“Conflicted with his faith in God and the hypocrisy of the church, Aidan Schaeffer, a young assistant pastor, is in a constant state of spiritual turmoil. When Aidan learns that his ex-fiancée is the first victim in a string of ritualistic killings, he finds himself in the middle of an even deeper fight. Tormented by demonic threats and haunted by spirits, Aidan throws himself into investigating Amanda’s death; all the while supernatural forces have begun to attack the people around him. The more questions he asks, the more he is drawn into the world of a mysterious Anglican priest, a paranormal investigation group and a rogue female detective investigating the murders. As the gruesome rituals escalate, ancient hidden secrets and an evil long buried threaten to rip Aidan’s world apart.”
This book has the cheesiest cover I have ever seen on a horror novel. It was like looking at a teenage Goth girl’s room. I honestly picked up the book because it sounded awful and the cover made it look worse. I was shocked at how into the story I got. The characters were very deep and fascinating. I was guessing until the very end who was committing the ritualistic murders and why. I AM STILL GUESSING. I NEED THE SEQUEL NOW!
The main character is a religious figure that is having issues with his faith. He is having a really terrible year and is not sure where his life is going anymore. How can you get cooler than that for a main character? I have not seen a religious figure this well fleshed out in a novel ever even in the novels where it is focused around a church or the Vatican. I loved that he called his dog Bishop. It was a great joke that kept me smiling for no reason. Everything about this book was wonderful.
The general plot of ritualistic murder investigation normally isn’t my thing, but this book did so much more with that plot that I couldn’t help get involved. There was a scientific ghost hunt, a female detective who was not gay (or trigger happy or completely interested in a man to the point that she has no other character traits), it had an array of personalities for the church. There was so much character development and world building. WHO IS THE GRINNING MAN?
If you don’t normally read mystery or horror, this book is still a safe bet. There is so much to the world that it reads like a Christian fiction as well. There is a lot of talk of faith and bible verses. This is a book that if it were made into a movie I would watch it with my grandmother who is obsessed with Christianity, westerns, and mysteries. It was a great lore book too. There is a lot of Christianity that is then used to create a cult horror mess. It is just fantastic.
5 out of 5 stars. I would highly recommend this book.
You can buy this book here.
~Isaiah
MI Book Reviews 