The Demonologist by Andrew Pyper
My rating: 1 of 5 stars
What a disappointment! I was intrigued to read a paranormal mystery that includes Milton’s Paradise Lost, but I would have never expected such a bad outcome.
I will keep this review short, because I really do not feel like wasting any more time on this than absolutely necessary.
The main character was flat, one dimensional. He did not possess any depth or could hold the reader’s interest regardless of the fact that this story was narrated from his point of view in the first person singular. It is difficult to create a character that is supposed to appear distant from his life and surroundings without establishing such distance between the character and the reader. The secondary characters seemed stereotypical and were only included for the purpose of representing one character trait for each of them. They did not aid in establishing greater interest in the plot, the main character or the book in general.
The narration was poorly done. Pages and pages were used for non-sense descriptions about obvious and predictable “plot twists”. Any attempt to add an element of eeriness fell short and got lost in the overly detailed and quite boring descriptions done by the narrator. Interactions between characters and even actions described felt awkward and not well thought out in the hopes of bringing forth a sense of mystique.
A quick note about the inclusion of Milton’s Paradise Lost: quoting what seems like random passages and words that are somehow supposed to add up at the end of the story only causes the reader confusion. For those readers, who have not read Milton, it would have seem far fetched and unnecessary. And those, who have read Milton, feel cheated by its cheap use in the story.
Overall, I felt the story was a poor attempt at combining the idea of the Exorcist and including a lesson on 17th century English literature. I do not recommend this book and actually feel quite robbed of the time I spent reading it.
