Suffer the Children by Craig DiLouie

3.5 out of 5 stars - I don't read a lot of horror, but the description of this one -- a devastating plague kills ALL the children under puberty in the entire world -- grabbed me right away. What can be better than a mystery surrounding what might be a medical condition?? And since it involves the death of kids, there will be a huge amount of pressure to figure out what's going on, stop it, prevent it -- save the future of the human race? With mass burials and devastated families, people cannot function and life breaks down with the grief. When the children start waking up and going home, the real shock begins. The kids need blood to stay alive. A lot of blood. Human blood.

Well this was indeed a very fast-paced and chilling tale. The main point centers on the question -- what would parents DO to keep their children alive? How much sacrifice can be expected from them, and from the entire community, for the sake of the children?

What a horror show, lots of gore! I didn't really connect with any of the characters perhaps because they quickly deteriorated into dangerous monsters who would single-mindedly care only about their own children and families. I didn't like them even as I understood their helplessness and insane grief at what they needed to do in order to keep their children. Those who did not have their own children to feed were fair game and the disenfranchised (homeless, prisoners, etc.) were most vulnerable. Could I do what they had to do? I don't like to think so. I hope not.

Although I didn't like the ending, I did enjoy the book and this foray into the horror genre. The description of Herod (the thing that killed the kids) was interesting and believable to a good degree.

Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery, Threshold, Pocket Books for the e-book ARC to review.