Suffer The Children ~ Craig DiLouie Review

Suffer the Children by Craig DiLouie
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Being a Mother while reading "Suffer the Children" was really emotional.  I actually stalled for awhile, because I didn't know how gory it would be or if I needed to read in the daytime. I would say any parent might have some kind of emotional reaction to this book while reading, it's hard not to as it's about children dying and coming back from the dead.

The good mother knows what her children will eat. Akan Proverb

This quote starts off the book and now after reading it, is a significant theme but not in a way we would think. Now lets meet the parents/families in this story:
Joan and Doug Cooper~Joan runs an in-home daycare for other couples in the neighborhood of Landsdown, Michigan. The kids in her charge are- Megan (her own daughter), Josh, Dillon and Danielle. Nate, their older son goes to school during the day. They also have a dog named Major.  Joan honest to god only runs the daycare because in the big scheme of life, stay at home moms,don't count in the Gross National Product because they don't get paid. Tomorrow she is going to see a spy movie with her friend Coral.

Joan - Most people didn't understand how strongly mother's feel toward their children from the moment they were born.  That screaming thing in your arms was your reason for being.  That you would do anything to make it happy. That you would fight,kill,die.

~Doug is a sanitation worker for Otis. Doug smokes Winston's, and is a recovering alcoholic who quit when his first child was born. The Waste Management Industry is being revolutionized with new trucks, and Doug wants to go straight to his union, as he is so afraid of being fired. Being a man, he thinks he should provide for his family, and is insecure about his place in the world because he came from a dirt poor family.  As all parents he wants to provide a better life for his kids. Tomorrow he is taking the kids to a birthday party at the ice skating rink.

Next up is Ramona Fox ~ a single working mom and her son Josh who is weak and has Celiac disease. While at work she fires Mr.Cute Ross Kelly(*this is not the last we will see this poor guy).  The phone rings just as this guy gets his pink slip and she leaves the office asap to get Josh from Joan's because he ate home made Play-dough.Tomorrow she is taking Josh to see Santa at the mall, and will bump into Ross again.  Joan's friend Bethany is also at the mall with her son Trent.

Dr.David and Nadia Harris David is a pediatrician and his wife Nadia is a nurse, they work together at his practice.  Thankfully, and I know this sounds weird but they lost their son Paul in an auto accident the year before and Nadia was driving. David becomes "your friendly neighborhood drug dealer" when the shit hits the fan.

Shannon Donegal is pregnant, and goes to see Dr. David for a free prenatal consultation.

Ben and Gloria Glass Ben is the county medical examiner and is friends with Dr.David.

Ben-The dead are the real blabbermouths, if you know how to listen.

Ben is the only character to figure out what Herod is.... and they have no children.

Now that I've introduced you to the characters, they all intertwine in the story and the "Tomorrow" I've hinted at is when the Herod hits.  Herod is a parasite that only activates in children.  These poor parents hearts are ripped out.  They are given false miracles and eventually are turned into walking zombies, mere shells of themselves..only to finally be drained and die.

It was an illusion. A trick.  Herod's trick.  It was a clever parasite.  It took the children hostage to get what it wanted.  And because it was essential to reanimation, there was no destroying it.  To kill Herod was to destroy the children themselves.

You will have to read the book to find out the ending.  All I can say is that it was really sad.  I don't really see the point besides showing that parents will do anything for their children.  I was left hanging I felt at the ending and shocked by how some of the parents changed in the end!!

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