Bizarre trashy horror that doesn't make a lot of sense but is pretty fun to read. Child/domestic abuse on VC Andrews levels.

It. was. bad.

After three books I just can't get into this guy's writing. Poorly written, predictable, and at times cringeworthy.

I have read a fair amount of Saul and this is definitely one of his better novels. As usual, it takes place in a small town and mostly involves family dynamics. The family in this case are the Ambers-- one old lady (80+) Edna and her daughter Diana (50). The town in the mountains of Colorado basically came into existence due to the Amber's coal mine in the 1800s, but a terrible cave in/flood in 1910 killed all the miners, including Mr. Amber, leaving Edna and Diana all alone. Diana was born the day of the tragedy. Now, the town has recovered somewhat, becoming a tourist destination, but the Ambers decide they want to reopen the mine. Unfortunately, the mining engineer they hire to do so dies in the mine, leaving his young 9 year old daughter with no parents and no living relatives. Unsure of what to do, young Christie is taken to the Amber household, as the mining engineer named Diana as a guardian in his will.

Also as usual for Saul, we have an old spanish crone who serves as the local lore hound, and still lives by the mine as her husband (also killed in 1910) was a supervisor there. The local Indians (Utes?) have a legend about the area that predates the mine; there is a cave there where they uses to take their stillborn children who would later be reincarnated. When the wind blows, it is said you can here them crying. As the title suggests, wind plays a major role in the novel.

Without going into too much detail regarding the plot, old Edna comes across at first as someone who makes Mommy Dearest look like an angel. She has keep her 50 year old daughter away from everyone in town, and Diana basically lives to serve her mother's whims. Edna does not want Diana to adopt Christie, but Diana seemingly finely shows some spine and rebuffs her mother regarding this. Diana comes across as a Jeckle and Hyde figure-- nice and loving until the wind blows, and then very cruel. Christie does not know what to do. The most horrific aspect of this book concerns the child abuse-- both in the present with Christie and in Diana's past. Some parts regarding this were almost too difficult to read. So, while not much regarding the supernatural, When the Winds Blow still packs a punch. 3.5 stars, rounding up the 4 wire hangers.

So, as I am probably one of if not the Biggest John Saul fan EVER......(I personally knew him when I still lived in Seattle, and most all my books are autographed by him) I am re-reading all 36 of his horror classics in publishing order. Since he is retired from writing, it is sad that we will never get anything else from him. Here is a link to my most recent video book review; from my YouTube channel; AreYouIntoHorror here:
https://youtu.be/Fn0DAuZwuNo

If you are not already subscribed to my channel, and love horror as much as I do....Subscribe to it.
Thanks so much for stopping by to read this. Richard.

I read this as a teenager, which I think is probably the age it was written for. Still, it was good for a little spookiness on Halloween.

not his best effort

2.5

It’s been many years since I have read a John Saul book and reading this one reminded me of everything I loved about them. This book is full of genuinely creepy atmosphere and disturbingly deranged characters. It is also very visual and often feels like you are watching a film. It’s not a perfect book but, like most things written by this author, it gets under your skin!

Creepy...This was a thrift store find, but I'm glad I did find it! I read it years ago when I was a teen, so it would probably have a different effect on me now that I'm a parent. I remember it being a good, creepy book.

The only things that I really didn’t like were Jeff’s outcome and that it didn’t really say what happened to Christy when she left. It said she wasn’t with her daughters father, she had been left the ranch, where she’d lived, etc., but it didn’t say who she lived with and things like that. What happened between her leaving and her coming back?

A real downer. This guy’s writing is pretty hard on children and animals- he seems to really enjoy killing them off. A lot of repetition and frustrating, unsympathetic characters, several of whom needed a jack slap back into reality and common sense.
Based on this book, it’s unlikely I will ever read another by John Saul.

Es mi tercer libro del autor John saul y si bien no hizo retorcerme de miedo como esperaba, me gustó la historia, la trama, me atrapó es bastante intrigante, me hubiese gustado un desarrollo más profundo en el tema de la leyenda del pueblo de amberton eso quizás le hubiera dado más profundidad al libro.