The Demonologist - Andrew Pyper

Genre: Religious Horror
Synopsis: A stolen child. An ancient evil. A father’s descent. And the literary masterpiece that holds the key to his daughter’s salvation. Professor David Ullman is among the world’s leading authorities on demonic literature, with special expertise in Milton’s Paradise Lost. Not that David is a believer—he sees what he teaches as a branch of the imagination and nothing more. So when the mysterious Thin Woman arrives at his office and invites him to travel to Venice and witness a “phenomenon,” he turns her down. That evening, David’s wife announces she is leaving him. With his life suddenly in shambles, he impulsively whisks his beloved twelve-year-old daughter, Tess, off to Venice after all. But what happens in Venice will change everything. In a terrifying quest guided by symbols and riddles from the pages of Paradise Lost, David must track the demon that has captured his daughter and discover its name. If he fails, he will lose Tess forever.

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Review: Ugh, this book. Why did I feel compelled to keep reading it? This isn't going to be a long review, because I've already spent enough time on this book.

I love the concept - demons and biblical evil and all that stuff is right up my street. There's even something not entirely unrelated to one of my favourite shows, Supernatural, about a guy driving around America following clues about unusual occurences while on the hunt for a family member. The giant paragraph of a synopsis on Goodreads sums up the entire first section of the book, and I am glad I only skimmed it, or I'd have totally spoiled the only good part of the book! The rest... was pointless. And not as all scary or disturbing.

As I said, it got off to a pretty decent start - it roped me in, it set up a Big Evil with a big evil plan, and while the writing isn't amazing, it's also not the worst I've ever read. But it just turned into the main character pointlessly meandering around the country for no real reason (read as, an incredibly flimsy reason discovered near the end), while building up to an extremely anti-climatic finish which was underwhelming and unsatisfying.

Honestly cannot recommend it. Giving it two stars simply because it kept me reading to the end. And in fairness, there were a couple of tense/action-packed moments that could have been part of an enjoyable bigger picture if there.... had been one.

Rating: 2/5

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