Typical Tier 2 horror novel - ghost seeks revenge for the humiliation she suffered during her life's end; writer seeks deus ex machina ending when he is at his wit's end. Avoid.
This is John Saul’s fourth novel and he employs what became his standard format for many of his books. Child wronged a hundred years ago seeks revenge by employing a child of today. The characters and circumstances are different, but, with a few exceptions, the same trope applies. Nonetheless, Saul has a way of telling a good story employing this framework again and again.
The story is much tighter than Saul’s earlier works. The evil is defined. The reason the past is important is part of the mystery that is brought nicely to fruition. The main character is two parts sympathetic, one part slacker. Saul did leave us with a taste of ambiguity that worked for the story. Did Michelle kill because she wanted to? Or did Amanda’s lust for revenge drive her to it.
All the usual Saul tropes are here. The weak, indecisive father. The ancient evil bent on revenge. The wife who has no idea what is going on around her. The small town cop who is friends with the family around which all the evil is transpiring. One could complain that Saul tells the same tale over and over again. Perhaps, but many great books are retellings of older books. Saul uses the same devices over and over again to tell decent stories. This is never going to earn him a spot in the pantheon of great horror writers who weave a different tale every time. But that does not make him any less fun to read and sometimes, it’s good to have fun while reading.
This was the first John Saul book that I read and I was completely hooked on his books from day one. They are well written, interesting, and easy to read. This is the only author that I own every single book he has written and when a new one comes out I buy it without even looking to see what it is about. He is THAT good!
Not bad for a simple thriller - easy to read and creepy in several places.
I started reading Saul from the beginning of his career and in these early books he definitely has a formula - in a couple of months I am pretty sure I will not remember if something happened in this book or the others I have read. But, i do enjoy these and will probably read more.
I'll give this a 4 for nostalgia's sake. I think if I had read it in the 1980s I would have been blown away, but horror has become a lot more succinct and hard hitting in recent years, so it feels rather dated. The premise is good, supernatural vengeance, but it dragged on for too long. You could easily cut a third from this book and not lose anything, it would probably make it more edgy and make the reader more disconcerted. There were sections of the novel where I had to force myself on saying, 'yes, I know, here is another example of the ghostly manipulation of a little girl that ends in death and people are starting to become suspicious...let's get on with it.'
If you really like John Saul and 80s horror, it is worth the read, but if you're after something fast and scary, skip it.
This was a great story - I'd read it before when I was much younger and feared it might disappoint me now I'm older - the story has held up really well, you felt the despair along with the people, and still I hoped for a happy ending - I won't spoil it, but it's definitely worth a read.
Oh, this one took me back! John Saul was one of my favorite writers as a teen, and now, I remember why. PACING. The pacing in this novel is perfect - something happens every 20ish pages or so, unlike many of today's horror writers that save all the action for the last chapter of their novels. Pacing, people, use it - it keeps your audience engaged throughout. I cannot tell you how many recent horror novels I have read where it took all my might to keep going. There is only so much innuendo and back story I can take. 400 pages of it kinda gets to me sometimes, you know what I'm saying? Anyways, there is none of this here. Basically, a story about bullying, Comes The Blind Fury introduces us to Michelle and a troubled little girl from the past, Amanda. You can read the blurb for more details. Although ambiguous at times, it still kept my interest throughout, and I found myself wanting to know what would happen next. I had a lot of fun with this one! Recommend.
Quite the enthralling read lol. It was well written, had engaging characters, and a nice, simple plot. There's not much I anticipated getting into this book other than "it seems like those horror novels you can pick up at the dollar store" and, frankly, I was right. That doesn't make it less of an enjoyable read. Sometimes the character interactions were a little unbelievable, but overall it doesn't affect the cohesiveness. The conclusion was satisfying, and the ending twist was slightly predictable. Overall, a nice read and good if you want a simple 80s style horror novel.