Scan barcode
A review by jessicamap
The Devil's Colony by Bill Schweigart
3.0
When I read the description for Bill Schweigart's THE DEVIL'S COLONY I was instantly intrigued. Monsters, skinheads, "a chilling decent into horror and human depravity". Sign me up! The only problem was that I didn't realize this was book three in a trilogy - I found this out halfway through the book, too.
Ben McKelvie had a good job, a nice house, a beautiful fiancée, until a bloodthirsty shapeshifter took it all away. Ever since, he’s been chasing supernatural beings and monsters all across the country. By his side are Lindsay Clark (zoologist) and Richard Severance (cryptozoologist). They're about to face their hardest challenge!
In the New Jersey Pine Barrens, Henry Drexler operates a private compound called Välkommen (Swedish for welcome). Drexler welcomes all visitors—as long as they’re racists or neo-Nazis. Drexler used to be Serverance's mentor, and his research could have potentially summoned a monster to the Pine Barrens. To find out the truth, Ben and Lindsay must enter the camp incognito. While there, they learn that the most evil monsters lurk inside the human heart.
So, while the premise was good I was completely lost in some points in the novel. Since I'm on book three of a trilogy - and it's not the type of detective series where they could be standalones - I was missing a lot of references and character development. So that definitely ruined the flow of the book and there were probably some events that lost some significance because I wasn't clued in. The horror element was there and the compound was really interesting to go through and see how Ben and Lindsay tried to blend in.
The writing was great and the horror was there. I'd highly recommend reading the first two in the trilogy if this one sounds appealing to you! I wish this was better marked to make it clear it was book three.
I give this 3.5/5 stars!
Big thanks to Netgalley for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.
Ben McKelvie had a good job, a nice house, a beautiful fiancée, until a bloodthirsty shapeshifter took it all away. Ever since, he’s been chasing supernatural beings and monsters all across the country. By his side are Lindsay Clark (zoologist) and Richard Severance (cryptozoologist). They're about to face their hardest challenge!
In the New Jersey Pine Barrens, Henry Drexler operates a private compound called Välkommen (Swedish for welcome). Drexler welcomes all visitors—as long as they’re racists or neo-Nazis. Drexler used to be Serverance's mentor, and his research could have potentially summoned a monster to the Pine Barrens. To find out the truth, Ben and Lindsay must enter the camp incognito. While there, they learn that the most evil monsters lurk inside the human heart.
So, while the premise was good I was completely lost in some points in the novel. Since I'm on book three of a trilogy - and it's not the type of detective series where they could be standalones - I was missing a lot of references and character development. So that definitely ruined the flow of the book and there were probably some events that lost some significance because I wasn't clued in. The horror element was there and the compound was really interesting to go through and see how Ben and Lindsay tried to blend in.
The writing was great and the horror was there. I'd highly recommend reading the first two in the trilogy if this one sounds appealing to you! I wish this was better marked to make it clear it was book three.
I give this 3.5/5 stars!
Big thanks to Netgalley for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.