Father Luke, a trained exorcist, uncovers sacred knowledge hidden in time while removing demons from the innocent. These truths put his own life and the lives of those he cares about in grave danger from every direction. Based near Washington, DC, where greed and deception are around every corner, lie these dangerous secrets, ones that threaten the very fabric of our human world.
Dark bleatings, my spooky tribe. Hey, pssst, dya like priests battling the forces of evil? Possessed kids? Then you might enjoy The Demon Secret by Dan Gindlesperger!
I have some mixed feelings about this one, so let’s get into them.
I suppose my gripes aren’t so much with the story itself but with the execution of it in some of the writing. Please bear in mind that this is a reader preference thing (I’ve been enjoying a lot of literary horror recently and have been relishing in the prose), and I’m also very nitpicky about certain things. Where I think I clashed with it a little bit is in the descriptions of the actions (and I really hope that if the author sees this review, they take it with the good nature its intended because I’m wearing my “editor” hat right now). There were a lot of opportunities to really detail what’s happening in the scene, but more simplistic sentences were used instead.
For example, there’s a part near the beginning where a priest arrives at a house and he’s told by a kid’s parents that they think their kid is possessed. They take him up to the kid’s bedroom and then we’re told that they open the door carefully. Now, there’s nothing actually wrong with that sentence – it’s descriptive of the action. However, since we’ve had barely any information about the kid leading up to this and we know basically nothing about the parents, I would have liked more of a glimpse into what they’ve been experiencing. This could have been shown in the way they approach the door and open it. Maybe one or both of them slow down when they reach the landing, and the priest suddenly has to lead the rest of the way. Maybe they open the door and lean back, as if expecting something to be thrown. Maybe one of them is suddenly sweating. Maybe one of them can’t even bear to actually get as far as the door. Or, maybe one of them is behaving as if their kid is the second coming of Satan, and the other is tired of this drama and doesn’t think anything is wrong at all. Just something to indicate whether or not we as the reader should be concerned about what’s on the other side of the door.
Do you know what I mean? Generally, I found there was a lot of “telling” rather than showing, which was a shame because the author set up so many moments with great opportunities to really deepen the threat and the characters. With this criticism, I don’t mean to say that it’s not already enjoyable to read, but just that it could have been even more interesting than it already was.
There’s a lot to like – the story itself is my kind of plot. I also enjoyed that there’s a range of ages amongst the characters, there’s some humour sewn in there, and it explores religious themes like possession (one of my favourites!) and the corrupted f***ery in the Catholic Church.
If you’re looking for a fairly quick read about a group of priests at odds with their institution, whilst also having to take on the age old battle of good versus evil, you might like this one! If you’d like to check out the book or the author, I’ve popped the links below for you:
Bleeeat!
Happy Goat Horror 
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