Search - Hellfire

Spooky, fun read. Typical John Saul. I've read this one a couple times, and still enjoy it.

Carolyn Rogers marries her childhood flame, the rich Philip Sturgess. The last male heir in the Massachusetts town's local nobility, Philip Sturgess is an impressive man. Unlike his forebears including his aged mother Abigail and 12-year-old spoiled daughter, Tracy, Philip is a kind and reasonable man. He is not too different in temperament and interest from Carolyn's first husband, Alan Rogers, whom she divorced.
Twelve-year-old Beth Rogers is miserable at Hilltop, the Sturgess home. Tracy treats her shabbily, humiliates her and does whatever she can to make Beth's life miserable. Beth seeks solace in her old friends who lived on Cherry Street ("where we were happy") and the times she spends with her father.
A gentle, intelligent man, Alderman Rogers is involved in a project with Philip Sturgess. Both men want to reopen an old shoe mill with an incindiary history. One century earlier in 1886, several child workers perished in a fire in the old mill. Questionable incidents surrounding the mill crop up; its history looms large. Alderman Rogers, a town alderman as well as an architect/builder has taken on the project at Philip Sturgess' request.
Like Michelle from "Comes the Blind Fury," Beth believes she has made contact with a child who died a century earlier in the fire. Like Michelle, Beth is 12 and believes in the supernatural.
Strange things happen in the mill. Two boys die in similar circumstances several decades apart; the place reeks of fire. Questions around the old mill are not resolved and the story concludes in a blast of heat.
Sympathetic characters, a spooky plot and a heated resolution all make for a compelling story.

The old mill has been silent for a hundred years, it's dread secrets locked from view. Still, the peiple of Westover, Massachusetts, remember...and whisper of that terrible day when horrifying flames claimed eleven innocent young lives. The day the mill's dorrs slammed shut forever.

But now, the last of the once powerful Sturgess family is about to unlock those doors again...and unleash an elemental fury. For behind the padlocks, deep within the dark, abandoned building. A terrible vengence waits. a vengeance conceived in HELLFIRE

The old mill has been silent for 100 years, its dread secrets locked from view. Still, the people of Westover, Massachussets, remember...and whisper of that terrible day when horrifying flames claimed 11 innocent young lives. The day the mills doors slammed shut-forever. But now, the last of the once powerful Sturgess family is about to unlock the doors again...and unleash an elemental fury. For behind the padlocks, deep within the dark, abandoned building, a terrible vengeance waits.

In my opinion, Hellfire is Saul's best work. Riveting, frightening reading.

Mystery, earlier tragedy. Mill burns down and for 20 years no one goes in until one day .... and vengence waits. Good book

I enjoyed reading this book very much.

For one hundred years the old mill has stood silent, its dread secrets locked away and barred from view. Still, the people of Westover, Massachusetts, remember - remember and whisper of that fateful day when horrifying flames claimed eleven innocent lives. The day the mill's iron doors slammed shut - forever.
Now, Westover is a sleepy town tucked away beyond the Interstate, all but forgotten. Now, the last dreams of the once-powerful Sturgess family dreams of reopening the mill. Now, Philip Sturgess is about to unlock the dorrs to the past...and unleash an elemental fury. For beyond those doors, padlocked for so many years, deep within the dark, abandoned building, a terrible vengeance waits.

Typical John Saul horror-mystery; something dark and vengeful in a small town looking for someone to pay back.

I think this is one of his best works.

Typical John Saul and that isn't a complaint. Creepy ending too!

Quick "fluff" reading, good horror book. Book itself has some heavy spine and cover creasing, with tear on bottom front cover. Remnants of price sticker on front. Older copy, but very readable.