I won’t deny this book provided a week’s worth of entertainment for me, and it was a definite staple in Saul’s library, but something just felt lacking to me. I grew increasingly frustrated with the story as I progressed through. Michelle went from the victim child of an angry possessed spirit friend, to a shallow puppet of a character. And her dad Cal, seemed to only be needed in the story when he was being cruel to Michelle. Like calling their “real” daughter Princess, which is what he used to call Michelle. Every time I saw his name pop up on the page I felt the urge to skip through just so I wouldn’t have to read his scenes.
I suppose all of that was meant to show the dysfunctional family aspects Saul was going for, but somehow it made me feel under impressed with the story.
It was a real slow burn of a book. And most of the time things and events felt like they made no sense to the plot. Later, throw in a psychologist saying Michelle made up this whole “Amanda” thing to project her anger, and it felt like a cheap cop-out of a ghost story.
I can’t say this is one of my favorite Saul stories, because it isn’t. But it was worth reading, especially since I consider myself a fan of his works.

In Comes the Blind Fury, John Saul describes the fictional Paradise Point with such clarity that you can hear the crashing waves, visualize the drifting fog, and taste the sand blowing off the dunes.

What’s in the fog, well that is a different story… Let me rewind a tad.

This novel was one of the many pulp horror paperbacks printed in the big boom of the 70s and 80s. What I love most about these books is the crazy cover art.

At the beginning of Comes the Blind Fury, we meet Dr Cal and June Pendleton, who, with their 12-year-old adopted daughter Michelle, are moving from Boston in search of a more tranquil existence at Paradise Point.

It’s a small community with a Doctors Surgery (where Cal Pendleton will be working), a school, a little cemetery, and the point ends with a straight drop to the beach below.

Set in the 1980s for most of the novel, we’re told in the preface (and on the blurb, so no spoiler here) that in 1880 a blind girl called Amanda is bullied by her classmates and forced off Paradise Point to the jagged rocks below.

A century ago, a gentle blind girl walked the cliffs of Paradise Point. Then the children came – taunting, teasing – until she lost her footing and fell, shrieking her rage to the drowning sea.

So, it’s a place with a dark history, eh?; Do the Pendleton’s even stand a chance?

Amanda has unfinished business (well wouldn’t you?) and is interwoven into the present day (the 1980s) really well. Although it isn’t the best story in the world, John Saul makes you care about the characters. I particularly enjoyed the gradual change in Michelle and Cal Pendleton’s father/daughter relationship.

For a novel which explores themes such as death, revenge, friendship, and loss I had a lot of fun reading Comes the Blind Fury. The twist at the end was kind of refreshing but extremely messed up; I didn’t see it coming.

Good just a bit predictable.

A truly gripping tale that you can't say much about without spoiling the plot. It's twists and turns will have you gasping. John Saul, unlike the comedic Dean Koontz who he is compared to, sets his horror in what seems to be reality, the regular life of complex people with identifiable personalities. His characters are complex and seem real, yet he is not afraid to kill any of them to advance the story.

Delving into emotions of abandonment and resentment, Saul writes a story that has you questioning the balance of good and evil. I was simply sucked into his tale from the start, the prologue alone sparked a powerful sense of suspense and curiosity that left me wanting more from front to back.

Some good work by an early Saul! A family relocates to a small New England coastal town and their daughter finds a doll in their new house. It seems a ghost from 100 years ago has returned and wants vengeance! The characters are definitely a bit wooden, but the story has a nice pace (although not too many surprises). 3.5 stars.

Good story. Disturbing and also quite sad. I must say a few of the charcters angered me and I was even more angered by the way their behavior was recieved. All in all I loved the story and will be checking out more of John Saul's work.

This was the first John Saul book I read. I was young, a teenager. I had to put the book upside down on my dresser because the cover freaked me out. I liked this book. I've read almost all of his books. They have all held my attention.

I have read a few John Saul’s in the past but this one was a bit different, it went deeper into the psyche of the characters he created making their grief and pain so much more realistic. The atmosphere surrounding this scary and thrilling novel was quite good, in fact it was one of the most realistic parts and I felt the salty breeze, saw the sandy dunes and the sea grass sprouting near the Pendleton house right over the cliffs near the cemetery in the quaint town of Paradise Point. It seemed to be the perfect spot for a growing family from Boston, the Pendletons with a new baby on the way and their young daughter Michelle found it charming but not for long. Taking over the town clinic wasn’t as easy as Cal Pendleton thought, he was still scared from losing his young patient who happened to fall of the roof of his new house when strange things have started happening to his adopted daughter Michelle. Tragedy starts to follow all the family members when a force that seems to be from beyond the grave takes over their lives and starts to ruin whatever future they were hoping to build for themselves.

Anger, pain and plenty of kid bullying were in my face and really tugged at my heart when I read it, overall it was a fast and interesting read with an edge of dark sadness and a bit of a small town mystery that made it shine. The character buildup and the slow dread coming into play made for a really enticing read, I kept worrying about my favorites the whole time while some nasty and creepy “accidents” kept plaguing the story that lead to a dramatic and intense finish. Looking back at Michelle it made me realize that if someone is different and appears weak, they can grow up to be what the society labels them instead of who they really are, there is a tale of things going wrong when social pressures and games push a young delicate soul over the edge.

So it was a book I couldn't put down but the subject of killing kids didn't sit well with me, this was the first book I have read by John Saul and it wasn't too bad! I order more of his books just made sure there would be no killing of children in them

John Saul isn't particularly adventurous with venturing far off formulas, but I remember enjoying this one. It needs a re-read to refresh my memory and so I can give it a proper review.

The book is really well written and it kept me in the book the whole time i was reading it.

it was a good, entertaining, enjoyable book. It was nice getting back to John Sauls older style, happy endings with the tragic twist at the end. But the father really is an unlikable char....just kinda wish Michelle would have realized her mother still loved and believed in her.