Was not for me. I went a long time without reading Saul who was a favorite of mine in my teen years. I wanted to give him a chance by reading one of his newer books. (Well..it was new at the time I first read it.)

This book however did not do it for me and I hate saying that because I still consider myself a John Saul fan and often reread some of my all time faves from him.

Second child falls along the creepy scale but lacks the subtle atmospheric brooding quality that so much of his works has and that is what immersed me so much about him.

Here the horror starts pretty much on the first page. The really isn't any build up or lead up or anything. It did not feel like the John Saul I adored. It could have been any horror novel about children. I was really let down.

I see by some of the glowing reviews that not all people feel that way and that is good. Second Child was a quick read for me but not one that I feel I will come back to as I didn't particularly like it.

This book was chilling. In fact, I would say it is one of John Saul's best books. The book grabbed readers from page 1. From there on out its like you become glued to the pages.

The Characters

Phyllis is an overbearing mother who keeps a tight and dangerous grip on her daughter, Charles is the type of father that all children crave yet, he allows his wife to damage his daughter almost beyond recognition, Teri is the evil stepdaughter that reminds me of R.L Stine's character back in the day, and Melissa is the poor, emotional child who mystifies readers. Character development is great in this book. If you find yourself getting emotional because of the actions of the characters than you know its a good book!

The Plot

The plot was well done. The storyline was quite original. It was characteristic of Saul's early work (which this one is). Quite frankly, I like his earlier work better than the ones he did later in life.

All in all, this was a great book that kept me clinging to the pages. I needed to know what was going to happen and that made it hard for me to put the book down. For those who enjoy a creepy, page turning story that stirs your heart than I would choose this one!

Rating: 4.8

I loved this book. Suspense throughout. Parts reminded me of "The Bad Seed". Loved the ending.

So, now that I have the time, I can give John Saul's "Second Child" a proper review for you all.
The novel starts off fast paced, and pretty gory as well, but strikes you as unbelievable because of the way "Teri" (one of the main characters) is acting.
Because of this, I found the first 40 or 50 pages kind of cheesy.
But, after continuing to read, I was drawn in by her and the other characters. The main being her half sister Melissa.
Melissa is an odd girl who has an imaginary friend named D'Arcy. Melissa's mother Phyllis is a bitch! Always treating Melissa like shit and doing things to her that makes you despise her. (I'd go into details, but I don't want to ruin the story)..
The girls' father Charles is a kind and very good man. Never noticing what is taking place because they are a rich family and he's constantly gone to business meetings when the worst happens. Upon his return, things are hidden very well by Phyllis.
Teri seems to be the ideal half sister to Melissa and also the ideal girl to everyone in Secret Cove, a rich summer estate where the story takes place.
She fits in with all the younger people that aren't friends with Melissa who have constantly teased her and avoided Melissa in any way they can.
This you would think would make Melissa jealous, but she is such a sweet girl, she remains cool through the whole story.
When bad things start happening in Secret Cove, the real terror and mystery begins, leaving you to wonder what the hell is going on and why.
In the end, I was hooked to this book! Rich families, back stabbing, and child abuse are only the small amount of things I can mention without ruining the story. But.. The story of "D'Arcy" comes to life and all is revealed in the end, which left me with my jaw hanging open.
An ending I never saw coming!
Great job, John!

When 15-year old Teri’s parents die in a house fire, Teri is the only one to get out. She is collected by her biological father to go live across the country with him, his wife and their 13-year old daughter, Melissa. Melissa is considered by some to be a bit… strange. But she has good reason. (The back of the book doesn’t say much, so I don’t want to give too much away.) They are rich, but Melissa and her mother (Phyllis) don’t really fit in, though Phyllis certainly tries.

This was really good. I was pulled in at the start and it kept me reading and wanting to read. I was quite horrified and disgusted with actions of many of the characters and felt so badly for Melissa. This book has elements of both supernatural and psychological horror, both of which I “enjoy” reading. Just be careful reading through some of the reviews, as much more is given away than I think should be for this book.

This is the first John Saul novel I've read. I had friends back in the late 70's and early 80's who liked his novels, but none of them appealed to me at the time. Looking at the plots back then, they all seemed to be the same type of novel about "haunted" children. I'm not a big fan of novels with children as the main protagonists. Teenagers and older are fine, but kids under 12 with ESP or telekinesis, or the ability to communicate with ghosts don't appeal to me. They never seem real. They're too wise or too cute or too whatever. So, I skipped John Saul books until now. This one features a 13 year old girl named Melissa who talks to a ghost named D'Arcy. That was a big hurdle for me, until the teenagers, namely her older half-sister Teri and a group of snotty rich kids from central casting, come into the plot.

At 35o pages it's kind of a slow burn. There isn't really anything more to the characters beyond their basic urges. But it's a commercial horror novel, and as such it delivers. When the blurb on the cover quotes PEOPLE magazine, you know it's going to be a digestible product for the masses. And there's nothing wrong with that. Whatever gets people reading books is a good thing. I did admire some of the surprise twists in the last 70 pages. So, all in all, Second Child succeeds in its expectations.

4 STARS

The one thing I hated was how unbelievably stupid the father was.

This was recommended to me by someone in a Facebook group for fans of a horror podcast, so I figured it'd be pretty creepy. I also figured it would be written for adults. I can't really say conclusively that it fulfilled either of those expectations. In the book's favor, reading it was just like watching a late 80's/early 90's horror movie. Like, I could vividly picture it in my head, down to the film quality. And it certainly had some spooky aspects! I think that's what was most frustrating for me-- it had all the ingredients of a good horror story, but it never delivered! There was no big climactic scare! (Or any small scares for that matter.) Nothing that'll make me check my closet before I go to bed at night, which is what I was hoping for.

What this book really was was an exercise in restrained frustration. 2 of the 4 main characters are bone-deep evil, and they keep brutally victimizing the most innocent character possible. I spent 80% of the book waiting for the ghost (who may or may not even exist) to drop the damn hammer, and it just NEVER HAPPENS. To offer as few spoilers as possible, good does (mostly) prevail in the end, but if you like seeing the villains get punished and the truth come to light in one beautiful damning reveal...this is not the book for you.

I also took issue with the writing in a lot of places, just because there were strangely amateur mistakes throughout. Reusing the same word or phrase over and over in one section was a big problem. ("Indeed, it looked as if," two sentences later, "He saw that indeed it was..." Then "Even as she watched, the servants," and in the next paragraph, "He saw that the servants, even as he watched..." I'm paraphrasing, but "indeed" and "even as (s)he watched" are two actual examples I remember distinctly.) Also, random little continuity errors. Someone sitting up sits up again. A woman says something tactless and is kicked under the table by...herself. It was all just distracting, although, to be fair, I welcomed the distraction from the monotony of the plot. A bad thing happens and no one finds out, the victim is screwed over, repeat x 10, finish with 99% of the should've-been-satisfying retribution happening off-screen, and there you have it. That's the book. I can't in good conscience say it's a BAD book, but it's not a particularly good one, and it's definitely not a scary one.

What a shame that some of the reviewers here have given away the plot!

I haven't read Second Child for a long time but I often think about getting it off the shelf once more.

Melissa, the second child of the title, is overjoyed when she discovers that her unknown elder sister Teri is coming to live with her father's new family at Secret Cove. What Melissa can't foresee is the horror and confusion that the beautiful Teri's arrival will bring to her own life, nor how her supposedly imaginary friend D'arcy will shatter the peace of the wealthy coastal community as she exacts revenge for an act committed one hundred years earlier.

Second Child is a terrific read - well worth being given a chance. Others here have criticised Saul's style - my main gripe as a reader of several of Saul's novels is that each seems to contain a character called Jeff! If that's my only real gripe, he ain't doing bad ...

John Saul never disappoints. It's been decades since I have read anything by him but I do remember I love his endings. Black Creek Crossing's end haunts me to this day. For Halloween my mom recommended this to me she said she remembered it scaring her way back when. This was a little bit Mean Girls, a little bit Heathers, a little Cinderella, a little bit Carrie and a lotta bit awesome. There was so much happening in the final one hundred pages that I kept thinking, okay this is it, this is the finale, but then it kept going and going. By the time it truly ended I was tense AF but it was totally worth it. Saul nails the landing and lives up to reputation.

NOTE : see this review and more on http://cocainepages.wordpress.com

Oh well I wish I'd have been able to give it even three stars, but I can't. So this gets a well deserved "it was ok" status.

I remember that after I read a book of Saul's, for the first time, I was so excited! He seemed to be such a good author, and I really liked the way he presented things! But I think what I read then was a lucky shot, because up to now everything else I've read from him turned out to be not so good!

He still knows how to tell a story, and he still has "the flow". But that flow ain't nothing compared to the "Midas touch" some other horror authors have. He lacks.. interest. I can't put it another way. I just can't seem to get interested in his stories as much as I do in others!

If you are a fan of Saul's, I don't mean to offend you. I can understand why people would like him. But I believe he is just not for me.

"Second Child" is a hurtful story about a girl that is being mentally and physically abused by the people that should love her the most, and how because of that, a dark spirit takes over her body and mind messes her life up. Cute, but not exactly horror. I'd say not even thriller. If someone started reading it to me at night, I'd sleep like a bear in the middle of the winter.