Faherty is solid as they come. THE WAKENING is fear personified.! I just got his latest, RAGMAN, and cannot wait to dive in!

That. Was. Intense!

THE WAKENING by JG Faherty ticked off all of the boxes for me: possession, poltergeists, characters you love and those you can’t help but hate, clipped chapters that pulsate with tension, and the perfect ending—though the last scene broke my heart, as a Horror Fan—I Loved It!

Highly Recommend!

Thank you, NetGalley and Flame Tree Press, for providing me with an eBook of THE WAKENING at the request of an honest review.

Brilliant dark horror! This is how classic horror should be written. I loved the storyline, the fear and the author's style

A story spanning five decades, in search of an entity that shows no signs of being defeated. Paranormal investigators, priests, telepathic twins, possessed children, frightful adults, ouija boards, exorcisms, poltergeists, ghosts and demons – The Wakening is a smorgasbord of horror that brings together all the elements that make up the genre.

Fifty years ago, a young priest banished a demon during an exorcism in Central America. It is back to seek revenge in the cursed town of Hastings Mills. In a series of interconnected events spread through each decade, children are possessed, spirits are called upon by reckless teenagers, and adults face their own inner demons, as secrets from the past threaten to unleash in the present. Just as the human characters are connected across place and time, the entities also forge a unique connection of their own.

JG Faherty engages the reader from the first page till the last. The events of past and present alternate in an interwoven timeline, the points of view keep changing within chapters, and there are several characters to keep track of (in their childhood, adolescence and adulthood). There’s a lot to take in for the reader, but Faherty maintains a smooth pace throughout – the story is easy to follow and never gets boring or confusing.

Faherty is a great writer and his descriptions of the various stages of possession transport the reader right in the middle of the inner and outer devastation. It’s almost like watching a movie. The novel is neatly balanced with research and imagination, and strikes the right blend of mystery, thriller and horror. With a range of themes that address domestic violence, child abuse, addictions and bullying, Faherty raises the question of who the real demons are. This central arc serves as the standout feature of the novel – the coming-together of the supernatural world and the real world; each one more frightening than the other in the horrors they present.

Faherty another new voice of horror that should be read by fans of the genre and fans of a good read, gives us another remarkable book about exorcism and media. He weaves a story that gives nods to exorcism books and novels such as Exorcist, and puts his own unique spin on them to take control and command of a plot that could come up derivative and stale but makes it remarkable, important and one that needs to be read.

Faherty loves to keep his readers off balance by giving a book that doesn’t hit the horror normal beats but gives you something unique and fresh. The Wakening characters are strongly well written and keeps the reader invested while the plot keeps you on the end of your seat. You do not want to go on because it delves into a very dark world that you wonder if any light will ever come to be being.

This is an excellent read and Faherty never disappoints. Although people tend to go on and on about horror being primarily Stephen King, there are new voices out there that speaks to today and have their own unique voice, vision and expertise and Faherty is one of those writers. Another excellent book with three dimensional characters, well written plot and a narrative that never bores but excites. A definite must read.

Father Leo Bonaventura is now a retired exorcist, professor and teacher of many degrees and aspects of religion and theology specializing in the true facts of Catholic exorcisms. When Father Leo was a young priest stationed somewhere in in South America his dear old friend and mentor called him to assist with an exorcism of a young boy who was plagued by one of the most powerful demons ever known named Amodeus. Fortunately the exorcism did cast out the demon but sadly it took his beloved friend's life as well and the demon told Father Leo this would not be the end and it would see the priest again one day.

Fifty-five years later a television crew specializing in investigating the paranormal are called upon by an old friend of the producer to help with a child and their home which was experiencing poltergeist activity and other possible paranormal phenomenon. When the television team arrives things suddenly take a darker turn and they all wonder if they should leave immediately when all of them can feel a heaviness in the atmosphere and begin to witness major abnormal events taking place and unsure if they are paranormal in nature or can be explained away by science. Within days Father Leo will become a name that the crew and others will always remember because without him all their lives and souls could be doomed forever.

This was a very dark and scary story but a lot of fun for horror readers who enjoy books dealing with evil and the supernatural. When I tell you that I couldn't read this book during the night I was not joking. I could only read it in the daylight hours because it was that frightening to me and also because I am a true believer in good and evil and everything they represent so I almost didn't want to read this book at first but I'm so glad that I did. There were many characters to remember but eventually they will all catch up with one another and have huge parts to play within the entire story. I loved the way the author factored all of this in (Genius). I truly loved Father Leo and a few of the others plus there were some I came to despise. There was plenty of action, suspense with chills and thrills galore. The only problem I had with the story was the last ten percent there was too much thrown about within too short an amount of time and I would have liked the book to have been drawn out longer with maybe 70-100 more pages where all the climatic events progressed rapidly but not crashing down in a chaotic way, all at once (imo). The touch of romance thrown in would have had a better effect if they had more time to develop it realistically or just left it out completely. The little nitpicks that I stated did not take away any of the enjoyment or the spontaneity of the story. I loved this book and I also truly loved the final page! Brilliantly done! Another way to have a sequel for J G Flaherty.

Warning for sensitive readers: Extreme profanity, blatant sexual situations, ghastly killings, extreme supernatural evil, paedophilia, child nudity, child endangerment, sacrilegious situations etc. Read At Your Own Risk! Oh! Extreme Frenetic Fun!

I want to thank the publisher "Flame Tree Press" and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this creepy book and any thoughts or opinions expressed are unbiased and mine alone!

I have given this novel a rating of 4 HELLISH AND FRIGHTENING 🌟🌟🌟🌟 STARS!!

This plot contains mild spoilers.

The set up of the Awakening is pure Exorcist. Aging priest, traumatised by past exorcism and so on. As the story zooms out it builds into something more.

The character types are pulpy in the best possible way. The disgraced priest with a dark secret. The creepy psychic identical twins. The TV producer known as a sceptic who really believes. Flaherty sketches the characters out in enough detail to breath life into them.

The aspect that I found most disturbing was how Faherty explored a certain dark side of the Catholic Church. I haven't seen this explored like this before. It made for one of the most uncomfortable perspectives to be in.

Deeply uncomfortable, deeply disturbing.

These sequences were hard to read but affected me in a way horror of this kind should.

The Awakening feels like a horror paperback from the late 70s/80s in the best possible way. Faherty does everything he can to revive a dead horse. One that the horror industry has flogged senseless for decades now. It's a testament to him that so much of this feels fresh, even if the elements often feel familiar.

Fifty years ago, Father Leo Bonaventura, a young exorcist, cast a demon out from a young boy in Central America. The demon, Asmodeus, vowed revenge. Now the demon has returned, in the same town where Bonaventura is a retired priest nearing the end of his life. In a series of not-so-coincidental events, the possession of a young girl brings together an unlikely group of people, all of whom are linked in their pasts in some way: A group of paranormal investigators, including twin psychics. Robert Lockhart, a defrocked priest with a dark secret that only the twins know. A father whose dead wife was a college girlfriend of Robert’s and once conjured an evil spirit with him through a Ouiji board. Now they must all join forces and help Father Bonaventura rid the town not only of Asmodeus, but also the plague of poltergeists that have followed the demon into our world.

This one was fricking downright terrifying at times.

With vibes of Blatty’s The Exorcist, The Wakening narrates the tale of a select group of people who have had the unfortunate luck to cross paths with the demon of lust… Asmodeus.

Faherty depicts their struggles and attempts to thwart the demon and expel it back to hell, but as usual nothing is ever easy; as Asmodeus uses the groups flaws and sins to corrupt and turn them against each other in his bid for power, you’re left right until the end wondering if they succeed.

Filled with horror, tension and mayhem this book is definitely not for the faint hearted, and deals with issues of sexual assault and abuse that some readers may struggle with.

Yea ok I'll be truthful: i love horrors and I consume them like wildfire. So it is with confidence i say, that this book was BRILLIANT!
I mean, it's centered around a priest, psychics, poltergeist events and demons... What could possibly go wrong?? It's got all the best elements of a fantastic scary novel, and the writer did justice to it. It was a joy to read.
Thank you Netgalley for the arc.

Being a horror fan and a paranormal junkie, I gobbled this book up. Yes! I was hooked to the plot right from the start. A demon hell bent on his revenge against a priest and the hordes of paranormal entities that comes along with him to plague the people afflicted by him is a sureshot hit!
Thoroughly enjoyed reading the book. Definitely recommended!

The wakening by J.G. Faherty.
A team of paranormal investigators, a priest and a defrocked priest with a dark secret join forces to combat of a vengeful ancient demon, and the evil spreading throughout a small New York town.
A really good read. Great story and characters. 4*.

Of all the multiple types of Horror, I think one of the most frightening for me as a reader is the trope of Demonic Possession. This trope implies by its nature that Evil will always triumph over Good, it's presented as implacable, and if Evil is victorious, not only human lives will be taken (usually that of the host human plus all the priests conducting exorcisms, but often family of the host and possibly friends). Then each time, I spend a lot of consideration and thought pondering what it means to lose not only one's natural lifetime, but also one's Soul. It's mind-breaking.

The second I saw “exorcism” and “Ouiji” board, I knew I was in. Still, even stories like this have the potential to go wrong. There was a point at the beginning when I was worried for The Wakening. There were a lot of different characters to keep up with across different chapters and I was losing track of what was going on. Thankfully, I brought myself up to speed fairly quickly and ended up loving this book.

The Wakening had me looking over my shoulder at night and questioning every noise I heard. I found the book that sent chills down my spine. Even when the plot wasn’t focused on an exorcism, the whole vibe of the town creeped me out. Think of Derry in It when strange things start happening everywhere. This entire book had me feeling uneasy.

It often happens in horrors that there is a disconnect between the plot and the characters, in so much that the plot completely overtakes everything else. In The Wakening, the author did a great job of character building and making the reader feel something for the characters they were reading. It made the book even more tense as you don’t want anything to happen to those you have built a connection with.

I really enjoyed this book and am excited to spread the word to other horror fans.

I loved this book, it gripped me from the very first page all the way to the end.

At the beginning we meet quite a few characters and as a reader you have to remain focused – I promise you that all the characters are connected and it will make sense later on.

The story first starts in the past where we meet Father Leo Bonaventura, a young priest and an exorcist, who performs an exorcism on a 12 year-old Guatemalan boy. The powerful demon who possessed the young boy is called Asmodeus, a Prince of Hell, and a personification of lust. That fateful day Asmodeus left the boy’s boy, but vowed he will return.

Few years later, Father Leo receives a transfer from Boston to a smaller of town of Hastings Mills. He accepts as it means he will have a parish of his own and a teaching position at the St. Alphonse University. What he doesn’t know is that the fifth floor of the University building is supposedly haunted…

Ominous occurrences happened in Hastings Mills in the past: Father Bonaventura’s predecessor, Father Bonnan, jumped from a window. Was it really a suicide? One October night at the university, a group of teenagers decided to talk to spirits through the Ouija board with horrific consequences: one of them died, other two were maimed for life, and the remaining four suffered injuries. Who was the ‘spirit’ they conjured? Was it Asmodeus?

Fast forward a couple of decades: Stone Graves, a paranormal TV investigator travels to Hastings Mills with his crew consisting of four people. He received a phone call from a former colleague, Randi Zimmerman also a paranormal investigator, asking for help with suspected poltergeist activity in a house of Curt and Abby Rawlings.

Things really turn for the worse in Hastings Mills: frogs drop from the sky within the vicinity of the Rawlings’s house and a rock rain also surrounds their house. Soon, the events spread to other town residents including a fire killing two people, people feeling uncontrollable lust towards one another, and others killing each other.

Father Bonaventura is an aged man with dementia, recovering from surgery. He is called by an old acquaintance to help banish Asmodeus for good. Can he really do it before it’s too late?

You’ll have to read this book for yourselves to find out. I really enjoyed it – it reminded me of young Stephen King novels. I was actually quite spooked whilst reading it as the descriptions of the events were so vivid. It would make an excellent horror movie!

A gruesome, action packed and fast horror that kept me turning pages.
It's a lot of fun as it's very over the top even if it's an excellent horror.
Good storytelling and world building, interesting characters.
I had fun and it's recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

3
This was almost a great Exorcism book. There were a few tropes I was happy to see, then some I can do without.
I appreciate the non-stop action, but I almost think it was there to make you gloss over some of the usual exorcism story tropes. I also felt at times this was way over the top.
I wish I read something new within this story to give a different twist.
Still it had it's interesting moments. Fans of exorcism books will probably enjoy.

What a ride. This is a novel that throws everything into a melting pot at the beginning and makes you question how it all ties in together - which works for the most part. Beginning with flashbacks and demonic possession the horror build and builds. There are some elements that may be triggering for people (descriptions of paedophilia), however, at its core, this is a possession novel that builds into a save the world type situation with incredibly well written horror elements. Who’s this novel for? I’d say those who liked the Exorcist/possession novels with further elements of body horror. Definitely an author I’ll check out again!

The nitty-gritty: An ancient evil terrorizes a small town in this ambitious new novel from Bram Stoker finalist JG Faherty. 

If you’re a fan of The Exorcist, you might want to check out The Wakening, which takes inspiration from the classic horror story but adds unique elements to the mix as well. This is a fairly fast-paced story, gruesome at times, and creepy as hell! That being said, I did have some issues with the length and the sheer number of characters involved, but I’ll go into more details below.

The story is framed around an interview that takes place in the present day. Stone Graves was the star of a TV show called In Search of the Paranormal, where he and his team investigated reports of hauntings and other paranormal activity, with a bent toward debunking them. Stone has written a book called A Town Possessed that describes the harrowing experiences he and his TV crew encountered while filming an actual exorcism. As he promotes his new book, the story delves back into the past and describes what happened to Abby Rawlings, the possessed young girl.

Most of the story takes place in the small town of Hastings Mills, New York and revolves around the Rawlings family and their daughter Abby. Stone and his crew are anxious to set up their equipment and start filming the eerie events surrounding the Rawlings household—levitating furniture, objects flying through the air, etc.—but when even weirder things start happening, like a rain of rocks that ends up killing an innocent bystander, Stone knows he’s facing a paranormal event unlike anything he’s ever dealt with before.

In alternating chapters, the story jumps back in time to show the events leading up to Abby’s possession. Fifty-five years ago, we meet a young exorcist named Leo Bonaventura who has a run-in with a demon named Asmodeus, who tells him that the two will “meet again.” Jumping ahead fifteen years, a priest named Doyle Bannon jumps from a fifth floor window at the Alphonse School in Hastings Mills, and Father Leo is called to replace him. Ten years later, a group of teens breaks into the fifth floor of the school to see if rumors of it being haunted are true. A tragedy occurs, and Father Leo, who still works there, vows to protect the town from the demon who he suspects caused it. Finally, twenty years before Abby’s possession we meet twin sisters Shari and Claudia, who can communicate psychically with each other and who attract all sorts of paranormal activity whenever they are together. In the present day, Claudia and Shari are part of Stone’s TV crew, responsible for sensing paranormal activity and the presence of otherworldly spirits.

All of these characters will converge on Hastings Mills for various reasons, including disgraced priest Rob Lockhart who is trying to atone for past sins by helping Abby. Something evil has come to Hastings Mills—or was it already there?

This is a rather over-wrought recap of the plot, which is hard to encapsulate in only a few paragraphs. Yes, there is a lot going on in The Wakening, with multiple characters and timelines to keep track of. Still, I had a lot of fun with this story. Faherty does a great job of setting up his house of cards, introducing his characters, and describing the many connections between them. I loved the idea of a demon who continues to terrorize a town over many years, and the priests who were affected by it and their emotional states as they deal with the evil. The demon itself isn’t a character in the story, per se, but rather an entity who works through innocent humans to terrorize anyone who comes into contact with it. In mythology, Asmodeus represents lust, and there’s no shortage of that here. Many people in Hastings Mills are struck by sudden desire and act on it in bizarre and disturbing ways, but with Asmodeus in control, nothing ends well—sex might be followed by a bullet to the brain, in other words.

As you can imagine for a story with so many timelines, there’s quite a bit of set up in the beginning. The pacing doesn’t really pick up until the last quarter or so, when the exorcism parts kick in, but I honestly didn’t mind the slower pace. I was fascinated by the different priests and their experiences with exorcisms, as well as their connections with some of the civilian characters. Expect to see lots of standard “exorcism movie” fare late in the story, complete with sweet young Abby spewing swear words in a gruff voice, levitating and spinning furniture, and yes even some vomit. The story seems to involve both the demon and poltergeists, and this part confused me, as there was so much going on, but I can’t deny it was all very entertaining!

As for negatives, there were just too many characters and too many timelines to keep track of. And instead of the story simply focusing on the exorcism of Abby, the demon seems to be able to possess anyone in Hastings Mills and make them do crazy things. It’s all a bit much, like trying to watch a three ring circus, except there are six rings instead. I also felt the story went on a little too long, especially the exorcism scenes, which felt repetitive and drawn out.

But I really enjoyed Faherty’s writing style, as well as his energetic narrative, and I’d definitely be up for reading more of his books in the future.

Big thanks to the author and publisher for providing a review copy.

This book was A LOT, though not always in a good way. The prose was a bit over-the-top, as was the plot engine and forward momentum of the story. It was breakneck throughout, which isn't exactly my thing. It had interesting horror elements, though, for sure.

Comically bad prose (“a frigid chill,” eh?) and ludicrous elements (ectoplasm) don’t quite get in the way of a fairly entertaining if conventional exorcism novel.