Honestly, not sure how I feel about this one. The story was definitely a bit different than the usual thriller:mysteries I pick up. In some ways it was refreshing, in others it was….bland? Maybe that’s the right word. Just lackluster, I guess.

Not exactly what I expected, but I wound up liking this short, superfast read quite a bit. It's more of a YA novel, as this was set in a school and most of the major characters are students. There's a nice touch of mystery and horror, with a little slice of humor. Probably 3.5+, rounded up to 4 stars because I particularly liked the dry/sarcastic humor of the lead PI, and the nice little twist at the end. Many thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for the e-arc. Fun read!

Friend of the Devil was a fun book. Filled to the brim with unexpected twists. A little bit of creepy, sarcasm, horror and a quick read. Well done.

Too many characters to develop any fully. The story is intriguing but bounces around a lot. It definitely keeps you guessing, but unpredictable is not always good.

What a ride! One of the BEST anti-heroes to come along in a while. Wicked, sarcastic sense of humor, keen observation skills, and some interesting secrets make Sam a character we want to see again and again! Solid mystery, with a fair share of gore and supernatural creeping in - felt an "Angel Heart" undercurrent throughout the search for the lost book and there are a number of surprises all the way to the end. Hopefully more adventures coming!

I really enjoyed this quick read! It begins with an former vet turned insurance adjuster visiting an old boarding school for spoiled rich kids, where a rare book went missing. A school reporter begins her own investigation into the theft, and the two clash, then work uneasily together. This was such an intriguing read! The plot was twisting this way and that, and every time I though I had figured out the ending, something else comes along to let me know I was wrong, again and again. There is quite a bit of gore, but not enough to put me off the story. If you like spooky places with a bit of Satanism thrown in, you will like this book. I can see it being developed as a series or short film. Entertaining and held my attention.
Thank you to Netgalley, Mr. Lloyd, and the publishers for an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an eARC copy of this title in exchange for my honest review.

This book was thrilling. Fast-paced, it held my interest and ended in a big ‘ol twist that I didn’t see coming. The time period was perfect and clever—what with the whole SATANTIC PANIC era.

Another aspect that struck me was the way the story was told through so many POVs—it wasn’t overwhelming, and as a reader I thought that tactic proved itself and gave me a really wide lens for the story. The level of gore was a bit much for my personal tastes, but it was honestly handled really well.

Thank you for the ARC. This book just when you thought you had it figured out there came another plot twist! You won’t have it figured out until the last chapter and it will definitely throw you for a loop it did me I was not expecting that ending.

An entertaining horror story that reads like a screenplay for a B-rated movie. It checks the typical boxes for a horror movie including a boarding school on a remote island, a missing ancient book, the supernatural, suspense, and lots of gore.

Thank you NetGalley, Penguin Group Putnam, and Stephen Lloyd for the advanced copy of Friend of the Devil. #FriendoftheDevil #NetGalley

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of Friend of the Devil.

I was pretty excited my request was approved since the premise was intriguing.

The story sounds straightforward enough, a PI from an insurance company named Sam Gregory has been called in to investigate the theft of a rare book on the grounds of a privileged boarding school on an island.

At the same time, an intrepid student named Harriet for the school newspaper has begun her own investigation and eventually, her and Sam's paths will collide, but not in the way you imagined.

Events happen and things get weird. Really, really weird.

Good thing I like weird. You could feel it practically from the first page; the creepy librarian, the indifference of the teachers, the sociopathic students.

I didn't mind the gore and violence; that stuff doesn't bother me but I do mind cliches.

Sam is a typical stereotype; a former military vet suffering from PTSD, he smokes too much and has a devil-may-care attitude (pun intended).

I wished there was more character development and exposition on the boarding school's founder, how the book came to be, more magic and devilry.

As some reviewers noted, this does read a bit YA, especially since the majority of the characters are students and the chapters shift back and forth between some of the students.

Friend of the Devil was shorter than I expected and I enjoyed it but had hoped for more.

Friend of the Devil wasn’t quite what I expected, but not in a bad way. I am super hit-or-miss with horror but I really liked the setting in this one. The book is set in a boarding school on an island, which combines two things I enjoy. Something I didn’t love was that the main character is your stereotypical Vietnam vet with a substance abuse problem. It’s a little overdone at this point and I’m not really sure it added anything to the story. I also would have preferred this as a full-length novel than a novella. I think a higher page count would have given the author a lot more time to build atmosphere and suspense and discover more about the history of the school.

I wanted to like this book and started out very intrigued. It is about an old book that was stolen at a boarding school on a remote island. Luckily it was a quick read because it kept getting weirder and weirder. It wasn't my cup of tea but I think some readers, especially young adult, may really enjoy this action packed, supernatural book. Thank you netgalley for the ARC.

I wanted to like this book a lot more than I did. But I will start with what I did enjoy. The overall story, from where it starts to how it concludes, I thought was interesting. A lot of the red herrings were really obvious, but the ending still felt more or less earned and was a fun direction to take the story (and a potential series). I also liked the pacing, which kept the book moving. It was a shot book, and the pacing and overall structure combined with enough interest in the story to finish it in a day. But there were some areas that didn’t work as well for me. It felt like a YA adventure book, even in the way it introduced characters and what it chose to focus on, but it has violence that was a little more than expected in a YA novel. In addition, it borrowed tropes from noir/detective genres, as well as horror, but never felt committed to any one thing, and as a result didn’t feel like it knew what it wanted to be or who it wanted to speak to. When I realized the author writes for television some of it made sense, there is a definite episodic nature to the structure, and you can almost feel how the chapter breaks are little more than commercial breaks. Most characters are basically introduced as needed, nothing felt seeded or like it was looking to a long view, it felt very episodic. None of the characters felt like they were more than a thin veneer of character. In some cases, as many characters hold secrets, there is some plot reason for characters being portrayed somewhat thinly. But form the budding incel to the nerdy journalist to the drama queen playwright to the burnout gardener to the alcoholic boatsman to the raging jock, it just felt like caricatures all around. And while our leading protagonist, in typical noir fashion, does come wrapped in an air of mystery, “war vet with PTSD” isn’t a character trait. I actually think the book would have benefitted from being a little longer, and giving us more time to get to know our main and secondary protagonists better. We did get some back story on some of the kids, but overbearing mother breeding self-righteous misogyny and disappointed father generating indiscriminate anger and so on, nothing felt more than cliché with these kids. Granted, some of them are here just to die, but if you’re going to give us any semblance of story about them and not just feed them mindlessly to the body mill than I want to feel something about them, not just feel they are cut and paste characters. The book hinted at wanting to be more robust with its characters, but it never quite got there, and the short length may have been part of the reason. And, lastly, there was absolutely no reason to set this story in the 80s, and it is only mentioned in passing. The story and characters aren’t developed enough to cash in on nostalgia in any meaningful way. My guess is this was just a convenient way to avoid the characters having contemporary technology, at least that is what it felt like. Other than serving that purpose, there is absolutely nothing that needed the 80s setting. The protagonist couldn’t be a Vietnam vet with PTSD but America has offered more than enough wars in the Middle East since then and still refuses to show any meaningful concern for its vets well-being, so very little would have to change to make the story set in the present. If a story is set in a very distinct time period it should be for a reason, I want to feel that time period and its rules and customs and limitations and excesses as a character in the plot, and here it didn’t feel like it contributed anything.

In brief, this wasn’t really for me, and I do feel like it was a little confused about what it wants to be and who it wants to speak to. But I enjoyed the story and the pacing and I don’t think this is a bad book, just not great. That’s not exactly a ringing endorsement, but if you like YA-ish genre fiction and have boarding schools and supernatural mystery in your reading wheelhouse, this could very well click for you.

I want to thank NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam, G.P. Putnam's Sons, who gave me a complimentary eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Holy s**t. I just finished this. In like a day. This was such a great book. Where do I begin...

Vietnam War vet turned insurance investigator meets high-end boarding school, searching for a missing - and very valuable - book. What he finds is a lot more than he ever bargained for.

Sarcastic and intelligent, Sam Gregory takes his job.... fairly seriously. He smokes too much, takes too many meds, but maintains a solid grip on reality. Usually.

Brilliant and stubborn, Harriet is on a mission to discover just who messed with her D&D nerd pals. What she stumbles into would make even a veteran gamer suck their thumb in fear.

Read this book. You won't be sorry.

I was allowed to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review. Honestly, this book was fantastic. Thank you Netgalley, Stephen Lloyd and G.P. Putnam's Sons Publishing for aliasing me the honor.

All opinions are my own.

I enjoyed this short book, reading it in one sitting! The story revolves around the theft of an old book from a boarding school on an isolated island off the east coast. An insurance investigator comes to the island to look into the disappearance of the book. There are some strange things happening on this island and it gets even stranger. This story went in a direction I didn’t see coming. If you like the synopsis of this story, you’ll probably enjoy the book.

Perfect book for the YA reader that loves action and mystery. I thought the writing flowed really well and of course it did Stephen Lloyd wrote this-he is an acclaimed writer. . I recommend to younger readers as I think they would really enjoy this its a fun mash up of different genres. .

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for a chance to read.

Thanks to Putnam and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and comment on this book.

This was an enjoyable and quick read with some characters included that I wouldn't be at all surprised to see in future instalments. It's really a novella and you'll note in the acknowledgements that the author thanks his editor for stretching what was originally a short story into its current form. Honestly, I wished they'd stretched it a bit more and added some more depth and story, I'd have enjoyed that and the whole premise could've borne it.

The main character - Sam Gregory - a modern-noir type is really easy to like and I can see some inspiration in his development from the Harry Angel character in Alan Parker's movie 'Angel Heart' (itself based William Hjortsberg's 'Falling Angel.'

The supporting characters are well done but, again, it's a short book so they're pretty quickly drawn and developed (and sometimes dispensed with).

I can see this going easily into a Netflix or movie adaptation.

I'd change the cover, it's very busy.

Honestly, this is more of a 3.5 than a 4 star read but it's better than a three, mainly down to Sam's character, but with another hundred pages of character and story development it'd be way closer to a 5 star read.

This book was pitched as a mashup of horror and noir and for those who enjoy Stranger Things. I agree ! The novel is set at Danforth Putnam Boarding School. Sam Gregory, an angry lone wolf detective (well, an investigator for an insurance company) arrives to find a stolen manuscript previously kept in a safe.

There is definitely a noir tone and horror abounds through the dark academia plot. As Sam gets closer to solving the case he partners with the small but mighty Harriet, a high school journalist far too smart for her own good. The plot moves quickly and there are plenty of non sequiturs about high school culture and the Reagan years in general. If you like YA, Stranger Things, hard boiled detectives, mighty little angry dungeons and dragons players, or just like a twisty horror fantasy novel, than this is the book for you! #FriendofTheDevil #Putnam #GPPutnam #Netgalley #YA

Well, I can honestly say, when I found out HIMYM and Modern Family’s executive producer and screenwriter Stephen Lloyd has written his thriller debut, I was so intrigued to read the book!

I had higher expectations even though this is first tango as novel author and I always keen on dark academia thrillers with its so mysterious character who is Vietnam veteran, gardener and now he’s an insurance agent is sent to investigate the stolen goods at boarding school.

The story takes place at east coast US on 1980. But descriptions and writing style reminded me of British series ( not books but tv series)

There are so many missing pieces about character developments including protagonist. Unnecessarily bloody, vicious murder scenes made me disturbed because they were far fetched and not truly matched with entire pilot.

The book seemed like developed as a screenplay and at last second it might be adapted into a book. It was too short,instead of character back stories, motivations, we only see action packed with high dosage of violence chapters and abrupt wrapping up.

Overall: I liked dark academia thriller idea and interesting plot about mysterious investigator who tries to solve the mystery about stolen manuscript but the execution was wobbling, taking readers to unknown and unnecessary directions. I’m still rounding up 2.5 stars to 3 because of the plot idea that attracted my attention. But I have to tell I was expecting more.

Special thanks to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP PUTNAM/ G. P. Putnam’s Sons for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest opinions.

GAHHHH I loved it. Check it out friends and family. Dark and twisty but very smart..............Read it friends!