Devils Kill Devils by Johnny Compton is a unique take on the vampire trope. I enjoyed the monster design and the horrific scenes that took place throughout the book. Compton has a masterful way of describing visceral gory imagery. However, I felt the book waned a little toward the middle and end -- I lost my interest in it around the middle, and it took until the very end of the book to recapture it. Ultimately, though, I would recommend this book to any horror reader, especially those who like vampires or grotesque monsters.

I loved the cover and thats why i requested.

The book really did not do it for me. It was all over the place , rushed and very hectic.

The plot was hard to follow and just didnt like the writing style.

I will again try the author on another book but this one just fell flat.

Thanks NetGalley for letting me read and review.

First I need to point out the obvious. This cover is wonderful. I love the colors.

However, this book fell a little flat for me. It was hectic. Plot felt everywhere and I didn't particularly enjoy the "telling" style of writing. I'm not completely turned off to the author because I'm not going to enjoy every book by one author. This one wasn't for me.

Devils Kill Devils
by Johnny Compton
General Fiction
NetGalley eARC
Pub Date: Sept 24, 2024
Tor Publishing
Ages: 18+

Multiple, (more than four) third-person POVs telling (not showing) their thoughts that ninety-nine percent of the time had nothing to do with the main plot idea of vampires/demons trying to create their 'god'.

The main plot of this story is at best only fifty pages, the rest of the book is pointless repetitive internal rambling. I get the heartache, but those characters' emotions were not real because of the drivel.

There is language, violence, and gore so it's unsuitable for readers under eighteen.

I can quite honestly say this is the worst book I have read this year.

1 star

I was wanting to like this novel and, based on the description, I should have. But it was difficult to get into and felt disorganized at times. Though it's well written and the concept is there, it feels like there's a failure to execute.

Devils Kill Devils has a banger of a premise: what if your guardian angel turned out to be something more sinister? Sarita has known her whole life that her mysterious angel will appear and save her if she’s in danger--until he turns up on her wedding night and murders her new husband. I was hooked from the first pages and loved the premise, especially the mythology that draws on the Book of Tobit and other mystic texts. However, the plot lost its urgency for me when it focused a little too much on the powerful supernatural beings, rather than Sarita and the scrappy group of fighters. I think the novel could have been slimmed down and still retained a lot of its urgency. I liked the Texas setting and the history, and I will definitely read Compton’s next work.

Thanks to the publisher & NetGalley for a copy of the book.

I heard really good things about this author, and was happy to get an ARC to read and review.
I struggled a bit as it got confusing for me. Definitely has promose but needs some fixing to get higher then a 3 star from me.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this ARC

Devils Kill Devils by Johnny Compton is a creepy, atmospheric thriller that mixes Southern gothic vibes with a deeply unsettling story about family, guilt, and some truly creepy beings. If you like slow-burn horror with a lot of tension this book is right up your alley.

The story centers on Sarita, who has been watched over by a guardian angel she called Angelo her entire life. He saves her life multiple times throughout the years, but one day their relationship takes a shocking turn with a horrific act of violence that leaves Sarita questioning everything she thought she knew about the world. This violent act allows Sarita to see what's really going on around her and sends her on a wild journey to save the world as we know it.

Compton’s writing is atmospheric without being too over-the-top. He really nails the eerie, quiet dread that builds over time. The pacing is slow, but that’s not a bad thing—it gives you plenty of time to get to know the characters, which makes the horror elements hit harder when they do come. The characters are deeply complex and layered. They’re flawed in ways that feel very real. You’ll find yourself sympathizing with them one moment, and then questioning their actions the next. It’s this moral ambiguity that really makes the story stand out. There’s a lot of gray area here, and Compton doesn’t offer any easy answers, which is something I really appreciated.

If you’re into atmospheric horror with a focus on character-driven storytelling, Johnny Compton absolutely delivers. It’s creepy, it’s thought-provoking, and I absolutely loved it.

it was unfortunately not my taste. I think it was just a little too strange and it felt like we were supposed to know more than we did especially in the beginning

Devils Kill Devils is a chaotic whirlwind of a horror story by Johnny Compton. Normally I enjoy chaotic whirlwinds. I love when you’re completely taken by surprise and caught up in the story, unfortunately this book was a little too ambitious.

I really enjoyed the beginning of the story where we learn about Sarita and who she assumes has been her guardian angel since childhood, Angelo. After a bit it became repetitive though, and some sections were overly descriptive making it a bit of a slog to get through. By the time we’re introduced to Cela, I was already getting frustrated, and was losing interest quickly.

If you’re someone that doesn’t mind repetition in novels then I think you will enjoy this read as Compton created a very interesting premise.

3 stars

Blurb: "Sarita has been watched over by a guardian angel her entire life. She calls him Angelo and keeps him a secret. But secrets can’t stay buried forever…

When Angelo murders someone she loves, Sarita begins to see what's really been lurking in the shadows surrounding her. And she will have to embrace the evil within if she hopes to make it out alive."

This fantasy horror was intense from the beginning. It focuses many on Sarita in the present day as well as flashbacks to her past to give more insight as to why the storyline is going where it is. There is a lot going on, and I feel if I say too much, I will give away the whole plot. Let's just say there is a lot of evil, gore, and bad omens. People are not who they appear to be. Run for your life and keep running.

I loved Johnny Compton's first novel and was looking forward to his second offering.

Unfortunately this was a real miss for me

It started out great. And exciting beginning that grabbed me instantly and had me eager to read on. Then lost it almost as quickly. I have no idea why the story took such a sudden and (in my opinion) awful and confusing turn but it felt like someone switched books on me when I wasn't looking.

No disrespect to the author, who I think is very talented, but this was not his best offering and worth a skip.

Thanks to @netgalley and Tor Publishing group for the opportunity to read this eArc in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.

I thoroughly enjoyed this story, found it very creative and unique, and quite a bit more horrorific than Compton's debut, The Spite House. Which I also loved. I loved seeing him take his horror writing to the next level. I'm also just a big fan of how Compton writes. It's so vivid and eloquent without any pretention. I'm a big Compton fan and highly recommend Devils Kill Devils for horror fans, and maybe even some entry horror fans, but it is quite a bit more graphic than The Spite House. Still, if you liked The Spite House, you'll likely love this one too.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for the copy in exchange for my honest review. I thoroughly enjoyed this read!

Going to mull this one over for a bit.

Eight hours later: mulling is over. Three stars, because the story was there - a young bride's new husband is violently murdered on their wedding night, by some mysterious, possibly supernatural stranger that has been "saving" said bride from danger since she was a little girl. The story starts strong, with brutal action and scary wicked stuff.

And then makes a quick, sharp left into pages and pages and pages of internal monologue and explanation of past events that are told from inside our heroine's head. So much telling, so little showing. It was tough to wade through all of this exposition, as various characters ruminated about their pasts, their relationships with friends and family, the three or four prior episodes of being "saved" by the mysterious stranger.

All of this was really crappy and boring, not gonna lie. And then, an explosion of action, vampires eating people's faces, hearts getting ripped out of chests, ancient demons awakening from beneath a mountain. And then another sharp left into some character's mental ruminations that started to make my eyeballs bleed.

At some point, I wanted this book to have been given to another editor for some constructive feedback. Because I should like Johnny Compton's writing - The Spite House was an incredible debut novel. This sophomore effort - ugh. It reminds me why sophomores are sophomores - they are literally wise fools.

However, I remain positive in my outlook for Johnny Compton's next book. I know there will be a redemption song in there somewhere. Because this book had some amazing story ideas - it was the execution that faltered.

DNF @ 38%

This book unfortunately, did not work for me to the point where I had to DNF. I really liked the beginning and thought the beginning was very interesting and emotional. But, once more perspectives started to be introduced this book started to lose me. I liked the main character's perspectives but the other random perspectives we got I did not care about. The writing in this one also didn't work for me which was shocking because I did really enjoy this author's other book, The Spite House. But the writing in this book felt too long winded and slow.

Thank you to the publisher for gifting me an advanced copy of this book!

I really enjoyed Spite House and thought this sounded just as promising, if not even better. It started ok but never really got me truly interested. I’m not sure why this got so messy but at some point it just was all over the place.

This is a tension-filled, action-packed game of cat and mouse with a dash of mystery thrown into the mix. Monsters old as time wreak havoc on the world with a modern twist. Sarita is no stranger to death; she has survived three near death experiences thanks to the help of her guardian angel. She has named him Angelo and knows that if she is ever in any real danger, he will be there to save her. On the night of her wedding Angelo comes to her unprovoked and murders someone she loves dearly. Now Sarita finds herself at the center of a century old prophecy and all her loved ones’ lives are in danger. The ultimate battle of good vs. evil will be fought in the dusty southwest and the only way for good to win is for Sarita to figure out what is going on. Johnny Compton has achieved a perfect balance between spooky and mysterious with this book. The desolate southwest setting is the perfect location for the complex world he has built. He has taken monsters from stories and given them new life and new motivations. The characters are incredibly reflective, and it allows the reader to see how people are changed by events in their lives. I went into this book blindly and was not disappointed. Recommend this book to anyone that finds themselves watching cult documentaries or anyone who just really likes vampire lore.

Johnny Compton’s newest novel explores guardian angels- are they really angels? And who is to decide what we need saving from, if any?

Sarita is celebrating her honeymoon, in the arms of her soulmate when a dark figured looms behind her. “Angelo” as she calls him, is just there to save her, again, but at what cost- as he unalived her mate in front her, as her cries scream at him no.

How clever to take the myth of a demon knight that targets a woman’s husbands and write it into a full fledged cult story. For me, the story felt interrupted by religious mythological questions and what ifs. And I wasn’t interested in reading a college student’s mythology thesis. As intriguing as the idea presented, I felt lost for a lot of the beginning, as it was chaotic and jumped around point of views before anything was really established. Out of all the point of views, I enjoyed the interactions between Cela and Harrah most.

Overall, I felt dropped in the middle of a story at the beginning, wishing for more set up, more explanation. There were just too many ideas to follow and it was just too baffling. I did enjoy the back half of the story, for the adventure and fun ride.

Johnny Compton knows how to write a horror novel. Will absolutely recommend and read everything they write from now on.

2.5 stars rounded up. This book was kind of a head scratcher for me. It left me wondering exactly what I just read - not in a good way, unfortunately. It had an interesting premise and there were parts that really grabbed me. It just didn't really come together for me.

I read an ARC of this book from NetGalley. All comments are my own.