Punish the Sinners

Plot

The plot follows Latin and psychology teacher Peter Balsam as he is hired to work at St. Francis Xavier High School in the small town of Neilsville, Washington. The principal of the school is Monsignor Peter Vernon, an old friend of his from seminary school before Balsam left to pursue an unsuccessful marriage. Soon after his arrival Balsam's students begin to commit violent suicide, with some in the community believing that Balsam's classes are inspiring the suicides. It's up to Balsam to investigate both the suicides and the school's involvement before more die a horrible death.

Reception

Of the abridged audiobook, AudioFile criticized the book's abridging, stating it was a "particularly graceless and inept reading that should horrify the author, if no one else". The Library Journal wrote that Punish the Sinners was an "Essential for those libraries with Saul fans", praising the audiobook's narration.

Literary criticism

In his book John Saul: a critical companion, Paul Bail wrote that the plot "owes as much to the protagonist's personal flaws as to the villain's conspiratorial machinations. The hero's inner compulsions repeatedly draw him to the very danger that threatens to consume him." Bail also noted that the book differed from some of Saul's other works in that it focused on a male protagonist and that it contained "factually historical underpinnings".