The Demonologist does not thrive on original material. Instead, it chooses to bring forth an old, familiar tale and breathe new life into it. It's not often you see the Devil working against Evil, and I have to admit I'm a sucker for black magic and cult details. Must be the dark side of me, I dunno. Either way, this isn't exactly a been there, done that before kind of deal. While some of the details aren't anything fresh, I didn't even notice as I absorbed the violent new additions.

On the down side of the plot, at times it was a little cheesy. The ending, especially, was a pisser the last few pages were a mistake from Laimo. It left me with a depressed and stunned feeling, but regrettably not in the good depressed, sucker punched way.

Now, to recount for all that - It begins fairly quickly and doesn't take too much sweet time to pick up the pace. The scenes are full of action, mystery and suspense are present, and the atmosphere is thick with dread, confusion, and delirium. The climax is tight, strong, and suspenseful.

Thankfully the pages practically drip blood. Laimoisn't a party pooper who keeps all the goodies locked away. Instead he displays them and even hands them out we have deaths galore, wicked masturbation/fellatio scenes, oozing fluids, gushing nasties, and all the extra good stuff that makes a person with a queasy stomach wish he/she hadn't read past the first page.

One complaint I do hold is some of the characters are a bit weak. Bev is the rock n roll star that's burnt out, grieving over his wife, and determined to save his sanity. His daughter isn't as well sketched out but doesn't come off as unlikable. Laimo did an admirable job with the preacher, but overall in the character department he could use some practice.

The writing style is short and strong. Laimo doesn't numb the novel with useless words that serve no purpose. Because of this, his style greatly compliments the suspense scenes. The book is written in third person, mainly told through the eyes of Bev.

Overall The Demonologist is an enjoyable book but by far not a perfect one. The plot is creepy and holds mucho potential; however, some of the scenes wound up being too cheesy for their own good. The characters were all likable and easy to follow, yet none of them were sketched out to be as believable as they could have been. The pacing and atmosphere are right on, though, and gore fans have reason to celebrate. Whip out that wallet if you're in the mood for some super cool demon battle scenes. ( )

Not a horrible book, but not great either. A clever take on the sub-genre of satanic horror, but it lacks a sense of realism. Laimo stretches too far in this book. ( )