Punish the Sinners: Amazon.ca: John Saul: Books

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Product Description

From AudioFile

In Saul's second horror novel a priest has summoned an old school chum to teach psychology at a parochial school. Shortly after classes begin, a rash of suicides takes place, connected somehow to the new teacher. Or could they have something to do with the sadistic fifteenth-century "saint" venerated by the school's elite? This abridgment is given a particularly graceless and inept reading that should horrify the author, if no one else. Y.R. © AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Publisher

Italy 1252. Inquisition. Accusation. Fear. Torture. The guilty and the innocent dying for sins real and imagined in the flames of the burning stake. Neilsville, 1978. Peter Blasam has come to this sleepy desert town to teach its youth, and finds a mystery of mounting horror. Something is happening to the young girls of St. Francis Xavier High School -- something evil. In bloodlet and terror a suicide contagion has swept the two... while a dark order of its holy men enacts a secret medieval ritual. Is hysteria manipulating these innocent children into violent self-destruction? Or has supernatural force, a thirteenth-century madness, returned to... Punish The Sinners. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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First Sentence
Peter Balsam trudged to the top of Cathedral Hill and stared up at the forbidding stone facade of the Church of St. Francis Xavier. Read the first page

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Customer Reviews

15 Reviews

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

Average Customer Review

3.9 out of 5 stars (15 customer reviews)

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Most helpful customer reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Slow to start, Jun 15 2004

By	Sarah Sammis "Avid BookCrosser" (Hayward, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Punish the Sinners (Paperback)

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.

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1.0 out of 5 stars Horrible, April 12 2004

By	Crow "blakestern" (Queen Creek, AZ USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Punish the Sinners (Audio Cassette)

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.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Punish The Sinners, Mar 13 2004

By	Andrew Brown (Atlanta, Ga United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Punish the Sinners (Paperback)

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.

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Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars One of John Saul's Best
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... Read more

Published on Oct 21 2003 by D. Rowland

5.0 out of 5 stars Chilling and Surprising
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... Read more

Published on Aug 11 2003 by honeydick

4.0 out of 5 stars Saul's Best?
To date, this is by far the best *and also the first) John Saul novel I have read. And based on other reviews, I think that sentiment is shared by a lot of other readers. Read more

Published on Jan 15 2002 by Colin Willey

4.0 out of 5 stars Saul's most personal thriller?
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). Read more

Published on Nov 20 2001 by Chadwick H. Saxelid