Second Child (Hardcover)

by John Saul (Author)
Key Phrases: secret cove, Jeff Barnstable, Brett Van Arsdale, Lenore Van Arsdale (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
One hundred years ago, in the beautiful village of Secret Cove, Maine, on the night of the annual August Moon Ball, a shy and lovely servant girl committed an act so unspeakably violent that its legacy still lives. Now, the blood-drenched past of this small town is about to come to life once more--just in time for this year's August Moon Ball. HC: Bantam. --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 341 pages
• Publisher: Bantam; 1st Edition edition (June 1, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553058770
• ISBN-13: 978-0553058772
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,208,800 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of My Favorite John Saul Books, March 29, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Second Child (Mass Market Paperback)

After killing her parents in a house fire in San Fernando, California, 14-year-old Teri MacIver is taken in by her real father and his family (wife: Phyllis; daughter: Melissa) in affluent Secret Cove, Maine. While "Second Child" begins with Teri, it's her half sister (Melissa Holloway) that's more of the protagonist--or at least the one the reader feels the most sympathy for. Both girls have their own secrets--Teri's being she's a killer, and Melissa's being she has an imaginary friend (D'Arcy) that's actually a ghost who resides in the attic, inhabiting Melissa's body whenever her abusive mother punishes her, which is quite often. Once Teri discovers this secret, she uses Melissa's weak mental health to her advantage, hoping to knock her out of the picture so she can have the kind of life she thinks she deserves, in Melissa's place.

I read "Second Child" either in middle or high school (I don't remember which), so it's appropriate for readers that young, since they can probably relate easier to the teen characters in this book. Like most of Saul's books, "Second Child" has a supernatural twist to it, linking D'Arcy to events that happened 100 years ago in Secret Cove. Horror fans should definitely like this one.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great!, December 20, 2001

By	Dee (Bronx, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Second Child (Mass Market Paperback)

I loved this book! It starts out great and doesn't stop there. Although it does have some supernatural twists to it, the book is more of a "good guy gets screwed by bad guy" type of novel. Unfortunatley, as one reviewer commented, it does leave some wondering to the imagination at the conclusion. However, as with any book, most are left to wonder, and I still think this is one of (if not the best) Saul novel to date.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Horror, The Horror, March 24, 2001

By	Kevin M Burns (College Station, TX United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Second Child (Mass Market Paperback)

John Saul's Second Child is the first horror book I ever read. (6+years ago) At my younger age I had trouble with some of the bigger words and darker concepts, but it was the best Saul I've ever read (and consequently the only).

Poor Melissa is having problems growing up and being accepted and generally--um--psychological others. Teri comes into her life ostensibly as a friend, but Teri has problems of her own...

Of everything literary branded into my mind, there will always be an image of Teri's mother hanging from a second-story window of a burning building and then doing a faceplant on the concrete below.

I can thank Saul for that--err--lovely imagery. Don't doubt though, it's a great book and I would submit, for starters.

I have genuinely loved horror as a genre ever since Second Child. It is a worthy book and will quiver you.