2.75 stars

This was hard to rate and review, because there's a fair amount here that is true and biblical, but a lot that isn't, as well.

I'll start with the good:

The authors are clear about the gospel - that salvation is only possible by grace, through faith in Jesus Christ.

They take spiritual warfare seriously, and are clear that we can only fight with the power of Christ. We can't take on the devil or demons by ourselves.

They were also careful to point out that we need to treat Satan with a certain amount of respect; that is, to recognize that he really is powerful, certainly more so than us humans. We need to not become arrogant and think that he and his demons can't possibly affect us at all. The Bible is clear that God allows Satan to work in the world.

They acknowledge that not all illnesses are caused by demonic forces.

I also appreciated the truth that if we're trying to rid our lives of sin, we can't try to wean ourselves of it - to sin "just a little less." We need to denounce it completely.

The bad and controversial:

There are a lot of details here about the occult, in general, and about "The Brotherhood," in particular. The Bible doesn't give us all these details and so we just have no way to verify the information.

One of the authors, Elaine, claims to be a former witch and Bride of Satan. Her accounts are the ones I disbelieve the most. She says she was one of the most powerful and important witches, even though she was constantly disobeying Satan and the high priestesses. Nearly all of these people were involved in murders, but she never was, because she "holds life very, very dearly." I personally find that idea hard to reconcile. Whenever the book was written from Elaine's perspective, I felt such arrogance emanating from the pages. She really reminded me of descriptions of schizophrenics that I've read - particularly her need to be a "special snowflake," if you will. She believes she was possessed by demons at babyhood. She says she had sex with Satan himself. She believes vampires, werewolves, and zombies all exist, and that they are humans, rather than demons appearing in those forms.

The authors believe it is possible for anyone to be possessed by demons - even Christians. They believe in the concept of "guardian angels" - that each human has one angel specifically dedicated to protecting them. They believe that demon possession can be transmitted through sex, and that that is the reason sexual sin is made to be such a big deal in the Bible. They state that incest and homosexuality always lead to demonic "infestation" (aka, possession), and that child abuse almost always results in the same. Minor children have no power, according to the authors, to rid a house of demonic influences, but a head of household does.

Christians should avoid practices associated with demonic forces; according to the authors, that includes everything from tarot readings and seances to martial arts, yoga, and meditation. (I did appreciate their clarification about why yoga and meditation should be avoided - these practices encourage 'emptying out' our minds, whereas the Bible states that we need to take every thought captive - and the two are very different.)

There's more along similar lines that I won't get into here. Plus, there's a little profanity.

Finally, the book had a lot of typos, and there were some repetitive parts.

Overall, I think this could be a useful read for a Christian with the maturity and discernment needed to separate the truth from the fiction. It does inspire and encourage Christians to fight via prayer, and to accept suffering, as talked about in the Bible. Many others will either be terrified unnecessarily, or dismissive of all spiritual warfare.
( )

Read it as a YA. Thought it was really too fictional for reality. Turns out the author was delusional.

Charismatic/Pentecostal/Spiritist pop-fiction. Few books bring Satan so close to home so vividly. Unfortunately, the author is a looney charlatan and this book has deceived many people. Not recommended for reading late at night in the dark or by overly-spiritualized or easily manipulated minds. ( )