Second Child [Mass Market Paperback]

John Saul (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1997

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.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Bantam (January 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553287303
• ISBN-13: 978-0553287301
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 1 x 6.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #326,663 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

House of Reckoning is John Saul's thirty-sixth novel. His first novel, Suffer the Children, published in 1977, was an immediate million-copy bestseller. His other bestselling suspense novels include Faces of Fear, In the Dark of the Night, Perfect Nightmare, Black Creek Crossing, Midnight Voices, The Manhattan Hunt Club, Nightshade, The Right Hand of Evil, The Presence, Black Lightning, The Homing, and Guardian. He is also the author of the New York Times bestselling serial thriller The Blackstone Chronicles, initially published in six installments but now available in one complete volume. Saul divides his time between Seattle, Washington, and Hawaii.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 18 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.

4 of 4 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.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you dont love it you've got problems. But thats ok., July 8, 1999

By A Customer

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

This was the firstbook I've read by John Saul & it took me less than a week to read. It was what was written on the back that made me read it. You will be compelled too.