Es la primera novela que leo de John Saul, y la verdad no tenía idea de con qué me iba a topar. Los personajes son muy diferentes entre sí y el autor logra crear personalidades fuertes de manera que cada uno de ellos se destaque en cada una de las escenas que protagoniza. Una novela escalofriante, que pone en el centro como objeto de horror a los niños. Descubrí al autor gracias al canal Para que leer de Malik, me tomé el tiempo para leerlo y la sensación que me dejó el final perdurará en mi memoria durante largo tiempo.

Quién no haya leído nada de Saúl, esta novela es un gran puntapié para conocerlo.

I had given this book 3 stars until I came to the end. "The God Project" is about genetic engineering, which has been practiced for a long time now, and how it's being abused for government purposes. Doesn't sound too far-fetched as this point, does it? The company devoted to the scientific research for this specific experiment was funded by a pharmaceutical company, and the department of defense. I liked the mysterious survey that no one knew anything about, and the fact that the women who didn't want their children at first were the place of the experiments.
John Saul also has the ability to take a regular place in a home, the dining room during breakfast, and make it void of all goodness and wholesomeness one would automatically imagine. I also didn't like the way Randy Corliss came across as a big dumb kid who partook in carelessness; it didn't make him look invincible, just dumb. Jason Montgomery was depicted as cold.
The main reason I was disappointed was because I thought at the beginning of the book it was established that Jason had in fact murdered Julie, and then re-enacted it with Fred proving that it wasn't the BCG injection after all. I was hoping there was a parallel story-line aside from the main point. It seemed as though the ending was just rushed.

I read this book many years ago (early 80's), so I would not be able to give an accurate review. I had it listed in my records as a very good read. In my early teen years I loved horror stories. My taste in books has changed a lot over the years.

I enjoyed this, but not that much -- and I can't quite put my finger on why. The mystery definitely kept me with it through the book, trying to figure out what was going on. And I was very sympathetic to the families who had lost their children, and felt they were were well-drawn as characters. But a part of me simply had trouble embracing the story as a whole.

In part, that may be because for each of the component elements (to be more specific would be a spoiler), I've read other works (e.g., by Card or Kress), where those elements were used so much better. To give this one credit, it was published in 1983, which was very early to be dealing with some of these themes.

There were definitely some interesting twists at the end, of the nothing-is-really-ever-as-it seems type.

Even though this book is 30+ years old, ‘All Fall Down’ is a science fiction thriller still relevant in many ways. Central to the plot are the themes of sudden child death and genetic manipulation, not to mention corrupt medical and military bad guys. Good story. I liked it.

Beside the typos awesome

This was classic I was hooked from beginning till end, and the ending ,Wow!!!! Freaking classic!!!!! Highly recommend t top any fans of the author or any fans of horror in general

I first read this when I was 12. At the time I thought it was phenomenal. Now that technology has advanced (light-years, it seems), it wasn't as impressive but still an entertaining read.

This was my first John Saul book. By far, it is my favorite.

Whenever I read Saul, I get the same feeling of something missing. He has great premises for his novels, but to me, execution always falls short.

For the God Project I failed to connect to any of the characters. I understand why The Boys were written the way they were, but that makes it hard to like or empathise with them. The parents and their relationships are rushed and then concluded abruptly.

Steve feels almost like a caricature of a character with how easily he is swayed by the doctor. Also motivations are never fully explained and the adult characters act just like plot devices sometimes doing things no sensible adult would do ( like Randy's parents returning to the mansion with just one police officer and no protection).

All in all a slow read for me, left me frustrated at what the book could have been.

The story centres on two mothers who are trying to figure out what is up with their children. In one family, an infant mysteriously dies and a nine-year-old boy recovers impossibly quickly from injuries. In the other, a nine-year-old boy is kidnapped. We follow the journeys of both families all the way up to the story's unsettling conclusion. The first 40 percent is pretty slow, but then it accelerates, if not in pure action, definitely in suspense. Just be warned: it isn't a feel-good story. The ending couldn't have been any different from what it was for any of the children, but it's not nice to think about. It's one of those books that teaches that death is sometimes the better outcome, even for children.

All Fall Down is also published as The God Project

The door was slightly ajar.
There was no sound from within, and for a moment [she] felt an unreasonable sense of panic.

This is an uneasy read.

The first half of the novel is innocuous enough. A bit leisurely even. That is… until the trap is sprung and you realise that the false sense of security was exactly what the author was counting on.

I had some suspicions, and even although at least one turned out to be true, I didn’t quite see the ending coming. This is one of those books that will haunt me for a while yet.

n  We can do anything we want to, because nothing can hurt us.n

This is exactly the kind of philosophy that gets someone killed.

Saul did pull the rug from under me, but it’s a good thing, since it’s that very fact that made me up the rating from three to four. It’s scary stuff, but not in the way you think. To truly understand, you would have to read it.

The entire human genome was officially sequenced and mapped in 2003, after a decade-long project by an international team of scientists. Prior to 1990, when the Human Genome Project commenced, many questions existed about DNA, RNA, gene structures and sequencing. Prior to 1990, much of what we now know about genetics was fodder for science fiction and horror, which is why a lot of speculative fiction from the 1970s and ‘80s was “what-if?” extrapolations of unregulated human genetic engineering and experimentation.

John Saul’s 1982 sci-fi/horror novel “The God Project” joined the bandwagon of speculative authors playing upon the very real fears many people had about genetic engineering. What were the socio-political and ethical costs? Was genetic engineering the post-modern-day Frankenstein’s monster? What new wonders or horrors would we discover from this developing science?

Without giving away too many spoilers, “The God Project” epitomized two themes popular in ‘80s sci-fi/horror fiction: 1) Scientists playing God. A popular axiom: “Just because you can do something, doesn’t mean you should.” 2) Unchecked secret governmental/military entities that weren’t above using American citizens as pawns or guinea pigs.

It is interesting to note that much of what was horrifying to a 1982 audience in this novel has become common plot devices in everything from movies like “Captain America: Winter Soldier” and TV shows like “The Boys”. (Hopefully that doesn’t give too much away in terms of spoilers.)