Comes the Blind Fury

I have actually read this book twice. The first time was when I was a tween. I reread it recently because I had always been bragging about what a great book it was. This book is a great starter book for someone who wants to get into the horror genre. Nothing gruesome particularly disturbing occurs in this story.

Curiously, this is exactly the same book as “Fever” by Robin Cook. A selfish and aloof father who ignores and condescends to his family, a haunted child no one bothers to talk to about what is happening in her life until it’s too late and she doesn’t trust anyone anymore, and a desperate mother trying to save everyone but unable to communicate with her distant all-knowing husband or her lost child... I was halfway through the book before I realized it wasn’t the same author, and then I was a little less mad.

Typisch John Saul. Das Grauen nimmt kein Ende.

Love John Saul's Books!!

WHAT AND AWESOME BOOK THIS HAPPYING TO ALL OF US. WILL SOME BODY PLEASE

Spookily good!!

I actually read this over 20 years ago, and was an ardent fan of John Saul's novels, and still am! So was very chuffed to find his novels had been put into kindle format. As with most of his stories he mixes the supernatural with the present day, and this one is no exception! It centres around around a young girl, Michelle who moves to Paradise Point from Boston with her parents and get caught up in a 100 year old curse that affects her dramatically. I don't like to give too much away but if you like supernatural mixed with murder then you will enjoy this!

Comes the Blind Fury, John Saul, 1980

My favorite quote: “All she knew was her anger. Her anger and her hatred … ”

Notable characters: Michelle Pendleton, the new girl; Amanda, the blind dead girl

Most memorable scene: I’m not gonna lie … Amanda, sailing off the cliff … but I’m biased. I love it whenever anyone goes sailing off a cliff

Greatest strengths: I have to say, this book captures the cruelty of children in a way few books do. That’s one of John Saul’s strengths

Standout achievements: Comes the Blind Fury is 80s vintage-horror at its best — it has everything you could possibly want: weird kids with oblivious parents, creepy dolls, menacing spirits, someone giving birth in a graveyard — and it’s written by John Saul, so you pretty know it’s going to be awesome

Fun Facts: I met John Saul when Tamara Thorne and I interviewed him on our podcast (he was actually on with us a few times) and I was surprised to learn that “John Saul” is, in essence, two people, that his husband actually did a lot of work on the writing and concepts, and that he, John, did the publicity, etc. He was, and remains, one of my favorite guests.

Other media: N/A — but personally, I think that of all John Saul’s books, Comes the Blind Fury would make a pretty great movie. Especially the part where Amanda goes sailing off the cliff

What it taught me about writing: Honestly, I read John Saul books for the pure joy and can’t say it truly “teaches” me anything — but I sure do dig it. I guess I could say that Comes the Blind Fury taught me not to talk to creepy dolls. There. I learned something

How it inspired my own work: Hmmm. That’s a tough one. I guess it’s this: Whenever I read John Saul, I want to write the next spooky thing — and Comes the Blind Fury isn’t an exception. I do things a lot differently than John Saul does, but in his way, he informs my work

Additional thoughts: While Comes the Blind Fury isn’t the best John Saul book out there (the writing on many of his earlier books tends to be less-than-stellar) Comes the Blind Fury is a nice introduction to his work in general. Comes the Blind Fury will show you what you’re signing up for with John Saul

Haunt me: alistaircross.com

Read Comes the Blind Fury: https://amzn.to/3vfVpjl

Twelve-year-old Michelle isn't sure what to expect when her family moves from Boston to the tiny seaside village of Paradise Point. She knows her father, Dr. Cal Pendleton, is reeling from a mistake he made, a mistake which caused a young boy to die during surgery. Michelle's mother, June, is very pregnant, and can't wait to resume her career as an artist.

After the mishap in Boston, Cal meets Dr. Josiah Carson, the elderly doctor who accompanied the doomed boy from Paradise Point to Boston. Dr. Carson seems a kindly enough old gent, and Cal doesn't think too long before accepting the offer "Dr Joe" proposes: Cal will buy out Dr Carson's practice, as well as the huge Victorian house that has been in his family for generations, and move from Boston to the idyllic small town.

The house is perfect. There's a small outbuilding June can use for her painting, and Michelle falls in love with a small, upstairs corner bedroom with lots of windows. As she's unpacking, Michelle finds a hidden treasure. In the back of her closet, there's an antique doll. She falls in love with the doll, whom she promptly names Amanda.

As it turns out, there was an Amanda who lived in Paradise Point long ago, a twelve-year-old blind girl who was mocked by her classmates, until she plunged to her death from a seaside cliff. This same Amanda is rumored to roam Paradise Point to this day, a shadowy form dressed all in black.

On a picnic with some new school friends, Michelle suffers a fall from a path up the bluff, leaving her mostly lame in her left leg. Most of her new classmates mock her when she comes back to school. She soon makes a new friend named Amanda, a blind girl dressed all in black, who always appears in a thick cloud of fog. Amanda becomes Michelle's only friend.

And people start to die.

This book grabbed me early--when Michelle discovers the doll--and never let go. This isn't really a book with basic, workaday narrative intercut with big "GOTCHA" moments. John Saul maintains a constant level of menace and suspense throughout. There is something just palpably wrong with Paradise Point, with its people, and with the small cemetery next to Michelle's new home. A few decent people live in town--a big-hearted teacher and her psychologist boyfriend, and one girl who never stops trying to be Michelle's friend--but most people don't seem to trust the new doctor, especially when his daughter starts talking about Amanda. We get the impression that Michelle is not the first Paradise Point resident to see Amanda. Even when things seem okay for awhile, the flat-out wrongness of the place flows just beneath the surface.

When "The Exorcist" was released in theaters, there were disturbing sounds that didn't match the action onscreen--swarms of angry bees, for example. Viewers couldn't really pick out the sound, but it was disconcerting nonetheless.

John Saul's beautifully sinister narrative serves the same purpose here. The sun may be shining, and people may be enjoying themselves, but you can never quite trust that the peace will last. The shadows are too omnipresent for us to let down our guard.

I've read a number of John Saul novels over the past few months. I have enjoyed some of them more than others. "Comes the Blind Fury" is by far my favorite. The story keeps moving forward, as if being drawn to an inevitable conclusion. The suspense is steady, and Michelle makes an excellent ingenue heroine, cruelly scorned by her friends, but with a newfound cruelty within herself, something she can neither understand nor control.

This is a lovely read.

Highly recommended.