This wasn't the first John Saul book I've read. The ones I have read were more contemporary. While knowing this was his first novel I read it keeping an open mind but I was still let down.

There were alot of good , sick, twisted, horrific scenes. The beginning abduction, the tea parties in the cave with all their gore and brutality, the fathers admittance to what he did 1 year prior to his daughter, the towns reaction and isolation were all some examples of great terror and good writing.

Two things I didn't like were the characters of the parental Congers. It's amazing how Rose stayed with her husband after what he physically did to their daughter and then later admitted to what he was actually thinking.
The ending was also pretty weak. I did like how 15 years later it was all figured out accidentally. But we are left to wonder, was it Elizabeth or Beth. Was it the curse of Conger family and a vengeful spirit inhabiting Elizabeth, or did Elizabeth just snap due to family stress and environmental factors and use the curse as a foundation of her mental illness.

3 stars

3,5*

Started the book loving the story so much and the creepiness of the children, how unsettling everything felt. Even though the book was progressing very slow paced, I was so invested that I just wanted to keep reading and thought this would be at least a 4* read.

However towards the end of the book there were a couple of decisions made involving the characters and who perpetrated which crimes, that just disappointed me quite a bit. The ending was as well very unsatisfying for me.

We follow the story of a small town in which there is a legend/family curse that involves a hidden cave and woods that should be avoided by kids at all costs.

Our main characters are a family of 4 with a dark past and a daughter who will not speak after a horrible incident that happened years ago. We follow the family dynamics and some of the worst parents and parenting you will ever see in a book, while the children might be getting too close to discover the hidden cave and its secrets.

Warning: child abuse, child slaughter, animal slaughter, mental illness

Este libro corresponde al reto del mes de Octubre!! Que libro tan Brutal, en verdad escalofriante y perturbador. Esta es la historia de la familia Conger, que vive en la Punta Conger ubicada en Port Arbello. Un sector bastante tranquilo cercano al Atlántico. Los Congers han Sido atreves del tiempo una familia adinerada con buen prestigio y nivel social.Los niños Conger tienen prohibido acercarse al acantilado por los riesgos de accidentes graves que puedan tener y por la leyenda que han venido transcurriendo de generación en generación, pero lo no les mencionan es el gran secreto que mantienen oculto. Jack es un periodista reconocido en Port Arbello, Rose su esposa es una importante vendedora de propiedades su hija elizabeth es una niña dedicada a su hermana menor Sara la cual sufrió un percance bastante traumático lo cual la sumergió en un estado de shock permanente. A medida que vas avanzando en esta novela encontrarás escenas bastantes fuertes e impactantes en cuál te darás cuenta que no habrá piedad ni misericordia al momento de asesinar, dónde uno de los protagonistas va descendiendo poco a poco al camino de la locura, y leer como día a día desaparecen niños y no saben lo que sucede en Port Arbello, llevará a los padres a un nivel de nerviosismo y pánico absoluto.Con un final de infarto. 10000% Recomendada!!!

q turbio wtf todos los personajes de este libro necesitan terapia

I read this book when I was a teenager and can hardly remember a thing about it other than that it scared the crap out of me at the time. Small town, evil kid, and a horrible, dreadful scene involving a cat that I've completely blocked from my mind.

2 1/2 STARS
Back in the late 80's and early 90's I discovered John Saul's books. Unfortunately, I read all of the ones I could get my hands on one right after the other and now I don't remember which ones I read and which ones I didn't (I do know that I stopped reading his stuff after he and his publishers released "The Blackstone Chronicles" series which was published as 6 novelettes; an obvious attempt to copy the successful "Green Mile" series of Stephen King). Therefore, I have decided to start at the beginning of his career and forever record them in my goodreads library!
Sadly, Suffer the Children is the book I had to start with. This must not have been one of the ones I read before, because I think I would have remembered some of the visuals that Saul includes in this story. Child abuse, ghostly body-possessions of children, and ritualistic killings and suicides make up most of "not for the squeamish" scenes. Although the plot is interesting enough to have kept my attention, the ending leaves too much unresolved to give it a full 3 stars.

This book was phenomenal. I read horror as a general rule and this rocked. You gotta keep it in your mind that this was written in 1977. Not recently. Things were different then. I feel like a lot of the other reviewers fail to grasp that. This was brutal and heavy for the 1970s. All the stars. I've read over a dozen by Saul and this is one of the best.

3.5/4

I don't recall being blown away by any of John Saul's books, but this one stuck more than the others. Perhaps it's because it was my first horror novel. I don't know. There are scenes in this book that still haunt me (don't worry, no spoilers).

My very first John Saul novel, one of several that I picked up at the Barrie Flea Market last year. It was good as well as creepy.

The characters seemed like normal, everyday people - a family with problems, and strange happenings.

Several times, I was shocked, dismayed, angry, and freaked right out. What happens in the novel doesn't seem so far-fetched, and it's scary how real it seems. The end made me feel helpless and I shuddered at something else.

Want to read an older psycho thriller, this one will make you sleep with the light on.

Very dark and sad! Read quite awhile ago.

Lacklustre prose writing. Silly, uninspired premise. Inconsistent characters. Full of lame attempts to shock and gross the reader. At best this was mildly entertaining. I thought Saul's debut might somehow have a stronger punch to it. Alas, it's just as medicore as his other stuff.