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3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
Pandemonium (noun)
pan·de·mo·ni·um | \ ˌpan-də-ˈmō-nē-əm \
Definition
1. a wild uproar (as because of anger or excitement in a crowd of people): a
chaotic situation
2. capitalized : the capital of Hell in Milton’s Paradise Lost
3. capitalized : the infernal regions : HELL
A enticing story that keeps you bound to it. The horror elements are all on point. I also love the characters. Daniel was for sure a favourite and Father Martin is a chill guy.
pan·de·mo·ni·um | \ ˌpan-də-ˈmō-nē-əm \
Definition
1. a wild uproar (as because of anger or excitement in a crowd of people): a
chaotic situation
2. capitalized : the capital of Hell in Milton’s Paradise Lost
3. capitalized : the infernal regions : HELL
A enticing story that keeps you bound to it. The horror elements are all on point. I also love the characters. Daniel was for sure a favourite and Father Martin is a chill guy.
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
One of my favorite horror books I have ever read!!
A good old fashioned scary demon story- I haven’t read one in so long and this was a great ride!
dark
tense
So, it's the usual story of a family moving into a haunted house. What we are delivered is pretty much every stereotype of what you'd expect, but the fun twist is that the previous tenant was an Exorcist, hence the book title. So, there was some worthwhile mystery of what that dude was all about.
The book is a really utilitarian meat and potatoes 70s/80s horror story, only thankfully without the sexism, racism, homophobia and the need to bloat it into a doorstop. It's constructed from cliches and tropes, but while there isn't much new here, the plot builds with these heavily used elements solidly. It is a light beach read and if you don't think about anything too hard, it zips along at a steady pace.
I found the writing clunky, the dialogue forced or bizarrely unrealistic, and the tone of the whole book rather artless. I’m not sure is has anything to say, and I guess that can be okay, but you really have to have something else that I love to make up for it, and I had difficulty finding anything to love.
None of the main characters want anything; there are no personal goals, dreams, aspirations, hobbies, or even beliefs, it’s so weird. Not even the big baddy. What does the demon want? I have no idea. The emotional stakes are all so incidental that even with PoV shifts between the characters, there never felt like there was any change in the story. The only uniquely stated goal in this book is that the dad was hoping to flip a house for profit.
The family were dull as rocks. The dad liked the gift of his BMW, and the wife kind of liked Garth Brooks when someone played it on the radio. They were all so incurious and remarkably stupid (why put the Exorcist's Chest back in the haunted basement? why suddenly break holy seals in a known Exorcist's house?). I wasn't sure if the author was intentionally trying to make them unlikable or just neglected to make them interesting in any way.
There's a device that the author used to have the characters forget stuff, but they didn't always forget. Sometimes they just wouldn't tell each other stuff knowing full well that they will forget stuff if they don't tell anyone. Whatever. The point of my gripe is that they really sucked as parents. As a father, I would get the hell out of the house because I wouldn’t want to risk anything happening to my kids. And when confronted with threatening situations, they chose inaction or indifference. At some point, the author tries to explain it, but it basically sounds like "Hey, we all agree that there’s no good reason to leave this writhing pit of venomous snakes, because technically we could get bit by a snake anywhere."
There's an incident that on its surface looked like their kid might have been sexually assaulted by another kid, but they didn't go to the hospital or the police. It's just wild how terrible they are as parents. ACAB and all that, but seriously, it doesn't make sense that the cops weren't involved in a few things here, like mutilated bodies and this potential SA.
The conflict is really the biggest glaring hole for me, the bad thing is just bad. It has no identity or motivation. It doesn’t even have a name. There is no lore to the conflict. There’s just a hole that ghosts and generic demons can go in and out of. Because there was no greater goal to the conflict than “ooga booga,” I never felt any kind of emotional stakes to anything. It was just, “Hey, there’s a hungry bear wandering into the house. It attacks us occasionally. Maybe we should do something about that bear.” That’s it.
Stylistically there are there are weirdly unnecessary details that the author puts into the book, but when the author has gone through so much trouble to overly define items, you get weird moments that stand out as glaring because of the contrast. I feel like the author regularly tries to answer questions that didn’t need to be asked, that suddenly leads to questions that I never needed answers for.
The early parts of the book don't hold up to scrutiny based on what happens in the later parts of the book. The timeline doesn't make a lot of sense. I feel like no one asked questions about why things were happening while writing this. The book desperately needed a better editor.
Anyway, I laughed at the climax, when I'm pretty sure it wasn't supposed to be funny, and thought the denouement was disappointingly predictable.
On one hand, it's readable. But on the other hand, my time would have been better spent on far more fulfilling books.
The book is a really utilitarian meat and potatoes 70s/80s horror story, only thankfully without the sexism, racism, homophobia and the need to bloat it into a doorstop. It's constructed from cliches and tropes, but while there isn't much new here, the plot builds with these heavily used elements solidly. It is a light beach read and if you don't think about anything too hard, it zips along at a steady pace.
I found the writing clunky, the dialogue forced or bizarrely unrealistic, and the tone of the whole book rather artless. I’m not sure is has anything to say, and I guess that can be okay, but you really have to have something else that I love to make up for it, and I had difficulty finding anything to love.
None of the main characters want anything; there are no personal goals, dreams, aspirations, hobbies, or even beliefs, it’s so weird. Not even the big baddy. What does the demon want? I have no idea. The emotional stakes are all so incidental that even with PoV shifts between the characters, there never felt like there was any change in the story. The only uniquely stated goal in this book is that the dad was hoping to flip a house for profit.
The family were dull as rocks. The dad liked the gift of his BMW, and the wife kind of liked Garth Brooks when someone played it on the radio. They were all so incurious and remarkably stupid (why put the Exorcist's Chest back in the haunted basement? why suddenly break holy seals in a known Exorcist's house?). I wasn't sure if the author was intentionally trying to make them unlikable or just neglected to make them interesting in any way.
There's a device that the author used to have the characters forget stuff, but they didn't always forget. Sometimes they just wouldn't tell each other stuff knowing full well that they will forget stuff if they don't tell anyone. Whatever. The point of my gripe is that they really sucked as parents. As a father, I would get the hell out of the house because I wouldn’t want to risk anything happening to my kids. And when confronted with threatening situations, they chose inaction or indifference. At some point, the author tries to explain it, but it basically sounds like "Hey, we all agree that there’s no good reason to leave this writhing pit of venomous snakes, because technically we could get bit by a snake anywhere."
There's an incident that on its surface looked like their kid might have been sexually assaulted by another kid, but they didn't go to the hospital or the police. It's just wild how terrible they are as parents. ACAB and all that, but seriously, it doesn't make sense that the cops weren't involved in a few things here, like mutilated bodies and this potential SA.
The conflict is really the biggest glaring hole for me, the bad thing is just bad. It has no identity or motivation. It doesn’t even have a name. There is no lore to the conflict. There’s just a hole that ghosts and generic demons can go in and out of. Because there was no greater goal to the conflict than “ooga booga,” I never felt any kind of emotional stakes to anything. It was just, “Hey, there’s a hungry bear wandering into the house. It attacks us occasionally. Maybe we should do something about that bear.” That’s it.
Stylistically there are there are weirdly unnecessary details that the author puts into the book, but when the author has gone through so much trouble to overly define items, you get weird moments that stand out as glaring because of the contrast. I feel like the author regularly tries to answer questions that didn’t need to be asked, that suddenly leads to questions that I never needed answers for.
The early parts of the book don't hold up to scrutiny based on what happens in the later parts of the book. The timeline doesn't make a lot of sense. I feel like no one asked questions about why things were happening while writing this. The book desperately needed a better editor.
Anyway, I laughed at the climax, when I'm pretty sure it wasn't supposed to be funny, and thought the denouement was disappointingly predictable.
On one hand, it's readable. But on the other hand, my time would have been better spent on far more fulfilling books.
My first Nick Roberts book. I'll read whatever else he puts out I was so enthralled by this. Perfectly creepy, shocking and enjoyable.
Want to buy a rustic farmhouse? Great! Did we tell you it was owned by an exorcist? Oh, well, while on the topic - let’s explain how he died.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
4.5 stars…a spooky book that left me on edge and double checking dark corners of my room. A perfect October read!