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When this book appeared in one of my Goodreads Deal of the Day emails with the notation it was on my "want to read" list, I eagerly snatched it up. John Saul for a buck ninety-nine? Heck ya!
Having read other books of his in the past, I had an idea of what to expect: Something bad happened years ago in Smalltown USA and now that bad thing is happening again as history repeats itself, usually involving the deaths of several children along the way. Which kind of makes you wonder what John Saul has against children, but he's such a great storyteller, you almost find yourself trying to guess who's next on his hit list. (Well, at least I do, I admit).
In this case, Smalltown USA is Amberton, Colorado, a small mining community founded by the Amber family, which also has a strong Native American presence. In this case, the "bad thing" is that legend has it that when Native American babies are stillborn, they are buried at the mine awaiting the time their souls will be reborn to new mothers and when the wind blows, (which happens A LOT), you can hear the babies crying. And being that it's a mine, it has seen it's share of tragedies along the way.
One of these tragedies happened fifty years ago, on the day Diana Amber was born, when a flood killed her (mine owner) father along with several others. Extremely sheltered by her mother, who didn't want her in the first place - and never really forgave her for being born as her father died, Edna, Diana now finds herself the guardian of Christie Lyons, a nine-year old who is orphaned when her father is also killed in a mining accident and whose mother had died years ago.
Coming to live with the Ambers quickly becomes a nightmare for Christie as Diana starts to treat her in the same manner in which she was raised - an odd mix of alternating between being extremely loving to extremely abusive, depending (literally) on whether or not the wind is blowing as the blowing wind causes Diana to have "spells." And then, as Diana becomes more possessive of her "baby," increasingly confusing Christie for a newborn instead of a child, Christie's friends start to die...
This was one that I was happy to discover I had not previously read and I quickly became engrossed in it even with having an idea of what to expect based on his tried and true formula. I think I made it about 50 pages before I wanted to jump ahead to see how it ends! And as I mentioned in my last review of one of his books, though written in the early 80's, there is such a timelessness to his style of writing that it didn't feel dated.
My biggest issue with this book was just how often the phrase "when the wind blows" or variations of it was mentioned. While I understand this is very central to the plot, it was still overkill - almost to the point that it started to take away from the story. However, even with that, this was a very satisfying read that once again ends with the hint of history being about to repeat itself 20 years down the road with the next generation. I am thrilled to have rediscovered this author and was definitely left wanting more!
Having read other books of his in the past, I had an idea of what to expect: Something bad happened years ago in Smalltown USA and now that bad thing is happening again as history repeats itself, usually involving the deaths of several children along the way. Which kind of makes you wonder what John Saul has against children, but he's such a great storyteller, you almost find yourself trying to guess who's next on his hit list. (Well, at least I do, I admit).
In this case, Smalltown USA is Amberton, Colorado, a small mining community founded by the Amber family, which also has a strong Native American presence. In this case, the "bad thing" is that legend has it that when Native American babies are stillborn, they are buried at the mine awaiting the time their souls will be reborn to new mothers and when the wind blows, (which happens A LOT), you can hear the babies crying. And being that it's a mine, it has seen it's share of tragedies along the way.
One of these tragedies happened fifty years ago, on the day Diana Amber was born, when a flood killed her (mine owner) father along with several others. Extremely sheltered by her mother, who didn't want her in the first place - and never really forgave her for being born as her father died, Edna, Diana now finds herself the guardian of Christie Lyons, a nine-year old who is orphaned when her father is also killed in a mining accident and whose mother had died years ago.
Coming to live with the Ambers quickly becomes a nightmare for Christie as Diana starts to treat her in the same manner in which she was raised - an odd mix of alternating between being extremely loving to extremely abusive, depending (literally) on whether or not the wind is blowing as the blowing wind causes Diana to have "spells." And then, as Diana becomes more possessive of her "baby," increasingly confusing Christie for a newborn instead of a child, Christie's friends start to die...
This was one that I was happy to discover I had not previously read and I quickly became engrossed in it even with having an idea of what to expect based on his tried and true formula. I think I made it about 50 pages before I wanted to jump ahead to see how it ends! And as I mentioned in my last review of one of his books, though written in the early 80's, there is such a timelessness to his style of writing that it didn't feel dated.
My biggest issue with this book was just how often the phrase "when the wind blows" or variations of it was mentioned. While I understand this is very central to the plot, it was still overkill - almost to the point that it started to take away from the story. However, even with that, this was a very satisfying read that once again ends with the hint of history being about to repeat itself 20 years down the road with the next generation. I am thrilled to have rediscovered this author and was definitely left wanting more!
