Punish the Sinners: A Novel

By John Saul

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.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Oct 27, 2010
• ISBN: 9780307768261

John Saul

John Saul’s first novel Suffer the Children became an instant bestseller, as have many of the thirty-three novels of dark suspense he has published since. Amidst this busy writing schedule, he divides his time between Seattle, Washington and Hawaii.

Reviews for Punish the Sinners

[miwatson-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The story was even-paced all the way through. I wasn't entirely sure who or what was the antagonist or antagonists until close to the end, but there was a dark element that kept me glued to the story and guessing throughout. This story shows how things from the past can come back to haunt you.

[anniejanicki · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This book had potential, but it never really panned out. Not even one of John Saul's best. It could have been so much better, were several aspects of the plot developed - and, in my opinion, with a different ending. On the other hand, if you view it as a slasher movie in book form, it IS entertaining. It fulfilled its purpose - gave me that unsettling feeling that makes you check inside the closet door as you turn off the lights before bed - just on the off chance.

[pussreboots · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

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.

[emigre_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Classic John Saul book, set in a small town's Catholic high school experiencing a rash of student suicides. It definitely keeps you reading with all the foreshadowing and prevalent sense of menace but it did leave me feeling troubled as it did not have the ending I wanted.

[susanbevans · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Although it gets off to kind of a slow start compared to some of his other work, this is still an interesting book.

[anniehidalgo · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This book had potential, but it never really panned out. Not even one of John Saul's best. It could have been so much better, were several aspects of the plot developed - and, in my opinion, with a different ending. On the other hand, if you view it as a slasher movie in book form, it IS entertaining. It fulfilled its purpose - gave me that unsettling feeling that makes you check inside the closet door as you turn off the lights before bed - just on the off chance.