Clark's Harbor was the perfect coastal haven,  jealously guarded against outsiders. But now  strangers have come to settle there. And a small boy is  suddenly free of a frenzy that had gripped him since  birth... His sister is haunted by fearful  visions... And one by one, in violent, mysterious ways the  strangers are dying. Never the townspeople. Only  the strangers. Has a dark bargain been struck  between the people of Clark's Harbor and some  supernatural force? Or is it the sea itself calling out for  a human sacrifice? A howling, deadly...   Cry For The Strangers . Clark's Harbor was the perfect coastal haven, jealously guarded against outsiders. But now strangers have come to settle there. And a small boy is suddenly free of a frenzy that had gripped him since birth... His sister is haunted by fearful visions... And one by one, in violent, mysterious ways the strangers are dying. Never the townspeople. Only the strangers. Has a dark bargain been struck between the people of Clark's Harbor and some supernatural force? Or is it the sea itself calling out for a human sacrifice? A howling, deadly... Cry For The Strangers . Clark's Harbor was the perfect coastal haven,  jealously guarded against outsiders. But now  strangers have come to settle there. And a small boy is  suddenly free of a frenzy that had gripped him since  birth... His sister is haunted by fearful  visions... And one by one, in violent, mysterious ways the  strangers are dying. Never the townspeople. Only  the strangers. Has a dark bargain been struck  between the people of Clark's Harbor and some  supernatural force? Or is it the sea itself calling out for  a human sacrifice? A howling, deadly...   Cry For The Strangers . or was the perfect coastal haven,  jealously guarded against outsiders. But now  strangers have come to settle there. And a small boy is  suddenly free of a frenzy that had gripped him since  birth... His sister is haunted by fearful  visions... And one by one, in violent, mysterious ways the  strangers are dying. Never the townspeople. Only  the strangers. Has a dark bargain been struck  between the people of Clark's Harbor and some  supernatural force? Or is it the sea itself calling out for  a human sacrifice? A howling, deadly...   Cry For The Strangers . John Saul ’s first novel,  Suffer the Children , was an immediate million-copy bestseller. His other bestselling suspense novels include  Perfect Nightmare , Black Creek Crossing , and  The Presence. He is also the author of the  New York Times  bestselling serial thriller  The Blackstone Chronicles , initially published in six installments but now available in one complete volume. Saul divides his time between Seattle and Hawaii. Prologue   A clap of thunder awakened the boy, and he lay very still in his bed for a long time, wishing the storm would go away, yet, at the same time enjoying the excitement of it. As each flash of lightning briefly illuminated his bedroom, he began counting the seconds, waiting for the explosive roar of thunder. The storm bore down on the coast; the interval between the flash and the sound grew shorter.   When the moment separating sight and sound shrank to only seconds, and the boy knew the storm had reached the beach a mile away, he rose from his bed and began to dress. A few minutes later he opened the door and stepped out into the driving rain. It slashed through his clothing, but he seemed not to notice. He began walking slowly away from his home, into the wrath of the storm.   He heard the roar of the surf when he was still a quarter of a mile from the beach. The rhythmic pounding of the waves, usually a soft, gentle sound, was amplified by the storm, its steady beat carried on the wind. The boy began to run toward the sound.   A sheet of lightning lit the sky as he left the road and turned onto the path that would take him through a narrow strip of forest to the beach beyond. The thunder crashed in his ears as the white light faded from his eyes: the storm was all around him.   He approached the beach slowly, almost with reverence. Just beyond the woods a mound of driftwood lay tangled on the beach, blocking his way. He worked his way over it carefully but steadily, his feet finding the familiar toeholds almost without guidance from his eyes.   He was about to clamber over the last immense log when the storm suddenly broke and a full moon illuminated the beach. As if by instinct, the boy dropped to his knees, crouching as he surveyed the strip of sand and rocks in front of him.   He was not alone on the beach.   Directly in front of him he could see shapes, dark figures of dancers writhing in the moonlight as if in some sort of ceremony. He watched them in fascination. Then he realized there was something else. Something vaguely disturbing.   As he watched his eye was caught by a movement near the dancers. Two other forms were moving in the moonlight—not gracefully, purposefully, as the dancers did, but s