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craigwallwork's review
4.0
It’s hard not to draw comparisons to Blatty’s great novel when someone writers about an exorcism. It’s like a book about a shark terrorising a small island and attempting to block out the iconic composition of John Williams. Janz’s real skill here is two fold: First is pace. Yes, it’s a novella so by its very limitations you can’t afford to meander. You have to keep things very tight. Janz does this by hitting the boards running when Father Crowder attends the house of a 15 year old boy showing signs of demonic possession. We’re then thrown into a literal Hell before we have time to blink. The second is plot. Sure, there’s every exorcism trope thrown in here, but running parallel is a second story, that of the Sweet Sixteen Killer. The town has a serial killer roaming around targeting 16 year girls. Weaving this storyline into the exorcism presents us with a extra dynamic; who is the Sweet Sixteen Killer? And more importantly, are they one of the characters in the house during the exorcism? Now we have a “who dun’it”. This is why Exorcist Road gets four stars instead of three. It’s that extra layer needed to differentiate it from its predecessor. Yes, you could say it’s more a homage to The Exorcist and Legion, whereby again, in the latter we are presented with the Gemini killer, but Janz dodges skilfully the obvious connection by making his story very claustrophobic (pretty much one setting throughout the novella) and exchanging those deep philosophical questions present in Blatty’s work for more wince-inducing gratuitous fun.
lilyn_g's review
4.0
I picked up Exorcist Falls from Jonathan Janz when I saw it on Amazon for cheap. I have never read the author prior to this, and was actually considering a completely different book by him. However, fingers do what they will, and the lure of the word ‘exorcist’ drove me to purchase this one instead. The fact that it contained a novella as well was a nice bonus. It is that novella, Exorcist Road, which this first review is for.
The book opens a bit oddly, with the author asking the readers to remember that:
After reading that, I wondered what in the world I was getting myself into. Was this the authors way of telling me there was going to be some torture porn involving kids involved? Children getting improperly touched by priests? I mean, whenever a book opens with that sort of reminder, I can’t help but be a bit nervous, you know? My worry was for naught, though, at least in Exorcist Road. (I haven’t gotten in to Exorcist Falls at the time of this review, so there might very well be that type of thing lurking in there.)
Don’t get me wrong, Exorcist Road does contain dark subject matter. There is mention of rape and murder. There are lewd, somewhat disgusting scenes. And if you like gore, there’s a hefty dose of that as well. I just think compared to what I was expecting, it was fairly tame. (I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing, being a horror reader.)
In comparison to other possession/exorcism-themed books that I’ve read, Exorcist Road holds up fairly well. Being a novella, there really wasn’t time for me to get thoroughly creeped out, like I was when reading Danielle DeVor’s Sorrow’s Point. However, Janz kept me engaged and entertained. He did a good job keeping me guessing about certain things. The violence and malevolent happenings definitely gave me a happy as well.
Exorcist Road is a fast-paced religious horror book with a twist of mystery to it that was a pleasure to read. The ending wasn’t entirely unexpected, and I look forward to seeing how this plays out further in Exorcist Falls.
The book opens a bit oddly, with the author asking the readers to remember that:
“I have a deep respect for the Catholic faith, a strong love and sense of protectiveness toward children, and am simply telling a tale. It is, nevertheless, an exceedingly dark tale.”
After reading that, I wondered what in the world I was getting myself into. Was this the authors way of telling me there was going to be some torture porn involving kids involved? Children getting improperly touched by priests? I mean, whenever a book opens with that sort of reminder, I can’t help but be a bit nervous, you know? My worry was for naught, though, at least in Exorcist Road. (I haven’t gotten in to Exorcist Falls at the time of this review, so there might very well be that type of thing lurking in there.)
Don’t get me wrong, Exorcist Road does contain dark subject matter. There is mention of rape and murder. There are lewd, somewhat disgusting scenes. And if you like gore, there’s a hefty dose of that as well. I just think compared to what I was expecting, it was fairly tame. (I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing, being a horror reader.)
In comparison to other possession/exorcism-themed books that I’ve read, Exorcist Road holds up fairly well. Being a novella, there really wasn’t time for me to get thoroughly creeped out, like I was when reading Danielle DeVor’s Sorrow’s Point. However, Janz kept me engaged and entertained. He did a good job keeping me guessing about certain things. The violence and malevolent happenings definitely gave me a happy as well.
Exorcist Road is a fast-paced religious horror book with a twist of mystery to it that was a pleasure to read. The ending wasn’t entirely unexpected, and I look forward to seeing how this plays out further in Exorcist Falls.
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