Call me naive but I like happy endings and that just wasn't.....

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.

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.

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.

"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!

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!

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!

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.

This book was my first John Saul book and I really liked it!

It was more thriller than horror. I'm not sure if he's mostly horror or thriller. I had thought horror, but I could be wrong about that.

But what I'm not wrong about is how much of a roller-coaster this one was.

Set in a small Massachusetts town, The God Project centers around a few families and some researchers. It's a race to find out what's happening to Eastbury's kids, triggered by a SIDS tragedy very early in the book. (So that really isn't a spoiler.)

The book is set in 1982. I don't remember computers being quite as powerful as they are depicted in this book, but it was a good mix of suspense, sci-fi, thriller, and fast-paced action. It was pretty short too, so it clipped along really well.

And wow, what a twist and an ending on this one! Fantastic!

I've got a few other Saul paperbacks in my bookcase. I'm looking forward to delving in to those soon.

Too much medical jargon. I had trouble keeping up. It also took a long time to really get anywhere.

I own a few of Saul's books and do enjoy the stories. I picked this one up as a break from my normal authors but similar genre. The idea behind the story and everything was pretty good, the ending I was glad was not the typical "happy ending" so made me a bit proud that the author did not give in and do what was all expected. However I think it could have been better told. I got in to the story easily enough and finished the book quickly, but about half way through it seemed to peter out and became easily predictable until the ending. Great idea for a tale though!

Loved this. My first John Saul Book many years ago and still remember