This book was gripping from the beginning. John Saul really knows how to write page turners. I don't remember there being any dull moments in this book. Just a lot of unanswered questions. The book is about a boy, Ryan, who agrees to go to a Catholic school for problem-kids. At this school, the Father Sebastian is an expert in a sacred old... something something something... of being able to conjure the bad and evil spirits from the children. Instead of using exorcisms the good ol' fashioned way, Father Sebastian is doing it some other way. Of what other way I do not know because this book has a lot of holes.

Although I appreciated how nail-biting this story was and it was told full throttle, I'm left feeling there are things missing. If this school is for trouble kids, why don't they appear to be anything but normal, goal-oriented teens? What is the purpose or origin of this ancient "magic" Father Sebastian is using? Why aren't any of the other faculty wondering what's going on? And what really happened in the end?

I had a lot of questions and few answers but I still enjoyed the story. One has to admit anything involving exorcisms is inherently creepy. I would love to read more of his books. So far I have read two and they were both really good. Can't wait to read the ones on my shelf at home.

So I have mixed feelings... this book was written with the same quality and style I've come to love from John Saul, however... the whole "the brown people did it" trope feels wrong and unnecessary? Why even try to frame Muslim people as vengeful or evil? I mean, you can look further into it and possibly see that since the antagonists recently rediscovered their faith it's a commentary on how religious extremism corrupts and not a note on the religion of choice at all, but it's still a flawed interpretation at best. Definitely the least of his books that I've read.

I enjoyed reading this book, however, I did not understand the correlation between the demonic presence that seemed to possess the students and the two brothers. It never really clarifies if this is some type of presence they conjured to help them exact their revenge, or what. My guess is that it was an ancient entity that possessed them as well to do its bidding.

Overall, I still enjoyed the book very much and would recommend it. I love John Saul, but his books are becoming increasingly difficult to find on the shelves anymore. I have to order most of mine from Amazon now.

It was dull and the ending just didn't make sense. I tried hard to read page to page but I ended up doing a lot of skimming and....I don't know. It just seemed very poorly done to me and I didn't like it at all. Maybe John Saul just isn't for me? Maybe.

Associating Islam w/Evil

Other than as noted I the header, I liked the book okay.

I'm not an organized faith fan, but representation in media fuels the ignorance of the public. Yes, it's fiction. Unfortunately, a lot of readers have problems telling the difference.

Eh! Not that good..

Really interesting book!

A man learns to harness evil in children and tries to kill the pope.

2.5 - I am a huge fan of John Saul. Suffer the Children inspired my love of reading when I was a teenager. I read so many of his books back then. I saw this book in a library sale and decided to give it a go. It started off with potential. I enjoyed the buildup, however, as with many other reviews, the ending fell flat. I needed more information on that final scene and there were a ton of unanswered questions.

Labirintul diavolului - Ioan Saul

Povestea conține câteva elemente destul de înfricoșătoare.
Misiunea lui Sebastian nu este aceea de a demonstra puterea exorcismului (nu voi dezvălui mai multe).
Finalul a fost puțin dezamăgitor, însă, per ansamblu, povestea este bine realizată, cu întorsături de situație bine scrise și personaje destul de bine conturate.

Pagini 368

După moartea prematură a tatălui său, Ryan McIntyre, în vârstă de 15 ani, intră în derivă emoţională, iar mama lui îl înscrie la şcoala catolică cu internat St. Isaac, sperând că venerabila instituţie, care are o bună reputaţie pentru reformarea adolescenţilor cu probleme, îl va ajuta şi pe fiul ei.
Dar când Ryan soseşte la St. Isaac, descoperă că aici tocmai au avut loc moartea violentă a unui elev, o dispariţie misterioasă şi alte incidente tulburătoare. Când tânărul preot Sebastian se alătură cadrelor didactice, lucrurile încep să se schimbe.
Dar acesta are o misiune secretă de a dovedi puterea ritualului de exorcizare, iar curând Papa însuşi va lua cunoştinţă de evenimentele aparent misterioase petrecute la St. Isaac.
Dar Ryan, care vede anumite lucruri, are altă părere despre părintele Sebastian şi devine convins că la mijloc se află nu puterea divinităţii, ci forţe mult mai întunecate

Big buildup--then does not explain!

Also the book has the added bonus of being offensive to Catholics and Muslims at the same time.

The book did not have strong characters--and many parts of it were predictable (thankfully--the author moved quickly once the reader knows what is going to happen and does not belabor it). The characters were also unengaging and one dimensional. All of this could have been forgiven, and I kept reading (or rather listening) as I the author kept the story moving with multiple view points and some parts were generally creeping--and made one wonder what is going on?--and then SPOILER ALERT--he does not explain a major part of the story--the predictable part, the ending the reader can see coming like the Acela that he explains--but the really weird, creepy stuff he does not explain, he barely hints at it. I am sure the author would say "oh it's up to the reader"..which would be okay, if he gave us something to go on, especially as what one might think is largely ruled out by the final reveal of the story.