Sam Gregory is a PTSD-suffering veteran turned insurance investigator hired to look into the disappearance of a valuable book at a boarding school located on an island off Massachusetts. Great setup, love the spooky setting. As he investigates, things take a gory, supernatural turn. A student reporter is investigating other issues at the school and their investigations collide. This was a fun read with a lot going on, but could have been fleshed out a bit more in terms of character development and explanation of Sam's backstory.

I enjoyed this quirky book quite a bit. It was sort of a mash up of genres, which made it fun and gave it a few nice little twists. Well written and fast paced, it was a quick read with a very surprising ending. I’m looking forward to more like this from Mr. Lloyd.

My copy of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. My thanks to the the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review it.

TL;DR

Friend of the Devil is a fast-paced, character driven mystery mixed with a horror novel set at an exclusive boarding school of the coast of Massachusetts. Stephen Lloyd created fascinating characters that push the pace and surprise us. Highly recommended.

Disclaimer: The publisher provided a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Any and all opinions that follow are mine alone.

Review: Friend of the Devil by Stephen Lloyd

Sometimes, an excellent cover is all it takes to sell me on a book. I have a particular soft spot for when it’s a picture of a person with another scene overlaid on the person’s body. This is why I first noticed Stephen Lloyd’s Friend of the Devil. Yes, the cover has nothing to do with what’s inside the book at all. But look at it, that’s a beautiful cover that hints at so much. Then I read the phrase “demonic detective novel” in the description, and boom, I was hooked. I loved Friend of the Devil, and I look forward to what Lloyd publishes next.

Off the coast of Massachusetts, a crime was committed at a boarding school for the elite. A rare book was stolen from the library, and the insurance company has sent in their detective, Sam Gregory, to find the book and avoid the big insurance payout. After all, it’s an island; so, the book can’t have gone far. Sam sets about looking for the book, finding oddities within the school as his investigation progresses. At the same time, Harriet, a student, looks for the students in werewolf masks who interrupted her Dungeons and Dragons game with firecrackers. The harassment led to Harriet having an epileptic seizure. Being a journalist, Harriet wants to write an exposé on bullying and jock culture at the private school. Her investigation leads her down the dark side of Danforth Putnam. Drugs, steroids, sex tapes, and more are just the beginning. Meanwhile someone or something is stalking the students, killing them without notice. Sam and Harriet soon learn that the little island school is much more than just a launching point for the elite.

Friend of the Devil is a close, omniscient point of view novel that switches back and forth between Sam and Harriet’s investigations. It’s fast paced without sacrificing characterization. Both Sam and Harriet are fantastic characters that have us rooting for them throughout. Sam’s part of the story reads more as a hard-boiled detective novel, which worked for me. Harriet’s portion is a bit more straight forward without the hard-boiled stylistic flourishes. Yet, it works because of this. Her portion balances Sam’s without making the story dip too far into the hard-boiled style.

Point of View

Friend of the Devil has an odd point of view (POV) structure. It has a close omniscient POV. The story dips into the heads of the characters that are in proximity of both Harriet and Sam. Lloyd does it so smoothly that it took me a couple chapters to realize what was going on. This POV style can be hard to pull off, but Lloyd does it here. The result is a much fuller narrative that makes side characters into more rounded individuals instead of just suspects necessary for the narrative. It works so well that the reader understands the suspects and their motivations. They may not be sympathetic, but they’re understandable. That goes a long way towards making realistic characters.

Any omniscient POV is hard to pull off because there’s so much movement between characters that it confuses the readers. However, Lloyd makes it very clear what’s happening and whose head we’re in. Ultimately, it’s the character work that Lloyd did for each individual that makes it work. They’re all interesting in their own ways. A few characters would be caricatures without Lloyd giving us their back stories. The jock who takes steroids? The poor kid drug dealer? These are stereotypes. In the hands of a lesser author, they would feel one dimensional and more plot device than person. However, Lloyd digs in, does the work, and constructs them based on their own actions, choices, and motivations. Lloyd’s characters succeed because he took them seriously rather than short handing them. The novel is all the better for it.

Pacing

This book moves fast. It’s only 240 pages long according to the publisher (I read an eBook version). The combination of short chapters, focused character work, and selective editing boiled the story down to the very essentials. The whole story moves continually forward. Even the back stories and flashbacks move fast. There really isn’t much pausing and reflecting, which normally is something that bothers me. It works in this book, though. I think that’s partly because it is such a short work. Partly, it’s because the flashbacks and character work act as points of reflection without slowing the narrative.

Finally, the pacing also works because the book is hyper-focused. There’s no outside world building. There’s no page long description of meals. We don’t know how many teachers, let alone kids, are at the school. The reader is only given information relevant to that moment in the story. I can’t tell you what the grounds, dorms, or class rooms look like. Here, that works. If this were an epic fantasy, I’d be upset about that. But Friend of the Devil is a mystery/horror novel. Even if the author chooses to write another book about Sam or Harriet, I doubt he’ll be visiting Danforth Putnam again. So, we, the readers, don’t need all that information. Instead we get a hyper-focused narrative that, frankly, provides an excellent counterpoint to a lot of the door-stopping bricks that novels are becoming.

Conclusion

Stephen Lloyd’s Friend of the Devil was a book I didn’t know I needed to read. Its character focused, close omniscient POV was fantastic. I couldn’t put the novel down, and I’d bet you won’t be able to either.

7.5 out of 10!

My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher Penguin Group Putnam for an advanced copy of this supernatural mystery.

A book of curious and forgotten lore disappears from the library of an exclusive private school off the coast of New England during the 1980's. A damaged cigarette (and other substances) addicted insurance investigator is dispatched to find the missing tome. Meanwhile a brash young student reporter is investigating student bullying and the football team's power over the other students. Neither of them find what they expected in Friend of the Devil, written by Stephen Lloyd.

Channeling Ross MacDonald's Lew Archer, with the anger and vengeance of Lee Child's Jack Reacher, and the damaged psyche of author Nick Petrie's Peter Ash, Mr. Lloyd has created a hard as nails detective story with a lot of DC Comics Hellblazer tossed into the the mix. Sam Gregory is an interesting character, a veteran who is smarter than he plays, with an ability to literally roll with the punches, while out thinking his foes. Harriet, the young student reporter is a little bit Harriet the Spy and a lot Lois Lane, with a lot of courage, a lot of tenacity and the ability to go on when everyone has given up on her. Among the elite, the drug dealing students, the murderous football players, young Reagan supporters, with BB guns and the encroaching darkness, they play well together, thought they parellel investigations don't really meet till half way through.

The story is interesting, and the writing is good, with the narrative switching from character to character well, without a lot of confusion. The setting is moody, an isolated island with things not what they appear. However there is nothing really new. Smart mouth teens, battered detectives, cult scares. The ideas are interesting, but I felt that I had read this tale before. Not bad, just very familiar.

For fans of “Twilight” & “Harry Potter,” this book wasn’t at all what I expected. Mystery & fantasy intertwined for a great whodunit with multiple unexpected twists at the end. Just when I thought I had figured it out, the plot took another turn before Lloyd pulled out the rug from underneath me so thoroughly, I had to reread several passages to make sure my eyes weren’t deceiving me! Fast-paced page turner that will keep you awake late into the night!

I liked everything about this book. Engaging characters, especially our protagonist, interesting plot line, and enough twists and turns to keep me turning the page. Well done.

This was such a fun horror noir novella! It hits all the major beats I like in the genre: Mysterious cult, secluded island, something witchy and demonic afoot, 80s setting, nosy kids in way over their heads, a grumpy investigator, and a dash of gore. The pacing and length make 'Friend of the Devil' easily a single-sitting read. Lloyd balances multiple points if view in an enticing way that builds suspense and keeps you wondering which characters will stumble upon which reveals first. I adamantly recommend this book to anyone looking for a quick, dark, exciting read.

Thank you so much to netgalley and the publisher for an opportunity to read this earc in exchange for an honest review!

NetGalley preview thank you!!

I would echo many reviews on this book. While the premise was very solid I feel the execution was only ok. The potential that was here was huge but the main character never seemed to come alive, he felt like overly stereotypical and could have been flushed out more.

I did like the action/horror approach although this may not be fully YA it was at least engaging for shorter book.

Overall the book could have been more consistent.

The premise of this book sounded really intriguing, and I was excited to get a chance to read it. I didn't, however, quite connect to the characters or the story and saw quite a few of the twists coming well in advance. That being said, the writing is good and so is the pace. I would read another book by this author in the future.

I enjoyed this book. The prose was well-written, and the characters were dynamic and jumped off the page. I thought the story was interesting and the plot kept me guessing.

This book was set up to be immediately interesting to my usual taste: a book about a book, a remote boarding school, set in the 80s, mystery is afoot. But the setup is very different from what transpired. Is it action packed? Yes. Is it crazy go nuts? Yes. Is it fast paced? Yes.

On one hand, I want to say that this would make more sense marketed as a YA novel due to the tone and style, but on the other the detail, stereotypes, and interesting (?) descriptions of women make me not want that age group to read this either.

For me this was a book that did not stand up to its synopsis and I really wish it did. I also think the story needed to decide who its target reader was and focus on that, even if it means the book doesn't have as wide of an audience. I feel torn because it could work for either YA or adults with a few changes, but the lack of focus and understanding of audience keeps it from working for anyone.

Stephen King meets Robert Galbraith in New England. The protagonist's pithy dialogue interwoven with the building mystery helps to distract from the final outcome in a good way.

Thank you netgalley for this ARC.
Wow, this was incredible i recommended this to a friend because it was so good. This wasn't the type of book id usually go for, but this was incredible.
4 stars

Not for me. It's well enough written but the twist at the end was too bizarre; just not my genre in general--thought I was getting a mystery but it's not really....

“Friend of the Devil” was a pleasant surprise for me. To be honest, the first thing that grabbed my attention was the cover of the book as well as the title. The description sounded okay, so I figured I’d snatch this up for a review. What I didn’t expect was how gripping the story was. I sat down and finished it in two sessions (it would have been one session, but I had to stop to go run errands). It is a quick read that sucks you right in.

The book is set sometime in the early 1980’s. The main character, Sam Gregory, is a Vietnam war veteran who is working as an insurance investigator. Sam has all the traits of an old school private eye. He’s gruff, he smokes, and he doesn’t care what anything thinks about him. Sam is presently working to find a valuable book that has gone missing at Danforth Putnam boarding school. The school is located on its own island off the coast of New England, setting the backdrop of isolation from the mainland.

The other main character is Harriet, a determined and feisty student who is also a reporter for the school paper. Harriet has a disadvantage, however: she suffers from seizures that are unknown in origin, but happen to occur mostly when she is stressed or under duress.

Sam and Harriet’s worlds converge as they both find themselves investigating the same occurrences in different ways. The mystery of the stolen book takes twists and turns that neither main character, nor the reader, are anticipating. The book has plenty of red herrings, gory violence, and interesting characters to keep the reader engaged. The twists keep on coming throughout the book, ending splendidly with a major twist that does successfully tie into the rest of the book.

Overall, I loved this book! It was far more interesting than I expected. I highly recommend this book to both adult and young adult readers (for whom I caution that there is violence, gore, and cursing). The book was inimitable, original, fun, and engaging. This would be a good read for lovers of thrillers and horror novels, including readers just stepping into those genres. I’ll be picking up a copy of this book when it is released, and I highly recommend that you do the same!

Want a book that takes away your breath at the end?
Look no further than this phenomenal book which seriously needs to be made into a movie. The book started out a little slow but then it got really good and the ending hits you with a twist that leave Read full review
Comment: 1
Jean Campbell Thanks Net Galley for the book
3 minutes ago
https://www.goodreads.com/review/4538613566/comments

I really wanted to like his book, but it was just too confusing. The plot was pulled into too many directions and I didn't feel like I connected with the characters, especially with the main character, Sam. It felt like the author wasn't sure who he was, and it came across to me as a reader.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an ARC of this title.

Wow…and honestly, not a good wow. The description of this book and what actually transpires are two completely different things. A book at a private school on a New England island goes missing. Sam is an investigator brought in from the school’s insurance company to recover the book. Lots of bodies drop and things get crazy.

Pro’s:
-The main character, Sam, reminded me of Raylan Givens, so lots of sarcasm and snark
-This was a quick easy read. If it would’ve been a slog, there would’ve been no way I would’ve stuck with it
-The supernatural elements were kinda fun
-Harriet

Con’s:
-Too many story ideas
-Oh that twist, *eye roll*

I like this one, and I like that it felt like it had the potential to be a series but also offered a story that was complete in itself. It had creepiness and misdirection and twists and turns aplenty. The characters were a great blend of personalities, stereotypes and quirks. The "80s setting was a fun and unusual choice. And there's nothing like a boarding school as a backdrop for inexplicable goings on! It was a very easy to read and wholly engaging and I do hope to see more of this world!

2.5 ?

I thought this was going to be a story about a detective-type guy who struggles with addiction as we follow him grappling with a case that hits too close to home. Instead, I got a Riverdale episode.

Now, I've never actually seen a single Riverdale episode in my life, but I can tell you for sure that that's what this is. They're in a college (?) and kids are going missing and there's a drug gang and murderous teenagers and demons and satanic cults and so much Latin. It was kind of camp actually how insane it was. And Sam is the straight guy (TM) who doesn't know what's going on and is just trying to do his job. Also funny descriptions of women I won't talk about. Read if you're insane.