As someone who has read more of Piccirilli's later works, this novel was significantly different. I'm used to his crime noir or pulp fiction type stories. Something hard hitting and gritty and intense. A LOWER DEEP gives us some of that but puts it into a different environment. Instead of real world, the world is full of sorcery and magic, religion and Satanism, and Armageddon.

The unnamed Necromancer and his familiar Self are forced to confront their old coven leader Jebediah DeLancre who wants to force the premature return of Christ; this would trigger Armageddon. Necromancer is tempted though because Jebediah promises the resurrection of Necromancer's true love. The story takes the character across the world through places such as stopping a witch's coven, a haunted monastery and finally the climax in Jerusalem. Along the way Necromancer must fight with his own ghosts and his own zombie father.

Most of the time I have problems with books centered around magic. There doesn't seem to be much to stop the author from creating whatever magical spells they need. Too few limitations and too few ramifications of those magic spells. This book though didn't fall into that arena. There were some amazing spells being cast but the whole book had a gritty feel that made it more real. It was not as fantastical as it might seem. The book does contain a lot though: Christianity, paganism, witchcraft, multiple demons, zombies, gore, violence, laughs and powerful themes that you'll remember after finishing the book. I probably wouldn't recommend this book as a starting point for Piccirilli's work (try A CHOIR OF ILL CHILDREN or THE COLD SPOT instead) but this would absolutely fall on the highly recommended list. ( )

this confusing, disjointed tale, which clumsily combines elements of fantasy, magic realism, devil worship, horror, and humor, is just godawful. i really tried to get into this, but ended up skipping around to read the good parts. it's a stunning example of of how not to mix horror and humor. as usual, Tom's premise was great, but he let it falter and sputter with too much boggy description, misplaced jokes, and horrid prose. here's an excerpt:

"... Then he frowned so hard that the ridge appeared between his eyes, as it did between mine, both of us looking genuinely confused. 'But which side are you on? Do you even know?'

The land itself had grown hostile with resentment. I sat in the front of a church for hours, and then moved off to a mosque and a Muslim shrine and I watched the different flags droop in the unmoving air and couldn't tell them apart. I vomited in alleyways until the bile tore up my guts. Gunshots and the sound of breaking glass echoed in all directions.

Self sniffed, held his nose, and said, 'You really stink.'"

to be fair, of course, the above is out of context. but the sample is pretty standard throughout the book.

this is only for the diehard Piccirilli fan. ( )