...
Show More
Call me naive but I like happy endings and that just wasn't.....
Ease Reading-Find Your Next Favorite Book
All Fall Down
...
Show More
Something horrific is happening to the children of Eastbury, Massachusetts. Now, an entire town waits on the edge of panic for the next nightmare. There must be a reason for the terror. They all know it - but no one ever suspected.
336 pages, Paperback
First published January 1,1982
This edition
- Format
-
336 pages, Paperback
- Published
-
January 1, 1991 by Transworld Publishers
- ISBN
-
9780553173871
- ASIN
-
0553173871
- Language
-
English
Characters More characters
-
-
Sally Montgomery
...
-
Steve Montgomery
...
-
Jason Montgomery
...
-
Julie Montgomery
...
-
Randy Corliss
...
About the author
...
Show More
John Saul grew up in Whittier California where he graduated from Whittier High School in 1959. He attended several colleges—Antioch, in Ohio, Cerritos, in Norwalk, California, Montana State University and San Francisco State College, variously majoring in anthropology, liberal arts, and theater, but never obtaining a degree.
After leaving college, he decided the best thing for a college dropout to do was become a writer, and spent the next fifteen years working in various jobs while attempting to write a book someone would want to publish. Should anyone ever want to write a novel concerning the car-rental industry or the travails of temporary typists, John can provide excellent background material.
Those years garnered him a nice collection of unpublished manuscripts, but not a lot of money. Eventually he found an agent in New York, who spent several years sending his manuscripts around, and trying to make the rejection slips sound hopeful. Then, in 1976, one of his manuscripts reached Dell, who didn't want to buy it, but asked if he'd be interested in writing a psychological thriller. He put together an outline, and crossed his fingers.
At that point, things started getting bizarre. His agent decided the outline had all the makings of a best-seller, and so did Dell. Gambling on a first novel by an unknown author, they backed the book with television advertising (one of the first times a paperback original was promoted on television) and the gamble paid off. Within a month Suffer the Children appeared on all the best-seller lists in the country and made the #1 spot in Canada. Subsequently all 32 of his books, have made all the best-seller lists and have been published world wide. Though many of his books were published by Bantam/Doubleday/Dell his last fourteen books have been published by Ballantine/Fawcett/Columbine.
In addition to his work as novelist, John is also interested in the theater. He has acted, and as a playwright has had several one-act plays produced in Los Angeles and Seattle, and two optioned in New York. One of his novels was produced by Gerber Productions Company and M.G.M. as a C.B.S. movie and currently one of his novels is in development.
John served on the Expansion Arts Panel of the National Endowment for the Arts. He is actively involved with the development of other writers, and is a lecturer at the Pacific Northwest Writers Conference and the Maui Writers Conference and received the Life Time Achievement Award from the Northwest Writers Conference. John is also a trustee and Vice President of The Chester Woodruff Foundation (New York), a philanthropic organization.
John lives part-time in the Pacific Northwest, both in Seattle and in the San Juan Islands. He also maintains a residence on the Big Island of Hawaii. He currently enjoys motor homing, travel and golf. He is an avid reader, bridge player, golfer and loves to cook.
After leaving college, he decided the best thing for a college dropout to do was become a writer, and spent the next fifteen years working in various jobs while attempting to write a book someone would want to publish. Should anyone ever want to write a novel concerning the car-rental industry or the travails of temporary typists, John can provide excellent background material.
Those years garnered him a nice collection of unpublished manuscripts, but not a lot of money. Eventually he found an agent in New York, who spent several years sending his manuscripts around, and trying to make the rejection slips sound hopeful. Then, in 1976, one of his manuscripts reached Dell, who didn't want to buy it, but asked if he'd be interested in writing a psychological thriller. He put together an outline, and crossed his fingers.
At that point, things started getting bizarre. His agent decided the outline had all the makings of a best-seller, and so did Dell. Gambling on a first novel by an unknown author, they backed the book with television advertising (one of the first times a paperback original was promoted on television) and the gamble paid off. Within a month Suffer the Children appeared on all the best-seller lists in the country and made the #1 spot in Canada. Subsequently all 32 of his books, have made all the best-seller lists and have been published world wide. Though many of his books were published by Bantam/Doubleday/Dell his last fourteen books have been published by Ballantine/Fawcett/Columbine.
In addition to his work as novelist, John is also interested in the theater. He has acted, and as a playwright has had several one-act plays produced in Los Angeles and Seattle, and two optioned in New York. One of his novels was produced by Gerber Productions Company and M.G.M. as a C.B.S. movie and currently one of his novels is in development.
John served on the Expansion Arts Panel of the National Endowment for the Arts. He is actively involved with the development of other writers, and is a lecturer at the Pacific Northwest Writers Conference and the Maui Writers Conference and received the Life Time Achievement Award from the Northwest Writers Conference. John is also a trustee and Vice President of The Chester Woodruff Foundation (New York), a philanthropic organization.
John lives part-time in the Pacific Northwest, both in Seattle and in the San Juan Islands. He also maintains a residence on the Big Island of Hawaii. He currently enjoys motor homing, travel and golf. He is an avid reader, bridge player, golfer and loves to cook.
Readers also enjoyed
Community Reviews
Rating(3.9 / 5.0, 100 votes)
5 stars
25(25%)
4 stars
38(38%)
3 stars
37(37%)
2 stars
0(0%)
1 stars
0(0%)
100 reviews All reviews
...
Show More
What a surprisingly fun thrift find! Going into this book I knew nothing but fun 80s horror vibes - by the end I was thriving because this book screams classic mass market horror in the best possible way. Missing children, a sinister medical conspiracy, women going unheard or even worse told their insane, and husbands floundering for the control they feel they’ve lost - this is for sure a perfect summer read.
...
Show More
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.
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.
...
Show More
An interesting novel that deals with themes of surveillance, genetics, and military research. I liked it a lot idk what to say though. Definitely my favorite Saul book so far.
...
Show More
"That was where his father lived, so everything was all right.
Except that it didn't quite FEEL all right. Deep inside, Randy had a strange sense of something being very wrong"
The God Project by John Saul
Sigh. Yes, it is he. John Saul again. A writer I grew up with (his books) and a writer who succeeded every time in scaring the living daylights out of me.
This is much much different then most of his works.
And startlingly good. I do not think I moved the whole time while reading this.
I am moving into spoiler territory. Have you not read this book? Then do not read further. If you, like myself, are a Saul fan, perhaps you have the same gripe as I do.
SPOILERS:
why John Saul why? Why do you have to Kill EVERYONE in all your books? Why could you not let Lucy and Jim find happiness together?
Yeah I know. I get way to involved.
I always wanted a part two of this but Saul is not known for his happy endings soo..
But I wish he'd rewrite a few of them with happy endings. He'd make his fans..some of them such as yours truly..so happy.
But..no. It will most likely never happen. Second sigh.
I still friggin LOVED this! 4 stars!
Except that it didn't quite FEEL all right. Deep inside, Randy had a strange sense of something being very wrong"
The God Project by John Saul
Sigh. Yes, it is he. John Saul again. A writer I grew up with (his books) and a writer who succeeded every time in scaring the living daylights out of me.
This is much much different then most of his works.
And startlingly good. I do not think I moved the whole time while reading this.
I am moving into spoiler territory. Have you not read this book? Then do not read further. If you, like myself, are a Saul fan, perhaps you have the same gripe as I do.
SPOILERS:
why John Saul why? Why do you have to Kill EVERYONE in all your books? Why could you not let Lucy and Jim find happiness together?
Yeah I know. I get way to involved.
I always wanted a part two of this but Saul is not known for his happy endings soo..
But I wish he'd rewrite a few of them with happy endings. He'd make his fans..some of them such as yours truly..so happy.
But..no. It will most likely never happen. Second sigh.
I still friggin LOVED this! 4 stars!
...
Show More
This was the first John Saul book I read and I was hooked on 'em throughout high school. I think they eventually got too twisted for me, but they were riveting for a few years. Still think of this one as my favorite. Would be a great start for a movie!
...
Show More
The God Project was my introduction to John Saul's work. By the end of this book, I was pretty disappointed. It read fast and kept me mildly interested, mostly because of the dated 1980's high tech computer/DNA descriptions. There is a 1 star review from 2015 that parallels (in detail) a lot of what I didn't enjoy about this book so I'm not going to take the time to write it here. I did have higher expectations from Saul but ultimately, this book was FINE; not the best, not the worst.
If anyone has any John Saul recommendations that might alter my opinion of his work, I'm all for it!
If anyone has any John Saul recommendations that might alter my opinion of his work, I'm all for it!
...
Show More
In checking this from the library I came upon a timestamp on the card, last checked out in 2001, that's when my mom checked it out. I remember this book is highly messed up, and if you don't like kids dying or messed up books, then man, you are reading and reviewing the wrong author's materials.
While this was not one of his best in many ways, it's up there. Saul writes you child horrors about children and he goes into things most don't. The characters are written how it works, treated and seen as insane because what they are saying sounds crazy. It's a ride and it's easy to grasp why SIDS is used as a scapegoat. It, much like many things in the medical field, works well as a cover up.
It was fun to revisit this book, but the ending's both amazing the first read, and totally something two brats would say that makes you mad as well.
While this was not one of his best in many ways, it's up there. Saul writes you child horrors about children and he goes into things most don't. The characters are written how it works, treated and seen as insane because what they are saying sounds crazy. It's a ride and it's easy to grasp why SIDS is used as a scapegoat. It, much like many things in the medical field, works well as a cover up.
It was fun to revisit this book, but the ending's both amazing the first read, and totally something two brats would say that makes you mad as well.
Leave a Review