A review by ericarobyn
The Demon of Devil's Cavern by Brennan LaFaro

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense fast-paced

5.0

The Demon of Devil’s Cavern by Brennan LaFaro is another gritty splatter western tale of magic, dust, and bloodshed set in Buzzard’s Edge.

Did you love Noose? If so, I’d be willing to bet that you’re more than ready to see what Rory and Alice get up to next!

Content Warnings:
Per usual with DarkLit Press books, this has a content warning notice at the start for graphic violence and gore, and then directs readers to the back of the book for more information. One more that I would add from the start is the death of a child.


My Thoughts on The Demon of Devil’s Cavern by Brennan LaFaro –

One day when a knock arrives at their door, Rory and Alice are quick to pull their guns and prepare for the worst. Surprised to see the new sheriff of Buzzard’s Edge at their doorstep, they cautiously welcome her in. Things seem to be going okay as she tells them quite the tall tale. But of course, danger is lurking right around the corner. Rory and Alice are shocked when the first bullet finds its home in the sheriff’s skull, and just like that, they jump into action!

The next day, Rory and Alice go into town to report what happened but when the sheriff waltzes into town again, very much alive, the two are suddenly the bad guys again. Forced to flee town for a cabin in the woods, Rory and Alice hole up and try to figure out what to do next.

With the help of a couple of people in town, as well as a more ethereal somebody, the crew makes a game plan for what to do next to not just get Rory and Alice out of hot water, but to save the town. But will they succeed?

MY GOSH. The action and violence here is absolutely brutal. Talk about wanting to read a book while peeking through your fingers! There are a few scenes here that take that to an extreme.

The mob mentality made me so uneasy and seeing just how much control just a couple of people had over the whole town was terrifying. I loved getting more information about Alice, but man… I was already prepared to go to war for her. Learning more about what she lived through had my blood boiling!

This action-packed tale was a blast from start to finish! Just prepare yourselves for the darkness.

My Favorite Passages from The Demon of Devil’s Cavern –

Billy’s grin fell to the floor so fast it just about made a noise.

Deep breath in and I let go of the arrow and watched it miss the trunk so badly the breeze it created didn’t even rustle the leaves.
“Ah, perfect. I was aiming for the grass thirty feet yonder. Fuckin’ bullseye.”

“How’d you find us?” I asked. 
Billy looked at his boots like somebody might’ve scribbled the right answer across the toes.

She swung the butt of the gun and a sharp pain opened up on the side of my head. The Saloon at the End of the World twisted itself in circles and turned black at the edges while my knees quit trying to keep me upright.

The streets stayed quiet, and the dead kept to the shadows. More than once, I thought I saw a pair of eyes watching me pass, so I kept my focus on the packed dirt before me. Like if I didn’t let on that I saw them, they couldn’t demand anything of me. Alice noticed; I could tell. Not a minute went by where she wasn’t swinging her head around like a weathervane on a windy day.

Bang.
The sweet sound sailed through the still air and the groaning footsteps gave way to a two-hundred-pound body slapping to the floor like a slab of meat hitting the chopping block. An unwelcome and unexpected noise in the Dennis Schoolhouse that the butcher down the street no doubt knew like sweet music.

Alice’s chest hitched, and a tear fell down the side of her face, curving around the cut on her cheek as if afraid to touch it.

My Final Thoughts on The Demon of Devil’s Cavern –

Horror and splatter western fans, you need to check out Noose and The Demon of Devil’s Cavern ASAP! These books are so atmospheric, brutal in both action and grief, and so much fun.

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