Suffer the Children by John Saul

On the front cover:  Innocence dies so easily. Evil lives again...and again...and again.
This supernatural thriller is about a little girl, Beth, who was murdered by her father, John Conger, a hundred years ago in Port Arbello, New Hampshire.  After the tragic incident, he threw himself over the embankment to the thrashing sea below. 
The Conger family had been prominent in the small town for centuries.  The present day Jack Conger, his wife Rose, and his two girls, Elizabeth and Sarah had fallen victim the Conger curse.  One day while playing in the field, Jack unconciously followed Sarah into the woods and severely beat her.  She survived physically, but mentally she was gone.  She was unable to talk or show emotion at all.  Neither Jack or Sarah knew what had taken control of them that day. 
The spirit of the little girl, Beth, who had died so many years ago by her fathers hand, has taken control of Elizabeth's mind.  Leading her to lure children from the town to a cave at the embankment, where she kept them locked up and eventually killed them.  Elizabeth doesn't remember any of it.  But Sarah, in her mute world, knows.  And she, believed to be insane, is blamed for the dissappearances.  She is taken to an asylum to live out her days. 
Meanwhile, ten years after the murders, Jack Conger takes his wife for a boat ride, and neither of them ever return.  Elizabeth is left alone.  Soon, Sarah, who is still in the asylum, regains her voice and is allowed to visit home.  That is the day that the bodies are discovered in the cave.  Sarah is told that she would have to stand trial and is taken back to the asylum.  Sarah starts to remember.  She suddenly remembers following Elizabeth to the cave, she remembers the flash of the knife, she remembers her sister's face as Elizabeth slashes the  children over and over.  Then her mute face returns.  And Elizabeth, back home, remembers too....
I read this book in two days.  On the edge of my seat.  Chewing my nails.  I often find myself wondering, while reading a book, if it could be made into a movie.  This book could never bemade into a movie because it would be too much for the human mind to accept.  Reading about something horrendous, and actually seeing it are two different things.  Like the movie, Pet Cemetary, where the little boy gets hit by the Semi-truck.  I was okay with reading it, but seeing it on the screen was just too much.  I couldn't watch the rest of the movie. 
This is the third book I have read by John Saul.  I find his style, how should I put it... shocking.  But luring.  I can't resist it. This book was a national best seller and sold more than a million copies.  It was published in 1977 by Dell Publishing. 

Together is All We Need by Michael Phillips

The setting is 1860s Shenandoah, North Carolina at the Rosewood Cotton Plantation.  Sixteen year old Katie Burchard and her half black cousin Mayme, have been keeping a very serious secret.  Both of their families had been killed by marauders after the Civil War.  Katie and Mayme, along with former slave children, have been running Rosewood all by themselves.  Fooling everyone in town to think their families were still alive and well.  Soon, their charade is over when Katie's uncle showed up to find out for himself what was going on and eventually finds out the truth.  But when he tried to make a claim on the plantation and send Katie and her friends away, another uncle showed up with the original deed that had been signed over to him years before.  Apparantly, Katie's parents knew that other uncle would come and try to make a claim. 

This is a story of great human kindness, hatred, and racism.  A time when blacks were very recently freed from slavery, but not by any means free.  A story of determination and dedication to accomplish a sisterhood of love.  This book is part of a series titled:  The Shenandoah Sisters.  I have not read the previous books in the series but plan to soon. 

Michael Phillips is a Christian novelist who has written more than four dozen novels with sales over five million copies.  This book was published in 2004 by Bethany House Publishers.  I believe it was written for young adults but I enjoyed it very much. 

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

Just after the Spanish Civil War, Barcelona is in shambles, and Daniel Sempere's mother has been dead so long he can't remember her face.  Daniel is ten years old when his father, the owner of the bookshop, takes him to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books to choose a novel from piles and stacks of books that have been brought there because they were, in essence, forgotten.  This tradition had been passed down for generations by the Sempere family.  Daniel chose a book, The Shadow of the Wind, by Julian Carax.  He is told that the book would be his to keep and protect forever and that he must never tell anyone about the Cemetery of Forgotten Books.  Little did Daniel know that the book he had chosen would alter his future forever.  Little did Daniel know, that the author of the book was involved in scandel and murder, love and tragedy.  His curiousity got the better of him when he decided to find out more about the life of Julian Carax.  And the life of Carax altered the lives of many for better and worse. 

This story is so complex that I cannot even begin to review it in it's entirety here.  Even if I tried, it would give away the ending because the truth doesn't take shape til then.  I can only say that Carlos Ruiz Zafon is a master at his art.  This tale is one that will be etched in my memory for a very long time.  One phrase in particular, gave me goosebumps:  ...so long as we are being remembered, we remain alive...     

Published in 2001 in Barcelona and translated to English and published in New York by The Penguin Press in 2004, The Shadow of the Wind spent more than a year on the Spanish bestseller list and is being published in more than twenty countries.  It has been acclaimed internationally.