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.

Sally Montgomery se aplecă şi îşi sărută fiica, apoi înfăşură pledul croşetat, de culoare roz, pe care mama ei îl făcuse cu prilejul naşterii lui Julie ― şi pe care Sally nu putea să îl suporte ― în jurul umerilor copilului. Julie, în vîrstă de şase luni, se răsuci somnoroasă, deschise ochii pe jumătate şi gînguri.
― Nu eşti tu îngeraşul meu? murmură Sally, atingînd nasul micuţ al fetiţei. Julie gînguri din nou, iar Sally îi şterse o picătură de salivă de pe bărbie şi îi mai dădu un pupic, după care ieşi din dormitor. Nu reuşise pînă la urmă să-l transforme cu adevărat într-o cameră pentru copii nou-născuţi.
Nu pentru că nu ar fi intenţionat să o facă. Într-adevăr, camera aceea fusese destinată creşterii copiilor încă de la naşterea lui Jason, cu opt ani în urmă. Făcuse împreună cu Steve planuri amănunţite, ajunseseră chiar să aleagă tapetul pentru pereţi şi să comande perdelele. Dar Sally Montgomery pur şi simplu nu era tipul de femeie care să se ocupe de decoraţiuni. În afară de asta, deşi nu o recunoscuse în faţa nimănui, cu excepţia lui Steve, ideea i se păruse dintotdeauna o prostie. Asta însemna că trebuia să o tot reamenajeze pe măsură ce copilul creştea. În lumina slabă a unui felinar de afară, Sally privi camera de jur împrejur şi ajunse la concluzia că avusese dreptate. Perdelele, deşi de culoare albastră, erau încă strălucitoare şi curate, iar pereţii, râmaşi la fel de albi cum fuseseră atunci cînd ea şi Steve cumpăraseră casa, cu nouă ani în urmă, erau acoperiţi cu o multitudine de fotografii şi afişe tipărite, de care orice copilaş ce se respectă ar trebui să se bucure ― Mickey Mouse pe un perete, răţoiul Donald pe cel din faţa lui, cu o serie de alte personaje care umpleau spaţiile goale. Chiar şi ventilatorul ce se rotea încet deasupra pătuţului Juliei fusese ales atît pentru calitatea fabricaţiei lui, cît şi pentru felul în care era proiectat, chiar dacă Sally ajunsese, aproape împotriva voinţei ei, să recunoască valoarea formelor lui abstracte, despre care vînzătoarea îi spusese că avea să "facă minuni pentru imaginaţia copilului". Cînd aveau să crească şi să aibă propriii lor copii, urmau să aducă înapoi din pod ventilatorul şi afişele şi să le împartă între Jason şi June, care pînă atunci vor ajunge la o cu totul altă apreciere asupra lor. Chicotind la gîndul acesta, despre care îşi dădea seama că provenea dintr-un simţ practic supradezvoltat, Sally închise fără zgomot uşa camerei copilului şi o luă pe scări în jos. Trecînd prin dreptul uşii dormitorului principal, se opri şi ascultă sforăitul lui Steve, simţindu-se tentată să lase baltă raportul la care lucra şi să se strecoare în pat, alături de el. Însă latura ei practică se impuse din nou, aşa că trase şi uşa aceea şi continuă să coboare scările. Se uită la foile de hîrtie ce acopereau biroul. Era preferabil să termine raportul în noaptea aceea şi să apuce să strîngă toate hîrtiile acelea înainte ca Steve să coboare, dimineaţă, şi să întrebe tăios de ce pe biroul "lui" erau răspîndite lucrurile "ei". Renunţase cu ani în urmă să mai încerce să-l convingă că biroul era al "lor". Steve avea anumite convingeri cu privire la teritoriu. Bucătăria, de exemplu, era a ei, cu toate că Steve era un bucătar mai priceput decît ea. Camerele de baie erau ale ei, de asemenea, în timp ce camera familiei, care, conform tuturor preceptelor, trebuia să fie în mod categoric a lor, era a lui. Pe de altă parte, dormitorul lor, la care amîndoi ţineau, era al ei, în vreme ce garajul, pe care nici unul dintre ei nu îl dorea în mod deosebit, era al lui.

This book is extremely interesting and not a terrible summer read. The idea of something being wrong with out children or happening to them as being the most frightening thing that a parent can think of or experience is not new, but the way Saul gets in the psyches of the adults involved is fantastic. The story moves quickly and easily enough, and is well-written enough for belief suspension, which is not always the case for sci-fi/horror. Worth your time I think, and thought provoking too.

It does, however, reveal a bit of a bias in the author as against "evil big corporations" etc in the language. That being said, I must admit I did not see the twist that came in the last 15 pages - two twists actually.

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.

Maybe I'm being harsh but the creepy artwork and blurb on the cover of this book seem kind of misleading to me. A thriller it may be but a horror it is not. And the author's decision to focus on a pair of hysterical mothers unravelling the mystery of their children's true nature rather than the body horror/awakening of the boys involved drains way too much of the eeriness out of this story. It's a shame too since the plot showed a lot of potential. Disappointing.

Here's an oldy but a goody. A thriller from 1982 or thereabouts that is just as thrilling and cutting edge as it was then. Computers and recumbent DNA and military/medical conspiracies coupled with every parent's darkest fears, somebody is messing with their children. Time has only given the scary elements more power to make us wonder what we don't know might be happening. I thoroughly enjoyed this charmer.

Love all of John Saul's books. He focuses on teenagers, at least all the books of his that I've read were that way. I empathized with his lead characters because I always feel like an outsider, which his characters always wind up being. Saul mixes it all up with some Sci-fi to boot.

Sally Montgomery heeft alles wat ze wilt. Een goede baan, een liefhebbende man en twee gezonde kinderen. Maar dan komt dochter Julie te overlijden. Volgens de dokter wiegendood, maar Sally denkt aan moord en wilt dit bewijzen.
Enkele dagen later verdwijnt er een 9-jarig jongetje. Weggelopen zegt de politie. Ontvoerd zeggen de ouders. Als beide moeders in contact met elkaar komen, willen ze de zaken tot de bodem uitzoeken. Het antwoord is hun gruwelijkste nachtmerrie. Ze krijgen hulp uit onverwachte hoek, maar ook de tegenwerking komt van een kant dat ze niet hadden verwacht. Wie zit er achter deze moorden en verdwijningen? Kom het te weten in De macht van het kwaad.
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Een uitstekend boek van John Saul. Je denkt dat je het antwoord weet, maar dan opeens is er een wending die je totaal op andere been zet. Het verhaal blijft je verrassen. Het is een boek dat je niet mag missen als echte Saul fan.
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John Saul is geboren in 1942 in Pasadena, Californië. Hij groeide op in Whittier en haalde zijn diploma in 1959 van de Whittier High School.
Na verschillende opleidingen aan net zoveel beroepsopleidingen te hebben gevolgd zonder het behalen van een diploma of graad, besloot hij van school te gaan en auteur te worden. In de daarop 15 jaar schreef Saul verschillende manuscripten en had hij verschillende baantjes. geen enkele uitgever zag iets in zijn verhalen, totdat zijn agent bij Dell terecht kwam. Daar wilden ze niets kopen, maar vroegen ze hem of hij een psychologische thriller kon schrijven. Saul maakte een verhaallijn, schreef het uit en hoopte dat het goed genoeg was. Zowel zijn agent als Dell waren laaiend enthusiast en zagen in dit verhaal een bestseller. Dell pakte groots uit. Advertenties en TV spots voor deze onbekende auteur werden gemaakt. En het slaagde. Saul werd in een klap wereldberoemd. Suffer the Children was geboren. Alle boeken die erna kwamen kwamen wel in de Bestsellerlijsten en zijn boeken werden wereldwijd uitgebracht en in verschillende talen vertaalt. De boeken werden uitgegeven door uitgeverijen die zijn verbonden aan Random House. Naast auteur is Saul ook acteur, scriptschrijver en is 1 van zijn boeken in 1984 uitgebracht als film.
Meer informatie over John Saul is te vinden op een van de onderstaande sites.
http://www.johnsaul.com/index.html
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0766657/
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Uitgeverij W&L Boeken
ISBN: 90.6756.252.1
253 pagina's; Paperback

©1982 John Saul- The God project - Bantam Books, New York

I always enjoy reading a John Saul book every now and then because you can always count on several things: good writing, evil children, satisfying story. The God Project is no exception. The story centers around two families and their two boys: Randy and Jason. But these aren't ordinary children. After the death of Jason's infant sister, the parents work to discover a cause but the cause may be closer to home and worse then they could have imagined.

A quick easy read for horror fans. It is not one of his scariest books, but it's a good one nonetheless.

Dang. I just finished reading The last few lines and they are craaaaaazy. I thought the story was over, and then wham! Twist!

I am reading all of John Saul's books. I wanted to read them in order, but I collect hardcover, and some are easier to find than others. This is his second book I read, the first being Suffer the Children, and while the latter was quite good, The God Project is much better. The characters are fleshed out better. The plot has some twists and turns. Both are equally creepy, in my opinion, but there was more action and thrill in The God Project.

All in all, bravo. Well done, Mr. Saul.

Literary magic! The flow and easy ramp up to the ending was enjoyable. The characters are believable and behave just as you would expect for the circumstances. It is a medical thriller without "over your head" jargon. It was like watching a LifeTime movie, a good read.

So, I just finished this book yesterday, and it has been almost 40 years since i had originally read this...and let me tell you it gets 5 stars!!! Yes, this is the first of Saul's books that did not have any supernatural elements to it, and it was the first of many to come books under his new publisher, Bantam Books. This book is so realistically scary that it STILL blows me away with the pure human EVIL that exists in this story. The last 3 pages will chill you to the bone. So without saying any more or giving away plot lines and what not; here is a link to the video review I did for it on my YouTube Channel; AreYouIntoHorror . Take a look, and please if you have not done already SUBSCRIBE, its FREE!
https://youtu.be/ydOR20dLPqI


Thanks so much, Richard
Keep on reading and LET"S GET SCARED!!