Consumed by Evil By John Durgin Review
It’s review time again. Having finished my MFA, I have been able to read for pleasure a lot more. So, when I was given the chance to read John Durgin’s new novel early I had to jump on it. I want to thank him for the ARC.
John Durgin’s New Novel Consumed by Evil comes out November 29th and let me tell you you’re all in for a treat. It is the sequel to his debut novel The Cursed Among Us which is being released on November 9th. Both titles are coming through the phenomenal Crystal Lake Publishing.
The Cursed Among Us is the first Indie Horror novel I read when I joined the Books of Horror Facebook group. (By the way join that group if you love horror novels.) It also inspired my novel that I wrote, and really hit me with the small-town feel. Now I will not talk a lot about it; that’ll be in a future review.
Consumed by Evil is everything you want from a sequel. It picks up in true Halloween two fashion right after the previous book ended. John proceeds to reintroduce us to Howie, Bethany, and Corey from the first book. We also get to meet their families and see their interpersonal connections with tons of people in town outside of their friend group.
All the characters are flushed out so well. Including the parents. A lot of people die in the first book to the possessed Jessica Black. However, the kills this time around are so much more brutal, and visceral. Making this entry so much darker than the original, and so much more emotional.
I loved seeing so deeply into the three friends and how much they care for each other, and how the dread of the novel comes from then trying to find each other. With us seeing to what limits friends will go to save each other from a murderous entity. Oddly the entity isn’t what scared me the most about this book, it was the dark forces behind it, and what is being done behind the scenes. Creating a gripping tale that I couldn’t put down.
As with most of John’s books it reads like a movie, which grips you and won’t let you go. Until the end you will be wanting to flip to the next page to uncover the next secret.
And these secrets must be uncovered. No mystery can be unsolved. You won’t regret picking this novel up. I truly think it is his best to date, from the atmosphere to the characters, truthfully, I would love to see a movie of this someday. John is just that good.
Five stars my friend. Can’t wait for your next book!
My goal moving forward is to post a review a week on here from now on. So, 52 a year if all goes well.
Next week I will be reentering the Exorcist House in Exorcist House: Genesis by Nick Roberts.
See you then.