Money, love, jealousy, and murder are the topics of this story in my opinion. How people try to live up to the standards of other and portray themselves as someone they actually are not, and it doesn't matter who they hurt in the process as long as they are getting what it is that they themselves want. A girl ends up moving in with her father and stepmother and step sister after her real mother and stepfather die in a blazing house fire. She befriends her step sister (under falseness) and begins to "suck up" to her step mother, whom used to be her nanny when she was little before the divorce of her real parents. After she moves in with her real father, things started happening. She was fitting in with the high class country club people that her step mother and sister never really fit in to. This was all based on her real mothers past of being "born" into that particular class. After the divorce, her mother gave all of her wealth to a charity and up until now her daughter felt like she has been left out of the "rich life". Her step sister has been labeled "CRAZY" by all of the people in the neighborhood and club, even her own mother thinks she is crazy and abuses her. After the move in with her father, things start to happen; abuse, dead dogs, murders...... all in all a good story. It kept my attention all the way til the end, but I think the ending could have been a lot better. I feel like the author, John Saul, kind of took the easy way out of ending it and did what was expected in the readers mind. I feel there was not enough closure on many of the topics that had occurred in the story.

John Saul never disappoints! I rate 4 stars only because I feel like the story was wrapped up too quickly. I am thankful for the epilogue, but I certainly wouldn’t have minded hearing more about Phyllis’s reaction, if Melissa’s name was cleared of the things “she” admitted to, etc. In other words, I guess I just wasn’t ready for it to end! I’d recommend to anyone in the mood for a chilling ghost story full of suspense...and well-deserved revenge!

Dont, I say DON'T go to the August Harvest Moon Ball and expect to have a wonderful time.....EVIL will be attending this year! Another incredibly gruesome ghost story from the master of suspense Horror!

Okay, so a month or so ago on my Youtube Channel; AreYouIntoHorror? I started to reread of all the Horror novels by my favorite Horror author John Saul in publication order and I called it 'The John Saul Horror Reading Challenge' and this is book #13 in that challenge.....so hang on and get ready for my Vintage review of John Saul's 1990 classic (in my opinion only that is, and Larry Yonce's) "Second Child".

As in a lot of Sauls works there is a 'many years ago' prologue and that was always one of the reasons why i loved reading his books, they set me up for the horrors and suspense and revenge horrors to come my way....and this one had one of those. 100 years ago, at the August Moon Ball a young and very beautiful servant girl is set up to be the butt of a joke, and it turns into a deadly display of horror that the people of Secret Cove never ever forget!!! You are told this story very early in the book as newcomer to town, 14 year old Terri experiences at her first bonfire on the beach party that she and her younger sister Melissa attend, which is hosted the most popular boy at school and the one that Teri is obsessed with knowing. It is the party of all parties and the one that changes these two sisters lives and the town forever! The town is small and very wealthy and some very 'snobby and snotty people live there' and Teri soon fits right in. Upon moving into her new 'new family's mansion' she realizes their wealth and quickly takes advantage of being able to spend what ever she wants of her Daddy's money etc. However Melissa being the shy and not well liked one of the two, would rather spend time in her room with her 'friend' D'Arcy. Is is just a coincidence that Darcy was also the name of the servant girl who was the butt of a bloody and terrifying joke 100 years ago at the August Moon Ball? And who will be going to their first ball this year....both Teri and Melissa.

Saul never ever ceases to thrill and scare the shit out of me with the gift of writing very well. If you have never read John Saul, this is where you could easily start to be a fan. Trigger Warning:
You will witness animal abuse and murder, but only once and quickly.

So just remember that if you are invited to the August Moon Ball, do NOT wear Emerald Green, and dont befriend Darcy!

Pick it up, you will not regret it!

This is a story about Teri, who burnt down the house that she lived in, killing her mother and her stepfather. With the death of her mother, Teri is force to move to Secret Cove, with her father and his wife. Charles and Phyllis already have one daughter Melissa. Melissa is always being abused by her mother and can never do anything right. On the other hand, Teri is daughter that she always dreamed of having. Melissa has been sleepwalking for as long as she can remember. Her evil mother sometimes ties her down in bed to prevent her from sleepwalking. Melissa has an imaginary friend D'Arcy, who protect her at night from the evil that goes on in the house. Teri fits in perfectly with the rich brats of Secret Cove. None of these kids like Melissa and they are always picking on her. Phyllis always says to Melissa, why can't you be more like Teri! When evil things start to happen in Secret Cove, the terror is non stop. The characters are well developed and this makes for a stronger story line. John Saul is worth checking out.

Maybe like 3.5

Oh my god, all I remember about this book (I read it when I was 11), was that it SCARED THE SHIT OUT OF ME!!!

Let me start by saying, it scares the crap out of me to think there are actually people like this walking around. EVIL. I HATED a couple of these characters. H.A.T.E.D.! I got so frustrated reading this book; somebody besides me HAD to see what was going on! What the heck, dad!? Maybe that's why this took me so long to get through it.
That being said, and without dropping any spoilers, I’ll just say I was happy to see how it ended, although this was another one of those that seemed to very quickly tie itself up with a pretty bow. I somewhat expected one part of the ending; was happily surprised by another; was still hoping for worse for another.

I went into this book knowing almost absolutely nothing and it seriously blew my mind.

It would be almost impossible to explain it without spoiling anything - short story, Teri MacIver's parents die in a fire and she's sent to live with her real father in a huge house in a nice little Maine retreat, where she lives with her stepmother and halfsister. There's a ghost, some child abuse, and a lot of death that I probably should have expected but still took me by surprise.

I really liked this book. It was entertaining, unpredictable, and the characters were all interesting enough. I've only read one other book by John Saul, Creature, and while this didn't quite measure up to that, it was still a great book. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I liked it up until the ending. I felt the way the author chose to finish the book was a cop out and he chose the easiest way to tie up the loose ends.

I kolejna (piąta już!) świetna książka Johna Saula za mną. W “Drugim dziecku” jak i w większości powieści autora głównymi bohaterami są creepy dzieci - w tym przypadku dwie przyrodnie siostry. Opis wydawcy jest wielce mylący - sugerując się nim myślałam, że wiem, która z dziewcząt będzie tą dziwaczną i niepokojącą, a która normalną. I tu - już na pierwszych 20 stronach spotkało mnie pierwsze zaskoczenie - okazało się, że nie jest to kolejny schematyczny horror o morderczych dzieciach, którego całą fabułę możemy przewidzieć już po pierwszym rozdziale. Co to, to nie! Czytając nie miałam pojęcia co przyniesie każda kolejna strona. Kiedy domyślałam się, że wydarzenia pójdą w tym a tym kierunku, to Saul wyskakiwał z zupełnie innym rozwiązaniem - różnym o 180 stopni od tego, co ja przewidywałam. Wszystkie te niespodzianki sprawiły, że “Dziecko” okazało się dla mnie powieścią nieodkładalną, praktycznie czytało się samo aż do ostatniej strony. A i tu - na ostatniej stronie, w ostatnim zdaniu autor zapodał kolejną bombę! Uwierzcie mi - nawet nie próbujcie przewidzieć fabuły tej książki, i tak Wam to się nie uda. Horrory Saula pomimo, że często opowiadają o nieletnich bohaterach, to zdecydowanie są skierowane do starszego czytelnika. Autor nie szczędzi makabrycznych i szczegółowych opisów brutalnych zbrodni czy rozkładających się ciał. Jednak to nie te krwawe opisy najbardziej przerażają w “Drugim dziecku”. Straszne i niepojęte jest to, jak okrutne i bezduszne są niektóre postaci - i to najbliższa rodzina. Pomimo, że książka wciąga, to jednak czyta się ją ciężko - właśnie ze względu na bestialskie i potworne, momentami wręcz sadystyczne zachowania bohaterów. “Drugie dziecko” to nie lekki wakacyjny horrorek, a bardzo przygnębiająca i smutna powieść, która niezwykle silnie oddziałuje na emocje.

When Charles Holloway’s ex-wife Polly and her husband die in a fire in their home, Charles brings his pretty daughter Teri (who has been living with her mother Polly for years) to his home at Secret Cove, to live. Charles is now remarried to a woman named Phyllis and has another daughter, in which he dotes on, called Melissa. Charles and his ex-wife Polly were raised with money and had been living in a posh town called Secret Cove. Polly didn’t like the trappings of wealth, moved away, remarried, and gave her money away. Years later, Polly’s daughter Teri resented this. She felt she should be at Secret Cove, receiving the finer things in life.

Teri arrives at Secret Cove and meets her shy half-sister Melissa (who is ridiculed and mocked because she doesn’t fit in… she’s a bit overweight, shy, plain.) Melissa is happy to now have a sister. She’s quite lonely. Add to that, she has a very cruel mother (Phyllis) who abuses her.

There is talk, told by children around campfires at night, about a ghost called D’Arcy who also didn’t fit in. A hundred years ago a terrible thing happened at the August Moon Ball. Now, on the anniversary of that day, is D’Arcy back for revenge?

John Saul really knows how to write captivating stories. I had a hard time putting this book down, I always wanted to know what was going to happen next. Some of the characters were very likable… Melissa, her father Charles, the maid Cora, and Cora’s grandson Tag. And some characters were really horrible. Especially Melissa’s mother Phyllis, the snobbish kids at Secret Cove, and Melissa’s half-sister Teri, who isn’t as sweet as she seemed. I also liked the setting of the coastal town.

Another engrossing and compelling read by John Saul.

I. Love. It.

My favorite characters are D'Arcy and Melissa! What I like are the spooky chapters! The book is now my fave book of all the horrifying books! The important thing I learned about is be nice and be good to people and animals and never harm/murder them! Because you'll never know if they have a ghost friend who will make you pay for every wrong thing you ever done! And you'll suffer in hell just like mean Teri! Melissa has no mean bone in her body so be like Melissa!

Thank you John for writing this wicked book called The Second Child! If you're reading this! Please write another The Second Child part two book! I shall give this book a big thumbs up and five stars! John you deserve a reward for writing the best horror books thank you so much!