IN SHORT: These people are Too Stupid To Live (TSTL) -- and many won't. Yay?

PLOT: Couple moves to small fishing village that doesn't welcome strangers. Odd things start happening, and there's suddenly a growing body count...

VERDICT: 2.88 stars, rounded to 3. A good book to read during a beach vacation and/or a stormy night. Would've been 3+ stars with smarter protagonists.

NOTES:
- Good small town horror/thriller plot that suffers from too many idiot* protagonists.
- Storms and a lack of phones & electricity make things spookier than usual.
- Holds up well from 1979, if you don't mind numbskull characters,  pi$$-poor parenting, and negligent policing.

*Some examples (of many): People repeatedly  walk around outside during violent lightning storms... mostly for no logical or necessary reasons. Parents make no attempts to prevent their young children from doing the same, repeatedly.

TRIGGER WARNING: Harm to  fictional animal(s).

John Saul este unul dintre autorii mei preferati si imi place in mare parte pentru ca de fiecare data stii la ce sa te astepti de la el si poti sa intuiesti cam cat de horror sunt cartile sale, astfel incat rareori dezamageste. Este genul de autor care s-a mentinut fidel propriului stil si nu a diluat niciodata suspansul, frica si atmosfera apasatoare de dragul comercialului sau a cerintelor pietei.
Prezentul roman a aparut in 1979 si surprinzator, continutul si tendintele in materie de horror se preteaza si la tendintele actuale. Putem doar sa admiram cat de avansat era John Saul pentru perioada aceea, scriind ceea ce altii poate incearca abia acum.
Venind vorba despre atmosfera si intriga, le putem compara cu cea din Twin Peaks, desi poate nu atat de pregnante ca acolo, insa cititorul este condus incetisor in acest labirint al suspansului iar lucrurile devin din ce in ce mai apasatoare si infricosatoare.
In prolog ni se dezvaluie un ritual ciudat, ce include un dans pe plaja in timpul unei furtuni, la care participantii ingroapa de vii in nisip doi oameni si ii lasa acolo sa moara. Aceasta legenda circula pe plaja 'SOD Beach' si daca este adevarata sau nu, psihiatrul Brad Randall si sotia sa Elaine vor afla pe propria lor piele. Ei decid sa se mute la Clark's Harbour pentru ca el doreste sa scrie o carte despre un fost pacient, Robby Palmer, care suferea de o grava hiperkinezie si care s-a vindecat miraculos atunci cand parintii lui s-au mutat aici.
Desi satenii sunt dusmanosi nedorind sa aiba de-a face cu strainii, seriful locului este neprietenos si agresiv cu ei, iar furtunile misterioase sunt la ordinea zilei, ei nu se lasa descurajati si doresc sa descifreze misterul mortilor de pe plaja.
In ceea ce-l priveste pe Robby, putem doar sa ne intrebam daca chiar si cei mai inocenti dintre noi pot ajunge in final cei mai malefici.
Mi s-a parut potrivita denumirea plajei 'Sands of Death' (SOD) si de asemenea m-a amuzat afirmatia lui Elaine cum ca singurul lucru bun la o furtuna, cand te afli la un motel este ca nu poti auzi ce se intampla in camera alaturata si nici nu poti fi auzit.
Cel mai mult mi-a placut ca si dupa ce mi-am dat seama de 'sursa raului', romanul era in continuare interesant si captivant, John Saul stiind sa starneasca interesul cititorului pana la sfarsit, astfel ca nu te poti opri din citit chiar si atunci cand descoperi unele lucruri. In loc sa taie cheful, te intriga mai mult.

Truly baffling.

Classic horror

This book was so incredibly creepy in such a delightful way!! If you're a fan of the horror genre and genuinely enjoy being frightened by what you are reading I definitely recommend you check this out

The first book i've read from John Saul. I fell in love with it.

Cry for the Strangers • John Saul 1979 • Dell Publishing 1979 PB •
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Maybe an old indigenous curse makes the small fishing village of Clark's Harbour a very dangerous place for outsiders. Perhaps the ocean is to blame for the death of anyone not born there. The storms come every night when newcomers arrive and when the wind stops and the sky clears someone nobody knows very well has died. 
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I am on the hunt for more of John Saul's paperbacks, I stumbled on my first one, "Punish the Sinners" by chance and found the story compelling, fast and mysterious. At the moment John Saul is 2 for 2 with mysterious plots and engaging characters. Now I'm looking for Suffer the Children.
•

This was a good book. That’s all I can say about it. What I like most about John Saul is consistency. He always writes a good book. He never writes bad ones, nor has he written a truly great one. There is no magnum opus or capstone work in John Saul’s library of 36 published titles. With a few exceptions, all rely on the standard Saul construct for a novel with different characters, settings and circumstances.

I’ve said in earlier reviews that Saul doesn’t flesh out his characters any more than is necessary to tell his story and none of the characters in this story are particularly deep. With the exception of Chip, none are introspective. We are left with the motivations and emotions at hand with no backstory.

A stylistic critique I’d level at this Saul work is how he writes from so many points of view. None of the main characters are a mystery to the reader and despite a few red herrings about Indian legends, it’s painfully obvious who the villain is. But being in Harney Whalen’s head was useless text. We were in his head when he was rational. He knew he was having blackouts and was concerned about it. Saul could have shown us that. If Saul needed to be an omniscient narrator, he should have taken us into Harney’s head when he was maniacal.

Saul does do a good job of creating the setting of the remote, unfriendly fishing village on the coast of Washington; constantly beset by storms and cold weather. Perhaps it’s because Saul grew up in Washington that he is able to set the scene so well.

Saul is fun and easy to read. I can breeze through his books in just a few sittings and the stories, while seldom enthralling, are well told and well written.

Cry for the Strangers was Saul’s third book. Like most authors, he improved over the years and wrote many books superior to Cry for the Strangers. Nonetheless, the book made for light, easy reading and I enjoyed it a great deal.

There was a made for television movie based on this story. To my knowledge, it is the only adaptation of a Saul story for any screen. I have not seen it, but it was apparently not well received by viewers and IMDB.com reviewers.

All in all not bad, although there could be some more action. Some passages are a bit lengthy.
The solution of the scenario is very interesting.

sub par for Saul. to be frank Saul is sub-par, but quick reads

PB-B @ 1986, 3/1988. Horror. Y U C K !!!

Nett. Aber nicht gruslig.