Much thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for providing me this eARC to read. This was a fantastic historical horror novel that the description/summary does not do justice. There are twists galore throughout this novel and the reader may struggle with some of the German and Czech words and names but hang in there it is worth it. Highly recommended.

The synopsis definitely portrayed the way this book was going to unfold. Dark and sinister, it is a perfect gothic horror.

I apologize but I did not finish this free copy. It freaked me out so badly it became a book that I would only read in the daytime. Then finally I just had to quit because it was scaring me enough that I didn’t want to go to sleep in the dark. The thing is i don’t think it was meant to be this creepy. I think it was just my reaction to the story. It was fine writing. I just couldn’t stick to it.

3.5 stars, rounded upward. I read this creepy tale during the last half of October, and it is indeed a good way to get into the Halloween spirit. I am disgracefully late with my review—3.5 years late, as it happens—but I do thank Net Galley and Doubleday for the review copy. This book is, of course, for sale now.

Here is what drew me in. This is horror of the old school variety, with gothic towers and half a dozen criminally insane inmates. It’s set in Czechoslovakia, which I seldom see. The flavor, overall, is similar to the stories we told as children around campfires or late at night during slumber parties. Of course, it has a more adult approach, but even so, this is classic horror.

Our protagonists are Viktor Kusarek, a Jungian psychiatrist who comes to the asylum to conduct experiments on the patients, or inmates, in order to prove a theory, and police chief Lukas Smolak, who is pursuing a serial killer that is running amok in Prague.

This is a story that is more about the journey than the destination, though perhaps not intentionally so. Hearing about each of the six savage killers as Viktor interviews them is vastly entertaining. There’s one spot about a third of the way in, where a patient, partially sedated, is explaining that he is innocent, and also that a guest sorely provoked him. Always so critical! He was determined to impress her with his cooking, and indeed, the longer he worked at the stove, the more reasonable she became. Viktor points out that the guest had stopped complaining because he had her head in the skillet. I laughed out loud! The middle of this novel is unmissable.

There are three things I would change. First, the book is a little overlong, and could bear some tightening. Second, the whole Nazi menace has nothing to do with the problem or its resolution. It seems more like window dressing than anything else, but it doesn’t add a thing to the story. If I were the editor, I would cut that part of it out and voila, some of the tightening would be achieved. And third, the ending is so, so predictable. I stuck with the story until around the 85 percent mark, at which point I figured all hope of an ending other than what I expected was pretty much gone. At that point I skipped to the end. Yup. There it was. I would have liked a less formulaic ending.

Still and all, fans of old fashioned horror could do a lot worse. If this sounds like your kind of book after everything I have said, then go for it. I am old and cranky, and what seems obvious to me might seem new and clever to those that haven’t read many books of this ilk. And one way or the other, getting there is a lot of fun.

The year is 1935, the place Prague. The world is unsettled with Hitler and his minions steadily taking power in Germany and propagating their racial theories wherever they could. Dr. Viktor Kosarek, a newly established psychiatrist, has just taken a new job.

On the border between Czechoslovakia and Germany stands an old castle fortress named the Hrad Orlu Asylum for the Criminally Insane. It is the location of Dr. Kosarek's new job. The castle has stood for centuries and for centuries it has had the reputation of evil. Now it is used to house only six patients. Those six are the most heinous murderers of the region and are called The Devil's Six. They are the patients Dr. Kosarek believes he can help.

Dr. Kosarek believes there is a deeply hidden part of each insane person's personality that he calls The Devil Aspect. Similar to multiple personalities, it is formed when a youngster encounters such a horrific event that he or she cannot handle seeing it and represses even the memory. That memory over the years becomes the evil part of the personality and does whatever it wants. Dr. Kosarek believes that with drugs and hypnosis he can reach this evil and lance it, restoring the patient.

But as he treats each of the six, he finds something he doesn't expect. He finds that each of them share a common delusion and an evil persona that insists it has survived for centuries and will survive forever. Can he reach this evil before it is unleashed again?

This is a new author to me. Russell is a highly regarded author in the horror/suspense genre. He is the only person to ever win the McIlvanney Prize given to the best book of the year in the genre. His work slowly builds tension and fear and the conclusion is a surprising one that the reader will not expect. This book is recommended for readers of horror and suspense.

Viktor Kosárek is a psychiatrist who is trying to figure out the evil of serial killers that are in the asylum where he works. As he is studying 6 killers, a new killer appears on his radar. He must work with the police to solve the new murders which are a copycat of Jack the Ripper.

About the best thing I can say about this is it had a lot of promise. I've grown to enjoy dark historical fiction. It can offer an interesting perspective on the past- how did the tragedies and atrocities of history happen? Do we really understand our ancestors? What did those times look like to the people who lived them? The Devil Aspect tries to do some of this, but gets bogged own in its overly elaborate mythology, far fetched plot, and deeply annoying twist ending.

Viktor Kosarek is a psychiatrist. He moves to a remote Czech village to work at an insane asylum with infamous serial killers. This doesn't really work, because there's no good reason for there to be 1) so many serial killers identified and captured at the same time 2) all of them to be at the same mountain castle turned asylum. But this is the lurid, pulpy stuff I could easily overlook in search of a good time. Viktor thinks that all of the serial killers have a hidden identity or archetype he calls the Devil Aspect. He's gonna do some hypnotherapy, some drug induced talk about your secret past stuff, and boom, he's identified a commonality among killers that may allow them to be productively treated.

Viktor leaves Prague just as the city is being terrorized by a new serial killer whose crimes have a certain resemblance to Jack the Ripper. There's not really any need to connect this killer to Jack the Ripper, but historical crime/horror novelists fucking love Jack the Ripper, and I get it. Even with a modern understanding of the serial killer phenomenon and the absolute pile of serial killer stories and lore, the Ripper sticks out. (I once picked Jack the Ripper as a topic in my college speech class, and was allowed to do it, so.) But anyway, police inspector Smolak and Viktor eventually join forces to try to figure out what's going on.

I think there are just too many threads in this book for it to be productively woven into an entertaining and satisfying story. There's the threat of Nazism hanging over everything, there's lots of legends and lore about the evil former ruler of the mountain village, there's I think 7 different serial killers with their own backstories, there's a romance between Viktor and a woman who also works at the asylum, and there's plots about the suspects of the current Prague murders. It doesn't really hang together, and the big twist at the end felt like a cop out.

There's a lot of atmosphere, but no real substance in this book, and I can't quite recommend it.

The Devil Aspect by Craig Russell is a delicious cross between Silence of The Lambs and the Exorcist with a building tension that will slowly take the reader in and before you can save yourself, it will envelope you in thrills and horror.

"....I have raped, tortured, mutilated and cannabalized. Men, women, children, babies, animals. I have explored the capacity of just about every sentient species to feel fear and feel pain. And afterward, I cut off their faces and wore them as masks so I could see what they saw and they could see what I saw. I showed them the truest, purest nature of evil.' Skala grinned malevolently. 'And that, Dr. Koserek, is what you describe as a 'disorder'.'
'What would you call it?'
'My faith. My religion. My belief in an all-powerful evil.'
'Whatever you may think it is,' said Viktor, 'it's nothing more than psychosis. I want to get to the bottom of it and help you conquer it. I look forward to working with you.'
Skala sat, his large body immobile in the restraint chair, his face immobile in an expression of dull contempt.
'You're a very handsome man, Dr. Kosarek,' he said as both psychiatrists rose to leave. Viktor said nothing.
'I'm sure you've been fully warned about me,' said Skala. 'That you have to be careful at all times. The thing of it is, you have to be lucky all the time, I only need to get lucky once. See my chance and take it. I look forward to working with you too, Dr. Kosarek, because the very first chance I get I'm going to slice and peel that handsome face off your skull, while you're still alive, and wear it as a mask. Then everyone will say how handsome I look..."

A young psychiatrist, newly trained by Carl Jung, arrives at the infamous Hrad Orlu Ayslum for the Criminally Insane. Dr. Viktor Kosarek is excited to be at the state-of-art-facility, located in a medieval mountaintop castle outside of Prague. But the castle has a dark history with the local townspeople. Evil that goes back deeply for generations. In the asylum are housed six of the country's greatest killers; The Woodcutter, The Clown, The Glass Collector, The Vegetarian, The Sciomancer and The Demon. With these killers, Viktor hopes to use a new medical technique of his own making to prove that they share a common archetype of evil. What he has come to call the Devil Aspect. But he comes to learn is that it may be even more malevolent than a simple psychosis.

"....Pavel,' said Viktor, 'I need you to explain how it is you can speak so many languages. How did you learn them? Why is your voice so altered?'
Viktor's patient shook his head. 'I'm not Pavel Zeleny. But you've guessed that already. I'm something else. Something quite other. Something beyond your understanding. And I know what I know because I have been around for a very, very long time. Much longer than this oafish woodcutter through whom I speak. I have seen such thing-such great horror and terror. Things you are incapable of imagining.'
'Who are you?' Viktor heard something tight and shrill edge into his own voice and fought to compose himself.
'I told you twice now. You may call me Mr. Hobbs.'
'I mean what are you?'
'That, Dr. Kosarek, is something you already know but don't dare to allow yourself to believe.' Zeleny looked at the thick, blue-white painted walls of the ancient grain store, then up into the wooden vaults above him. 'The greatest danger in seeking out the Devil, my dear doctor, is that you might find him..."

In Prague, Police Investigator Lukas Smolak is faced with a serial killer the press have called Leather Apron. A killer who is imitating the murders a century before in London. The horror that was Jack the Ripper. Smolak visits the asylum in hopes the doctors can shed some light on the new killer. But what he finds is a connection between his killer and six inmates of Hrad Orlu. A tenuous thread of evil.

The Devil Aspect is a horror crime novel steeped in noire and folklore. The book is just plain creepy. Which is the fun of it. It is true horror and there is a shortage of real horror. The kind that leaves a taste of iron and something else. Something prime evil. Something that makes the hair on the back of your neck begin to shiver. Something that reminds that primitive part of your soul, that there is true evil in this world.

This is one not to be missed. A terrific tale!

Fun gothic horror novel/thriller about a psychiatrist convinced that in all serial killers there's a "devil aspect", a separate identity that is, for all intents and purposes, the devil himself. The psychiatrist tests out his theories by joining the staff of a high security lunatic asylum in a forbidding castle in the hills above Prague, with fairly predictable results. Still, set pre-WWII in the Sudetenland, it offered author Craig Russell a chance to touch on various tensions between German aligned locals versus those worried about the growing regional dominance of the Nazi party too. The biggest problem is that Russell's writing style is that of a Czech writer who has had their work translated into English so the phrasing is clumsy, there are some odd, and often obscure, word choices, and the narrative sometimes suffers from the Czech character names that I found a bit hard to follow. Recommended nonetheless.

The first time I attempted to read this I did not make it very far before putting it down, thinking that I would probably not finish reading it. I gave it another try a couple days ago and barely put it down until I read the entire story.
The story takes place in Prague, 1935. An up and coming psychologist Viktor Kosárek is beginning his new job at the Hrad Orlu Asylum for the Criminally Insane. This asylum, an ominous mountaintop castle that looms over the nearby town (much to the dismay of the citizens there) houses the Devil's Six. Six killers who are all deemed to dangerous to ever walk again among civilized society. Here Viktor intends to test out his theory that all six of these patients share a commonality, a trait he refers to as their Devil Aspect. Their stories are not for the faint of heart, but engrossing in their recount. If I had to pick a favorite part about this novel, it would be the stories of the devil's six.
While the asylum does indeed house the devil's six, the nearby city is being stalked by a serial killer dubbed as "Leather Apron. " It leads some to believe at least one of the patients is able to come and go from the castle as he pleases. Investigator Lukas Smolak visits the asylum following up on a lead and to glean information from the doctors about the mind of a psychotic killer. The knowledge imparted is less than comforting for the investigator however, what if this killer does not know he is in fact a killer at all?
Both the investigation into Leather Apron's murders and the interviews at Hrad Orlu are enough to keep the pages turning, never a dull moment. The ending I found rather predictable but as it was well written and thoroughly entertaining I was not at all disappointed. Usually I am not a fan of historical fiction but in this case I would definitely recommend this book.

This book was an amazing blend of historical fiction. gothic lore, horror, and crime. The characters, although they were killers full of evil, were believable - something I struggle with when reading thrillers. This book was a page-turner but one I had to put down a few times due to the subject matter. I loved the plot structure and separate storylines full of twists and turns. If you enjoy a dark psychological thriller, you will enjoy this unique and well written book.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author, for an ARC of this book, in exchange for an honest review.
Unfortunately, I have tried reading this book on 2 separate occasions and during that 2nd attempt, I have only managed to make it halfway through so I’d rather stop here and state that this book just wasn't for me.

"The Devil Aspect" is a good novel with an unfortunately predictable end. It's often grim and has a bit of a gothic horror feel to it. It's unfortunately that the ending was made far too obvious. It's an otherwise well written, well paced novel despite that all too predictable ending.

I am a member of the American Library Association Reading List Award Committee. This title was on the 2020 shortlist. The complete list of winners and shortlisted titles is at <a href="https://rusaupdate.org/2020/01/2020-reading-list-years-best-in-genre-fiction-for-adult-readers/">

This is a grpping, all-consuming, well developed Gothic horror novel that, even though quite long, kept me interested to the very last sentence. I was unfamiliar with the general setting both physical and temporal but feel that the author used everything possible to make it relevant and helped me understand how it played into the whole story. I do feel that I would have liked better closure for the character of the assistant/secretary, Judita. The psychological aspect of this was very creepy but kept me coming back to finish. I thank #netgalley for the opportunity to read #thedevilaspect by Craig Russell

"The Devil Aspect" is a very compelling read. It perfectly blends the factual horrors of serial killings and the equally horrific rise of Nazi fascism in Europe. The historical detail is superb and overall, it's cleverly written and well researched. There are so many details that are exceptionally well-done in this novel: the history of psychiatry, the rise of the Nazis, investigative procedures, true crime and Czech culture in the 1930s. #TheDevilAspect #NetGalley

Wow! Wow, wow, wow! This was one of the most interesting and all-consuming books I have read in years.



Set in a time that is less than 100 years but worlds and worlds away from our modern age, "The Devil Aspect" follows Viktor as he begins a new job as psychiatrist to The Devil's Six. Shortly after he begins his interviews with the patients, he encounters a being that stuns and terrifies him. The human in Viktor wants to stay away from this horror, but the scientist in him demands to find out all the answers he can. And thus begins his journey into madness.



There are multiple different elements of this story, all competing for center stage in the reader's mind. Viktor himself, as a newly-trained psychiatrist in the Jungian method. Viktor as a love interest to one of the other employees at the castle. Viktor's friend, who appears to be heading down a terrifying path of his own. The hunt for Leather Apron. The fast-changing political climate as the Nazi regime creeps ever closer to Prague. The Devil's Six and their stories.



What Russell has done is woven an absolute masterpiece. Each of these different elements is allowed to shine to its best advantage, without taking away from the others. Russell's writing leaves the reader hungry to know more, eager to find out what happens next, breathless with anticipation of what may or may not be on the next page.



I found it unique and intriguing to read about the encroaching Nazi threat from the perspective of a lesser-known European nation. Though Prague is exquisite in many ways, it and its people have not received much time in the limelight for their experiences leading up to, during, and after World War II. At least, in comparison to the stories flooding the market from Americans, English, French, Germans, and so forth. I loved seeing a new perspective.



Chapter after chapter, the intensity of the story escalates until we reach the end, the final cataclysmic detail, and suddenly all the pieces fall into place. The reader is left shell-shocked, saddened, and still slightly curious. What a stunning tale, from start to finish.



I cannot praise this book highly enough. I highly recommend for all mature readers.

Sometimes the human mind can be the scariest place imaginable and in The Devil Aspect that's exactly where the reader dares to tread as we follow the voice of a young psychiatrist who has been given the opportunity to examine the depths of the minds of 6 convicted murderers: The Woodcutter, The Clown, The Glass Collector, The Vegetarian, The Sciomancer, and The Demon; collectively known as, the Devil's Six. With each injection, another horrible secret is recorded and a disturbing pattern immerges that may prove Dr Viktor Kosárek's theory of the existence of a common archetype of evil, a phenomenon known as The Devil Aspect. All the while these special sessions are conducted there is a frantic search underway for another type of monster who is butchering women and recreating grisly scenes from London's "The Autumn of Terror"; has Jack the Ripper resurfaced in 1935 Prague or is the work of an inspired copy cat? This is a novel where dark tendrils of true crime, psychological experimentation, Horror and Slavic Folklore cover the real face of true evil and becomes a historical thriller to recommend by the final page. It can also be unfortunately predictable and dare I say the devil is the details as the two main storylines collide midbook and the suspense at the final reveal is awkwardly presented while still leaving quite a few noticeable plot holes and questions unanswered. That all aside, this is one twisted novel that feels more like a fiendish fever dream at certain times and will have you wondering when the contents will be brought to the silver screen.

*I would like to thank NetGalley and DoubleDay for the opportunity to read and enjoy The Devil Aspect

This story had all the makings of a story I figured I would totally love. There's Vicktor, a psychiatrist who's about to begin working with some notorious serial killers in the creepiest of settings, a castle that's now an insane asylum. He wants to study his theory that all 6 serial killers share something he calls "the Devil Aspect." Along with Viktor there's a second protagonist, police investgator Lukas, who's busy pursuing a serial killer called "leather apron" One by one, Viktor interviews each serial killer which did feel cliched and over the top in many ways for me. There was something missing in the structure of the narrative for me and I found myself easily able to out this book down and not really inclined to pick it back up. While the initial theory is explored and even a possible supernatural element is tossed out as a possibility, there's something lacking in the narrative, the writing style or just the flow that kept me from liking this story

One of my favorite books of the year! Russell creates a good mix of horror and mystery combined with a creepy atmosphere set in an insane asylum in prewar Europe. Fans of Thomas Harris and Stephen King will appreciate this fast-paced and quite interesting historical mystery, complete with a surprise ending. WIll love to handsell this book!