Second Child: A Novel

John Saul is an excellent author. Story more geared towards teenagers but adults will enjoy as well

When Teri's parents are killed in a fire, she moves across the country to live with her biological father, Charles Holloway, his wife, Phyllis and her half sister, Melissa, in a small wealthy town on the Maine coast.Teri is everything that Melissa is not, popular, beautiful and charming... But she much more, dangerous, manipulative and evil!

The novel takes the phrase "Dysfunctional Family" to a new level.We have a very opulent family vacationing in Maine every summer. Charles Holloway, his wife Phyllis, & their emotionally & physically abused daughter Melissa. Melissa has created a split personality to hide from the enormous pain she endures from her mother & peers.Enter Teri. Teri is Charles' other daughter from a previous marriage. She moves in with the Holloways after a fire has killed her natural mother & step-father in California. Teri quickly fits in from a blue collar lifestyle to a blue blood lifestyle. She becomes jealous of her step-sister's attention from her natural father. Above any & all costs she will do whatever it takes to become the Belle of the Blue-bloods. The trouble in Secret Cove & at the estate Maplecrest begins shortly after Teri arrives. Jealousy, hatred, envy, sloth, murder & mayhem all come into play.The housekeeper, Cora, and her grandson, Tag seem to be the only ones with their wits about them.The book is spellbinding, it moves at a very good pace. The story is well thought out & very well written. This is a John Saul novel not to be missed.

I'd forgotten how much fun a John Saul novel could be...and "The Second Child" was a great reminder!Not a horror novel, exactly. More along the line of mystery/suspense/thriller...with a plot revolving around a 13 year old girl, her half sister, a wicked mother and a doting father. Saul takes us to Secret Cove, Maine~a small, exclusive, wealthy village full of affluent parents and their spoiled children. Melissa Holloway hasn't ever quite fit in but her half sister Teri, who moves in after a horrific family tragedy on the west coast, seems to mesh perfectly.But something is amiss in the Holloway household. The dog, Blackie, feels it. The housekeeper, Cora, senses it.Just WHO is it, or WHAT is it that isn't...'quite right' in the family?And what about D'Arcy, Melissa's friend and confidant?Hasn't SHE been dead for nearly a century?

I have enjoyed John Saul for years and can’t imagine how I missed this book. Well written with characters well presented. It certainly held my attention from start to finish.

This is a treat for all readers who admire John Saul. Saul's books have caused many nights where I read until I'm done rather than going to sleep when I ought. Do all "only" kids wish they had a sibling -- somebody to play with and to whom they can look to for support and comfort? This story about old and new families, and bewaring of what you wish, is a classic cautionary tale. Saul has made it more believable by skillfully weaving the kind of casual cruelties typical of youth -- and then their adult counterparts -- globally.

I like the way John Saul hits the reader over the head with gentle hints, then follows through without any red herrings. Great character portrayals; the good, the bad and the really bad. There is a plot but no twists, it is all pretty straight forward to a predictable ending; then an unsuspected sub-ending. I am reluctant to recommend a book, but if you like a well written semi-horror novel, I think you will be entertained by this book.

Teri comes to live with her father and his wife, and also with The Second Child, Melissa. Teri has just lost her mom and stepdad and now must start a new life—one of wealth and luxury. But there are secrets, perhaps deadly secrets, to learn. John Saul wrote it so it's a thriller to be sure. But what type is it, psychological or paranormal? Or is it a blend of both? John Saul keeps you guessing. Unfortunatley, the ending is anticlamtic. An event the book hinted at time and again never came. The ending just fizzles. Walter Eugene Lane author of  BONE UGLY CURSE

This is the one I keep going back to, again and again.Only wish it was available in Kindle!How about it, Amazon?

Produit correspondant à ma commande. Je recommande.

Excellent, one of his best.