josh notices a very different and strange tropical huge fish tank, where he immediately notices and feels something is not right with it, but he does not know what.

Josh becomes friends with another new student Amy. They hit it off right at the beginning in the lunchroom on Amy's first day.....while she is being tormented by other 'students'. Now, you have to remember that this was released in 1992 at the beginning of what we know now as 'the Internet' and everything computer based, so there are times where Saul is describing 'dial up modems' and what not that just took me out of the plotlines. Now, remember I have not read this in over 25 years. When Josh's mother one day, gets a 'message' from her dead son Adam, all hell at the Academy breaks loose. What is going on there; can the kids communicate with people and students that have suddenly disappeared or committed suicide? The suspense and story is spun like only Saul could do it......it gets a 4

April 2011 Group Read in the John Saul LitGroup. I read this as a teenager and was excited to revisit the story :-)

I really liked this book - it still lives up to my brilliant memories :-) There is a scene early in the book when Josh is first arriving at the academy and sees this pristine fish tank. I love how this is a glimpse of things to come. I had to return my copy of the book to the library or I'd post the passage. I'm giving the book 5 stars. I did notice that there seemed to be more focus on Josh's mom earlier in the book with all her struggles as a waitress and then not so much mentioning of her after Josh gets accepted into the academy. Anyway, I loved the book, it remains one of my favorites.

Link to the discussion thread - feel welcome to join us anytime. We read at least one John Saul book every month:
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/4...

Summary: The Academy was created for children that were extremely smart and didn't fit in any where else. OR at least that's what Dr. Engersol and Head Mistress Hildie wanted their students and their parents to think.

THey have been experimenting with artificial intelligence. Their objective is to try and keep only the brain alive with out it's body. Transferring the brain to a tank and hooking it up to a computer.

The first student they used died shortly after they moved his brain to a tank. But then they found Adam. He is classified as a "nerd" and never had many friends, mostly just his twin brother Jeff.

He had never been happy anywhere and that's why he was sent to the Academy in teh first place. But even there he didn't feel like he fit in. So when he found out about the doctor's experiment he wanted to do it.

They put him to sleep and removed his brain. They took his body and placed it on the train tracks staging a suicide. Jeff was the only one who knew the truth besides Engersol and Hildie.

But soon Many got tired of the school and wanted to leave. They didn't want her to go so they killed her and placed her brain in a tank as well. But she wasn't as easily controlled as Adam. And when the doctor threatened to shut down the tank she said she would kill both Adam and herself along with destroying all the data.

Josh, Amy's best friend figures out what is going on and tries to stop it. They order Adam to kill him and make Amy obey. Amy kills Hildie in order to protect Josh. Adam scares Amy into a coma but once the doctor discovers that Josh knows whats going on and will surely tell he informs Adam that he must stop the program and therefore kill both Adam and Amy.

Adam doesn't want to die and the power he has gotten makes him too strong to stop. He kills both the doctor and his mean twin brother before they smash his tank and he dies.

The police come and Amy wakes only to tell her parents that she's going to kill herself before she becomes corrupt like Adam did. Everyone thinks she's gone until Josh leaves the Academy with his computer and she contacts him at home. She tells him there's another experiment going on somewhere else and she is lonely and wants him to join her. He throws out his computer. He doesn't want that, she has changed.

Thoughts: Pretty crazy to think that technology could ever allow such a thing. Perhaps Saul was beyond his time in thinking it was possible when this book was written but I wouldn't be surprised if it were possible now or in the future. To even think that, is the most interesting part to me so I really enjoyed this book. Creepy as it was, I'd definitely recommend it to others to judge for themselves.

Novela de terror y ciencia ficción de 369 páginas, publicada en 1992, en la que una serie de sospechosas muertes de niños están ocurriendo en un instituto especializado en niños prodigio. La llegada de un nuevo alumno, Josh, dará inicio a esta tenebrosa historia tras la que se oculta un misterio aterrador.
De lectura ágil y amena, vas disfrutando del estilo de Saul, y entiendes porqué censuraron toda su obra. Suicidio de niños, inteligencia artificial, y el fracaso de una sociedad enferma. He vuelto a disfrutar de éste mítico y polémico escritor. De muy recomendada lectura para los amantes del género.

It was good. A typical John Saul, people doing bad things to children, this time in the name of science. I did see it coming though, what happens to the kids and the ending, was not a surprise.

3,5/5

..........."4.30 in the morning....... What a miserable time to die'.....

Starting a book with the death of a child is always a good thing... no, that does not sound right. Starting the book with the death of a child always sets the tone. Lets you know what you might be letting yourself in for... and this book does not disappoint.

Set in this school for 'gifted' children (made me think of The Institute by one Stephen King, but that soon faded away thankfully) and kids dont come more gifted than Josh. He is so clever that his previous school kept pushing him up a year - which of course made him prime suspect for some good old bullying..

But this school is different. All the kids are just like him and he loves it, he fits right in and he makes friends from day one. There is this strange 'ghost' story going around the school which kind of throws you off the scent of what is really going on but keeps you interested. We have some strange classes taking place with one poor cat being sort of tortured which was a bit surreal and we get kids committing 'suicide' (quite a bit of that) but I stuck with it........ and just when I started to question where the book was going... WHAM, it takes one unexpected, horrific, terrifying turn and this turns into a sort of twisted horror.

Great Fun!

"Σκιές θανάτου", εκδόσεις Plaza.

Αυτό είναι το πρώτο βιβλίο του Τζον Σολ που διαβάζω και νομίζω ότι είναι και το μοναδικό που έχει μεταφραστεί στα ελληνικά, από τα τριάντα και βάλε μυθιστορήματα που έχει γράψει. Σαν συγγραφέας θρίλερ με στοιχεία τρόμου και ίσως επιστημονικής φαντασίας, θα μπορούσε να είναι στα ίδια ράφια με τον Ντιν Κουντζ, τον Στίβεν Κινγκ και άλλους τέτοιους, όμως στην Ελλάδα δεν του έδωσαν και ιδιαίτερη σημασία. Τέλος πάντων, το "Σκιές θανάτου" μου φάνηκε ένα αρκούντως ενδιαφέρον και εθιστικό θρίλερ με στοιχεία τρόμου και επιστημονικής φαντασίας, με τους βασικούς πρωταγωνιστές να είναι κυρίως κάποια ευφυή παιδιά που φοιτούν σε μια σχετική ακαδημία, στην οποία όμως πολλά παράξενα πράγματα συμβαίνουν. Γενικά θα έλεγα ότι στην αρχή η όλη πλοκή κινείται αρκετά αργά, αλλά από ένα σημείο και μετά αρχίζουν διάφορα σκληρά και ανατριχιαστικά περιστατικά και στο τέλος γίνεται ένας μικρός χαμούλης. Βέβαια, ορισμένα πράγματα στους χαρακτήρες (π.χ. στα παιδιά) αλλά και σε κάποια επιμέρους στοιχεία της πλοκής και της κοσμοπλασίας δεν με έπεισαν απόλυτα, αλλά εντάξει, αυτό θα έλεγα ότι συμβαίνει και με τα περισσότερα ανάλογα θρίλερ εκεί έξω. Η γραφή είναι αρκετά καλή και σίγουρα ευκολοδιάβαστη και εθιστική, αλλά δεν έχει και κάτι το φοβερό και το τρομερό. Τέλος, μου άρεσε πάρα πολύ η ατμόσφαιρα, αλλά και το όλο σκηνικό της ακαδημίας. Γενικά, δεν ξετρελάθηκα κιόλας, αλλά πέρασα καλά! 7.5/10

Spannend tot de laatste pagina!

Тежка ми беше тази книга, най-вече заради замесените деца. Не че експериментите с живи хора са оправдани по какъвто и да било начин, но когато са с деца, ми свирят по най-тънката струна. Епизодите с родителите им ме разплакаха на няколко пъти. Усетих болката им много дълбоко.
Динамична и добре написана история, искаше ми се да не я оставям чак до самия край. И въпреки, че действието и краят донякъде бяха предсказуеми (малки забележки от страна на Джон Сол за създаване на подходящо настроение издаваха накъде отиват нещата), все пак имаше изненадващи обрати. Няма някаква дълбока философия, разчепкване на етичните проблеми, свързани с експериментите в името на науката. Но пък се потвърди едно мое схващане (може би защото навсякъде търся да го открия) - колко е важно за децата, а и за възрастните да са емоционално интелигентни. Да разбират чувствата си, да си дават сметка как действията им се отразяват на останалите хора, да умеят да се справят емоционално с трудностите. Високият коефициент на интелигентност не бива да бъде проклятие, даже и свръх умни децата си остават деца и имат нужда да израстнат емоционално, преди да започнат да се товарят с отговорностите на възрастните. Едва ли това е основното послание на книгата, но всеки намира това, което търси. На неочаквани места.

Ten-year-old Josh MacCallum doesn’t fit in. He is extremely intelligent and he keeps skipping ahead grades in school. The kids don’t like him because he’s too smart. Josh is younger than his other classmates and they pick fights with him and they think the teachers favor him. Josh’s mother (Brenda) is barely getting by. Her no-good husband has left and she has another kid to feed (Melinda, Josh’s baby sister). After Brenda gets called in to talk to the principal about Josh getting into another fight at school, the principal suggests a school that would be interested in Josh, the Barrington Academy, a cliff-top mansion overlooking the pacific coast. Eventually Brenda gives it some serious thought and takes Josh there to check it out. Josh finally feels like he fits in and decides to stay. But what about strange Dr. Engersol and his weird experiments. And some people at the school aren’t what they seem. As time goes by, many people are turning up dead…

I really enjoyed this book. As the story progressed, and I found out what the experiments were all about, it was quite creepy. I liked some characters, like Josh, his young friend Amy, and their English teacher Mr. Connors. Then there were some annoying and evil characters that I hoped would eventually get what they deserved. The story had good atmosphere, especially the Academy, with its creaky old elevators, secret basement rooms, etc… I found myself quickly turning the pages to see what was going to happen next.

Another captivating read by John Saul.