Rating: 
Summary: pretty good stuff
Review: After reading "Creature" a few months back I had some doubts about John Saul. Well, i don't know about his later work, but this one was good. Peter Balsam goes to Neilsville to teach a psychology class at a parochial school, but soon finds some of his female students are killing themselves for no apparent reason
other than the fact that he showed up in town. Finding out why the girls do it is mainly what this book is about, and it had an unexpected ending, which is rare in most stories I have read as of late. I also couldn't find too many loose ends that
weren't tied up, although there were a few, which led to 4 out of 5 stars. All in all, a fine read.
Rating: 
Summary: THIS BOOK IS AMAZING!!!
Review: I READ THIS BOOK MORE THAN ONCE!JOHN SAUL IS THE BEST WRITER!THIS BOOK IS SO CAPTIVATIING! THE END GIVES YOU THE CHILL!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Horrible
Review: I'm not sure if the other reviews are meant to be jokes or what, but John Saul is perhaps the worst hack writer I've ever read (or listened to, in this case). He does start the stories pretty well, but the wheels don't just come off the wagon, they fly off at light speed! Relaxation therapy? The musty odor of semen? Monsignor's huge organ? The characters are as flat as a postcard and the plot is outlandish and not just improbable but ridiculous.Someone please explain to me why 1)Balsam would have ever chosen to stay on in the first place considering the treatment he recieved from the beginning and 2)why would the Society choose this guy when there had to be a zillion other weaker-minded types they could have recruited to drizzle their, uh... religious fervor... all over.
Rating:
Summary: One of John Saul's Best
Review: Peter Balsam has come to Neilsville to teach a class in psychology at the local high school. Then one by one girls start killing themselves and the grieving parents blame Peter who discovers all too late the unholy truth behind the deaths. But the madness that has the town in its grip won't be stopped and evil walks the streets wearing the face of righteousness. This is a very scary book and I'm gonna read it again tomorrow. Reviewed by Devon Adams, the Cool Kid.
Rating:
Summary: Saul's most personal thriller?
Review: Punish the Sinners is a thriller concerning a rash of suicides and religious fervor sweeping through a desert community (the heat is symbolic on many levels). On another level I think it is a very personal book for Saul, usually a very impersonal and highly structured writer. This is due to the tensions regarding sexual orientation issues with the lead adult characters. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Punish The Sinners
Review: Punish The Sinners is escapism at its best. Sauls weaves a sad tale of suspense and intrigue. Readers will find the opening funny and almost instantly chilling. Sinners exposes Saul's ability to craft a story that exposes the delicate almost fragile nature of children. This is the catylist for the evil that prevails. If horror has a first name, this book may just be the middle name. This is a must read. FYI..there is one part of the book that is sure to have you cringing or puking. Either way, you will be moved by this horroring tale.
Rating:
Summary: Simply Outstanding!!!
Review: Punish the Sinners is simply an outstanding novel. It gives the reader a sense of urgency. I actually found my palms to be sweating while reading about Peter Balsam's (the main character)thoughts concerning his "bad" feeling about the town and his old friend Monseignor Vernon. I could not put the book down. I can honestly say that after reading The Blackstone Chronicles and then Punish the Sinners, I cannot wait to read all of John Saul's books. Saul is a master at placing you the readers into the main character's mind. Happy reading!
Rating: 
Summary: Slow to start
Review: The book takes too long to get started. The first book (The Saints of Neilsville) plods along with a laughable predictability. The second book (The Society of St. Peter Martyr) picks up the pace and things really start to get creepy and strange. This section unfortunately relies too heavily on descriptions of all sorts of sexual acts. I'm not sure if I should laugh or be insulted. The two books take the plot on an unexpected tangent. Just as things seem to be petering out (excuse the pun), it picks up speed with the same frantic pace of some Stephen King novels. The last twenty pages then take a huge and wonderfully surprising tangent, earning this book a higher review than I otherwise would have given it.
Rating:
Summary: Chilling and Surprising
Review: This book grips you from the very start and never lets go. While its a fast pace horror novel regarding suicide, and religious fervor it also tackles other topics such as abuse of power, sexual hypocrisy and the church overall. I got a bit upset when the sexual element was introduced; thinking Saul was making a judgement call but as the story progressed it redeemed it self. It also has one of the best and realistic endings I ever seen in a novel of this type. I am glad Saul had the good sense to end it in the way he did. A great audio book from the first CD to the last. The reader did a good job though his female voices needed some fine tuning at times. Still a great listening experience. I'm off to buy another! This book contains 5 CDs and is read by a single reader.
Rating:
Summary: I love it, I hate it
Review: This is the best book Saul wrote, it's great. I read it a few times actually and each time I couldn't leave it and move on with my life, like doing something for school or something. It touched me, the subject is very well built, so are the characters. Peter Balsam, and old childhood friend of Peter Vernon (now the Monsenior) is asked to come and teach psychology. He is an outcast in a relligious society and relates only to another oucast, a divorced woman. Prejudice coming from religious ideas is a great background for the Monsenior who finally came with a plan how to punish the "sinners". He is a very disturbed character and if you are a smart reader you'll get the idea why he is as he is. He is by no means the common religious fanatic, he's more. You enter a world of dark, creepy secretes hidden under a mask of peace and God. It's so usual for saul to do this, paint a perfect picture and turn it into grothesque, showing the true evil. I like that he's not a writer that ends books the way most do, he doesn't make it sweeter than life is. I hated this book, I threw it on the floor in rage when I finished it. But I loved it too, believe me. I understand it, it has a certain logic. Oh, you have to read it to see what I mean. If you didn't read Saul before - this is the best and the most evil book I'd say. Ok, let's say, the most evil from the pleasant ones. "The right hand of Evil" is the most evil. I am 22 and still it gave me nightmares. It wasn't believable and it was kind of distgusting like also "Suffer the children". Morbid. I would relate it to "Comes the blind Fury". It's about fury, but at a more unconscious level, I don't suspect that the evil character realizes hos rage so well, he can't controle it, it's madness and yet a perfect plan, so cold, and so calculated. It's brilliant! Great, grrrrrrrreat book.
|
