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Suffer the Children
Suffer the Children
Suffer the Children
Audiobook11 hours

Suffer the Children

Written by Craig DiLouie

Narrated by R.C. Bray

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

()

About this audiobook

Suffer the Children presents a terrifying tale of apocalyptic fiction, as listeners are introduced to Herod's Syndrome, a devastating illness that suddenly and swiftly kills all young children across the globe. Soon, they return from the grave, and ask for blood. And with blood, they stop being dead. They continue to remain the children they once were, but only for a short time, as they need more blood to live. The average human body holds ten pints of blood, so the inevitable question for parents everywhere becomes: how far would you go to bring your child back?
LanguageEnglish
Release dateMay 20, 2014
ISBN9781494570279
Author

Craig DiLouie

Craig DiLouie is an acclaimed American-Canadian author of literary dark fantasy and other fiction. Formerly a magazine editor and advertising executive, he also works as a journalist and educator covering the North American lighting industry. A member of the Imaginative Fiction Writers Association, International Thriller Writers, and Horror Writers Association, he currently lives in Calgary, Canada with his two wonderful children.

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Reviews for Suffer the Children

Rating: 4.23936170212766 out of 5 stars
4/5

282 ratings27 reviews

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  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    One of the dumbest most predictable books I’ve ever read.. coming from someone who enjoyed the walking dead.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    OMG!?I couldn’t stop listening to this book. It seemed like a sort of prequel to “The Girl with All the Gifts”imho
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Very good listen, hard to find a book where I’m putting all my effort into listening!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    What a story! This is disturbing and might be tough for some to read but....the narrator, RC Bray, I've listened to him many times, never fails to enhance the expierience. The story was a first for me in regard to the author as well as the storyline. Finally something different. It is a powerful smack to humanity, exploring the selfish, caulessness we all possess and what length we would go to for what is ours. Sooo well done and realistic you can believe that is how it would be in this reality. The characters were so well developed that you started to feel for them with a kaleidoscope of emotion. I highly recommend this story and look forward to another story by this author. The only thing I could say that would excite me more is if the narrator did another of the authors stories, that would be a home run.

    2 people found this helpful

  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I really like the book I would love to see this as a movie or a series on Netflix

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Beautifully, creatively,hauntingly deranged. I couldn't stop listening. I highly recommend this audiobook.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Great read. And like many others before me said, it is a true horror story in every sense of the word. Wonderfully tragic and equally terrifying. Love all of the nods to actual physiology. Worth every minute.❤️

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A new unsettling twist on the Zombie/ vampire tales. Well done.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Dark is not a strong enough adjective to describe this book. I loved it.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I really enjoyed this book. It’s is definitely different than I expected. I would read it again!

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This book left me hooked from the beginning. Definitely a good read. I wish a few more things were explained a little better, but It's still good regardless. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Wow this book was an emotional roller coaster! What a great author

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Good narrator story is a rewrite of I am legend. But bit in a bad way. Some very good emotional parts.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Easy, entertaining read. The best I can say is that it delivers what it promised, an exercise in trying to answer the question: who far would you go for your kids, for your own? Although at times it tries too hard to do so. Funny at times, corny at others. I began reading it because it was recommended as a terrifying read. It isn't.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I had to write a review of this while it was fresh in my mind. I just finished listening to Craig DiLouie's Suffer the Children, and I think the best word to describe how I feel right now is horrified. I'm certain that was the intent of this dark story. Every parent out there knows that they'd do anything for their children. That protecting them is all that matters. But, what happens when the concept of "doing anything" for your children drastically changes? When the world turns upside down and suddenly your moral compass no longer points East? That, my friends, is what this book is about. This isn't a feel good story. It's dark. It's violent. It's disturbing on so very many levels.

    Starting with what I liked, let's start with the concept of Herod's in the first place. I was impressed at how well Craig DiLouie laid out the deadly plague and explained why it was so sinister. The children, if that's what you want to call them, became real in my eyes. As their parents fought for their survival, for their own survival, I was actually invested in these characters. All I could keep doing while listening to this was wondering what I would do. What lengths I would go to. I felt so many emotions during this book. It took every little piece of empathy I had inside me, and wrung me out. Don't read this if you have an issue with the death of children, or with graphic violence. Trust me on this one.

    For the most part, I also liked the pacing of Suffer the Children. I thought I knew what was coming around the bend, as the synopsis isn't exactly hiding anything, and still I managed to be surprised over and over again. Little things were revealed in perfect places. The general downfall of society, and the depravity that was taking its place, expertly laid out for the reader. Our main characters, the people who I started out feeling awful for, suddenly became something I was afraid of. It was sudden, and impressive. The one thing I had an issue with was that the ending felt oddly rushed. After the slow build up, the ending felt a little jarring. Expected, maybe. But jarring nonetheless.

    So why the three star rating? There were points that dragged a bit, some awkward dialogue, and points where things didnt' quite match up. For me though, personally, this read was so tough. If you've followed me for any length of time, you'll know that I have a hard time reading about children in peril. This book ate at me. I found myself thinking about it even while I wasn't listening. I can't even really say I enjoyed the listen, so much as it was well done. Would I ever read this again? I think not. That being said, I still highly recommend others give this a shot. Just take into account what I mentioned above.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I received this book from NetGalley for an honest review. Thank you!! I really enjoyed this book. I usually read a different genre of vampire book so this was not what I am used to.I would like to read more by this author. I loved the ending also. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who loves Horror stories!!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This is a good old-fashioned pulp horror novel with a novel twist on the vampire/zombie story--not for the squeamish. On a single day, all of the world's prepubescent children fall down dead, plunging the world into grief. (Yes, it's a far-fetched premise, but this is a horror story, so you have to go with it.) Three days later (yes, I know), many of the dead children return, but changed. For one thing, they ask for blood to drink. Things deteriorate rapidly from there. The story combines psychological horror, as parents commit more and more horrific acts to obtain blood for their children, with monster horror, as the children start to transform, and a fair amount of squick. This is certainly not deep literature, but it is a fast-moving and entertaining page turner, if you like this sort of thing. Go in with suitably low expectations and you won't be disappointed.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Suffer The Children by Craig DiLouie is a book that takes a look two of people's worst fears. That being the death of your children and the end of life as we know it. The story starts simply enough by showing people dealing with the ups and downs of a normal life. Then the unthinkable happens, within a 24 hour period all children who have not reached puberty suddenly die. Doctors call the disease Herod's Syndrome and there is no cure. As the world mourns the death of over a million children, they are shocked when the dead children start coming back to life.The children return to their parents but they are not the same. They ask their parents for blood,scientists can't explain it but the only way to keep the world's children alive is to let them drink blood. When they do the children come back to life but only for a short time and each time they die and come back, they lose a little bit more of themselves. The question Suffer The Children asks is How far will a parent go to save their child?That description of the book sold me, vampire children rising from the dead and their parents have to get them blood to drink, now that sounds like a great horror novel. This is not that kind of horror novel though, which leads me to my only complaint about the book. I would have liked to see a little more action and scary moments, but this is more of a character driven story. This book focuses on the psychological horror that parents go through when they lose a child and the science behind the disease that is causing all this to happen.In Suffer The Children, blood is a high-priced commodity and desperate people will do anything to get it. Society is crumbling slowly and everyone feels it. One of my favorite scenes in this book was when a woman asks a priest to read a eulogy for her dead children. The priest tells her no, not because he is busy but because everything he ever believed was a lie and he doesn't want to do a ceremony. He then says that he always liked the woman but can't keep doing what he is doing. I loved how each character changes in the story.Another example is when one woman blames herself for her son's death and regrets that sometime she thought more of herself than her kid. She then does some disturbing things to make sure her son has the blood he needs. Another character named Doug goes from a caring father into a raging drunk when his kids die but when he finds out that his kids can be brought back, he gets the blood they need by becoming a criminal. Doug is kind of presented as being a villain of sorts in Suffer The Children but I found myself liking the character because I didn't see him as bad. Doug was doing what he had to do to keep his kids alive because he looked at it as his purpose. Suffer The Children is a different type of apocalypse thriller and examines people's worst fears on a personal level. I loved how the book ended and I'm hoping for a sequel.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    An excellent horror story in the vein of the early works of Stephen King; and a unique take on the vampire/zombie myth, yet more fearsome than adult vampires, this novel deals with children vampires. This novel also reminded me of the Midwich Cockoos but a tad more menacing and horrific. Initially the focus of the novel is on three couples, from all walks of life and how they interact with their children and each other. One of the children was initially ill due to Coeliac disease (which I appreciated the inclusion of, as a suffer myself). After the incident we see how each of these three couples interacts with their immediate circle and others. The over-riding question of the novel is what would you, as a parent, do to see/save your child again? I am not a mother myself but I can empathise with what a mother would do for their children!It is through the eyes of these couples that the reader experiences the aftermath of the incident; the breakdown of society together with the lengths people would go to to maintain their family and nourish their children. The parents don’t want to see what is right in front of their faces; they are far too focused on providing for their children by any means possible. One downside is that the children often speak in a manner that is not befitting their age.Although told through multiple points of view the narrative does not get confusing. Rather the reader empathises with each parent and how far that parent would or wouldn’t go for a few more hours with their child(ren), even though it means endangering themselves and those around them. One would hope that humanity would not go to these lengths yet the actions appear so real that it is hard not to shudder repeatedly at their actions.The whole book is an emotional seesaw. The parents seek food for their children but this in itself causes problems for the parents. Blood within a person is finite – how far would you go to get more? The transformations that both the parents and children go through are harrowing. The family’s experiences are harrowing and your heart will be ripped out repeatedly. The event was nicely set up. We interact with the main characters and their families before the event thereby giving the novel a firm foundation on which to develop the plot line. The time is counting down; and then we experience the event. For once this is a story where less is more - instead of a slasher, gore fest of a novel this is more psychological and with it is more horrific. It is often said that the less people see the more they imagine, and this is definitely the case here. The reader knows what is going on in the back ground and it is this fear that eats away at the reader. This is my first novel by this intelligent author but it will definitely not be my last.The novel is fast passed and the reader can empathise with the main characters that are set up well. Their actions are true to character and more importantly believable. The subject matter grabs the reader and shakes them until the horrific end. A fully rounded well executed book that kept this reader enthralled until the very creepy sinister ending. The whole experience will stay with you long after the novel has been finished.Full Disclosure: ARC received from Netgalley for an honest review.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Interesting variation on the vampire theme, this book asks the reader one simple question: what would you be willing to do for your children? When a strange virus kills every child under a certain age, the world is devastated. When those children wake up hungry, the world rejoices. But when it becomes apparent that drinking blood is the only food that restores them to their bright-eyed and rosy-cheeked selves, the parents begin giving of themselves. But the "medicine" only brings the kids back for a short time, so more and more is needed. In between wakings, the children's bodies deteriorate. And every time they wake, they become a bit wilder, a little more violent than the waking before. You have given all you possibly can. You are pale, short of breath and exhausted. Your children have awakened and you hear "I'M HUNGRY." What will you do?Definitely a page turner. Recommended for horror fans. Thank you to Netgalley for the review copy.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Rating: 3 of 5I might recommend Suffer the Children to readers who devour all things vampire...if those readers don't mind moderately flawed fiction. Its cover and the blurb had me expecting a book filled to the brim with super creepy kids. Unfortunately, that's not what it delivered.The beginning was written at a steady, slow burn style pace with superb tension and suspense. As a parent, it wasn't too difficult to relate to the parents' grief. But then came the middle: the exhausting (almost boring) pursuit of "medicine" for the kids, the (predictable) spiral into insanity and murder, and the repetitive mindset and choices of all the parents. The end of Part IV, also predictable, was bleak yet strangely satisfying. The epilogue, "Midnight," was pretty scary.Suffer the Children's premise, while not original, was unique enough in its own world that I had to finish the book, despite the slog through its middle. Also, the cause of the children's death felt new. Sure there's been vampires born of viruses, but I don't think I've read anything exactly like Herod before. Lastly, there was social commentary for those who might care to read between the lines. Having witnessed many a parent indulge their screaming, spoiled child in the toy store or at the park, I can't say the parents in this book surprised me at all.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I have read other titles by Craig DiLouie and am a fan of his particular writing style which is mature, intelligent and character based rather than 'all out' action driven. Suffer the children is a very different, creative retelling of the vampire tale which although not all gore, blood and guts is definitely creepy and had me feeling queasy from many of the scenes depicted.Herod's Syndrome has killed every pre-pubescent child worldwide and nothing can be done to save them. However, they are able to reanimate with sacrifices made by their loved ones.Suffer the Children follows several families and is told from their perspective. There is a gradual build up of tension as the characters personalities, and values change with the ongoing desperation to obtain the 'medicine' needed to keep their children alive, and ultimately how far they will go in order to achieve their aim.Very dark and bleak, plausible and realistic, DiLouie's world descends into chaos as the governing forces lose control, and society rapidly spirals into a lawless apocalyptic nightmare.I highly recommend Suffer the Children to all horror fans and anyone interested in a thought provoking read about human nature and how far we, as a race, are willing to compromise our humanity for the sake of our loved ones, and to what cost.Thank you Permutted Press via NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to review this title.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    What an extremely creepy and horrifying book. All of the children of the world are killed at once by a deadly virus called the Herod Event. This part of the book is heartbreaking as it examines two families who lose children. Suddenly, the children come back to life but they are in no way the same children and as the adults attempt to deal with this, the story really turns horrific. This is not typically my genre but I found myself compulsively reading this to find out what happens to these families. I received this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I received this from Netgalley in return for an honest review.

    This book is exceptionally creepy, and reads a lot like Stephen King's The Cell, but with a twist: all children that haven't reached puberty die in a world-wide event known as the Herod Event. The impact of that is enough, with every parent in mourning, including those that are still carrying their unborn children. This was always one of my greatest fears as my children were growing up: that something deadly would happen to them, although in my mind it was usually some predator taking them.

    The story could have ended there, with the parents struggling to come to grips with their loss, but Craig DiLouie ups the ante with a twist that I won't reveal, but it is a shocker, and made me gasp loud enough for my wife to ask me what's wrong.

    I highly recommend this book for anyone that enjoys a high shock factor, parents, and Stephen King fans.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Most of us who have children would do anything, sacrifice anything, to protect them. Suffer the Children, the latest horror novel by author Craig DiLouie, asks the question, when is anything too much.A new disease called Herod’s Syndrome is sweeping the globe. It infects only children, it hits fast, and it has a 100% mortality rate. Children die and there’s nothing to prevent it. Doctors do autopsies on some of the dead to try to identify the cause and discover the cure but, no matter how many tiny bodies they cut up, they can find nothing. The children are buried in mass graves and their parents grieve…but days later, children begin to rise again, all except those who have been autopsied. At first, they seem normal, they return home, they talk, they play, and then they die again.But one woman, who lost her own child before Herod’s, discovers a possible cure, a ‘medicine’ that brings them back at least for a little while. Parents are willing to do anything to keep their children with them and there is no line they won’t cross to gain access to this medicine. Except…after each dose of medicine, after each death and rebirth, the children are changing. Soon what their parents provide isn’t enough and they will go out and get it themselves. Suffer the Children is less gore and more chills as the actions of the doctors, the parents, and then the children escalate and clash. This story will send shivers up the spines of parents as it confronts them with every parent’s worst nightmare; for readers without children, they may wonder if maybe they should ‘unfriend’ everyone they know with kids and start building backyard bunkers with child safety locks
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    People thought life was a miracle, but it wasn't. Life was everywhere. The miracle was knowing you were alive. Sentience. Mind. That was the rare, precious gift.What an absolutely creepy, crazy, and fantastic read. I don't think I have ever used the highlight feature on my Kindle as much I have while reading this book. I had so many quotes that I wanted to start this review with that I had to really narrow it down. I just want to start this review off by saying that I highly recommend this book, even if you think that this isn't the type of book that you would enjoy. I went a bit out of my comfort zone by reading this book and I managed to find a really awesome book.When the book first starts everything is normal and readers are introduced to a few parents and a pediatrician. Readers get to see what their lives are normally like. Normal doesn't last too long in this book when suddenly all the children of the world are die from Herod syndrome. Everyone is struck with grief until the children come back to life. Parents realize that in order for their children to stay as how they were before their deaths they need one thing, blood. How far are these parents willing to go to save their children?This book tended to alternate between being really creepy and at times terrifying to being just plain insane. It pretty much started off being creepy when the children were dying and then coming back to life and then after that everyone just went batshit crazy. The insanity in this book just kept building and building and I was completely hooked. I could feel my adrenaline running while reading this. Half the time I couldn't help but yell out loud at some of the characters.I really enjoyed that the point-of-view switched between the parents and the pediatrician, David. It definitely made the story that much more interesting getting to see the events from different perspectives and getting to see how the characters dealt with those events. Some of these parents were absolutely insane (I'm looking at you Ramona) but I just couldn't get enough of it.Craig DiLouie did a great job mixing the right amount of creepy with the right amount of crazy. I would definitely be interested in reading more from DiLouie. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the galley.One more quote before I go...Herod's syndrome had afflicted the parents worse than the children. Herod had the entire world dancing to its crazy tune.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Parents beware. This book will tug on your heartstrings and then callously rip out those heartstrings to feed to the world’s population of undead children. Set to be released in May 2014, I received an advanced reader copy of this thrilling new horror from Netgalley. As a mother, I’m not exaggerating when I say that the first half of this book scared the bejeezus out of me; and, really, the first half of the book was just setting up the more traditional horror elements of the second half. This book will have you blinking away tears and then glancing through those watery eyes just a little bit closer at your beloved children. Suffer the Children follows a number of parents during the days both before and after the so-called Herod Event, an apocalyptic disaster that suddenly and inexplicably decimates the entire population of prepubescent children. Herod, a parasite that lies dormant in the blood of all humans, awakens all at once to strike down the world’s most precious resource – our children. Infants, toddlers, preteens, even those fetuses still incubating inside their mothers – all gone in the blink of an eye. As the world tries to understand the tragedy in terms of the impact of the Event on the economy and religion, parents try to come to terms with the loss of their identity as a family. (Side note: the most moving parts of this novel are the sections detailing the families’ coming to terms with the loss of their children. As a mother, the scenes involving the mass burials and removal of their bodies were nightmarishly chilling and grisly – almost impossible to read without becoming emotional). Days after this Event, the children are miraculously reanimated and returned to their parents; however, their continued existence requires a strange and hard-to-come-by form of sustenance – human blood. What follows is a disturbing dystopian struggle that pits parent against parent, leading to the larger question: just what would you do, as a parent, to ensure that your child survives?Overall, I really enjoyed the book as a whole, but I especially enjoyed the ending. It is a great piece of contemporary horror that readers should be anxious to read upon its release.