To set the scene a little, this gave me dark urban fantasy vibes mixed with the intensity of an SA Cosby thriller. This story is inventive and woven so well.

With a mix of very different characters, Compton has given us a complex tale of monsters, humanity, and justice. Very different from his debut, but it shows the scope of his talent. I am here for it and can’t wait to see what we get next.

I loved the story, the world building and meeting the different characters. I felt completely immersed in the story and couldn't stop reading it.

This book was beyond creepy. But I got lost. After loving Spite House, I really wanted to like this book but it was just really hard to connect with the characters in this book. If you are looking for off putting vibes and uneasy creatures, this is for you.

Devils Kill Devils by Johnny Compton is a gripping horror novel that excels in building a foreboding atmosphere and creating deeply unsettling scenarios. Compton's talent for character development and suspenseful plotting keeps readers on edge throughout the story. The novel’s intricate narrative and dark themes offer a compelling read for fans of psychological horror. Despite its intensity, the pacing occasionally falters, but the overall experience is both engaging and memorable.

I was really looking forward to reading Devils kill Devils.
Compton’s The Spite made me an instant fan.
I really loved the premise.
I was also pretty blown away by the amount of violence and dread.

The opening pulled me in right away, but as it goes it started to lose me. I enjoyed the creatures and vampires, the gore and writing, but found the story a little confusing/bloated at times.
A cool premise that somehow fails to land.

After reading The Spite House I was excited to dive into Johnny Compton’s sophomore novel, Devils Kill Devils. However, I wasn’t prepared for the rocky ride that was this novel. It was most definitely wild and intense, and quite graphic, so do be prepared for that. It took me a while to get into the story, and things were rather confusing at times. I also felt that the story was a little clunky at times and didn’t quite work for me. I also feel like we didn’t truly get to know the characters, things were kept at surface level and for being a short novel, there was time to dig deeper. The pacing was quick, and the book was short, so this is one that I read in one sitting.

I do generally think that this author is going to write some amazing horror books, this one just wasn’t my favorite. I will, however, be looking out for their next book.

This book is unique, and please be sure to take care if you are sensitive to gore.

This is another entertaining book by Johnny Compton! It’s definitely a wild and intense story with creep, horror and gore. I really enjoyed The Spite House, and although this was an exciting story, it didn’t catch me the same as the other book.
This book has vampires, devil creatures and darkness! The story starts out strong, but dies down a bit for me and I did get a little confused in parts.

I will be checking out more stories from this author.
Thank you to NetGalley for an arc of this exciting book!

Devils Kill Devils
by Johnny Compton

I enjoyed this story. It was well-written and approached a known element from an interesting and fresh angle.

The meat of this tale were the characters. Primarily two characters (and a half - almost three) that could be referred to as the protagonist and antagonist. Significant portions of the books not only focused on them, but got inside their minds, their perspective.

The yarn was exciting and unpredictable. I wasn't sure what was going to happen. No one seemed safe. There were a number of interesting characters that I wanted to learn more about. I wanted to learn more about the world, the mythos.

Abstract spoilers: The ending. It wasn't bad, per se. It was serviceable. It's the sole con that's stuck in my head - and it's not really a con - it's my interpretation of a portion of the book. A lot of time was spent setting up and exploring a world (technically hundreds of years - ha). Setting events in motion. The ending felt rushed and I felt somewhat disappointed. It could be construed as open, which means more titles could take advantage of this setting. It almost feels like we got half of a book. Again, it wasn't bad - It just felt like the book picked up speed at a nice pace and then came to a sudden stop. I didn't expect the ending to be the ending. I wonder if the ending is what the author intended and how they feel about it.

I'm curious how others will feel about it. I'm glad I read this book and look forward to seeing what the author does next.

Earlier this year I read a metefictional New Weird cosmic horror novel called Edenville by Sam Rebelein. It was wild and bizarre, completely unafraid to go places and do strange and unusual things to thrill and chill the reader. It is also a novel with a surprisingly low rating across websites like Goodreads. And while their tones are very different, I think any fan of Edenville would get a kick out of Devils Kill Devils.

I loved The Spite House when it came out last year and cheered when I saw we wouldn't have to wait long for another book by Johnny Compton. This book was pitched to me as "what if your guardian angel kills your husband on your wedding night?" and I didn't read anything else about it. I didn't need to, the premise was so strong. The final result blew me out of the water with a cosmic horror tale featuring a mountain of gore and one of the freshest takes on a classic Halloween ghoulie I've seen in ages.

But, I can understand why others might not click with it. It comes down to Compton's prose and the details he chooses to dwell on. This book's prose is on the denser side, and characters spend a lot of time thinking, planning, and reflecting. This includes analyzing their own thoughts, and trying to understand if their thoughts are what they are actually thinking or are being influenced by something else. This causes the book to have an interesting pace, where the action is blistering fast but scenes go on longer than expected due to being deeply inside the mind of the current point-of-view character, privy to their every split-second though. I am reminded of shonen battle anime where you watch 15 minutes of a fight but because you are being shown every character's thoughts and reactions, only 30 seconds have passed in the story. I laughed out loud when I got to the author's note at the end and he cited two anime as being part of the constellation of inspirations for this book.

I did have some minor quibbles with the story. I think he could have gone farther with the theme of cults and religions, and there's two characters that seem like they will be important who ultimately are not. But overall, if you want to see buckets of blood, love body horror, or are just begging to see a new take on an old classic monster, I highly recommend this novel.

4.5 stars rounded up.

Thank you NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for giving me this ARC.

I loved Spite House, so I was so excited that NetGalley sent me the ARC of devils kill devils. It hit the floor running and did not let up! I loved the mix of devils, angels, and vampires. Intense dread, violently gory deaths, and a guardian angel that is more than what he seems! I loved every minute of this book!

I really enjoyed this book and loved that it was totally different than The Spite House by this author. The horror was still there, and the well-developed characters, but the story was a rollercoaster. This book has me questioning every patch of shadows I’ve ever encountered.

The narrator, Imani Jade Powers, knocked this one out of the park as well and did an incredible job with such a wide cast of characters. Listening to this book on audiobook was a tiny bit difficult for me as there are a lot of character names that I don’t encounter every day, so I had a bit of a hard time keeping everyone sorted.

I’ve had this book preordered since preorders were available and I can’t wait to read my physical copy of this one!! I feel like this book will jump up to 5 stars when I’m able to keep up with the characters a bit better. (This is the same reason I struggle to listen to scifi and fantasy books on audio.)

Check this one out if you like horror, devils, devils killing devils, and action-adventure with high-stakes thrown in!

**Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC, and Tor Nightfire and Macmillan Audio for the ALC of this frightening title!!**

3 ⭐️ Page turning gorey thriller of a vampire story! Not for the faint of heart! Warning: Descriptive passages of horrible deaths by the vampiric devils hunting the main character Sarita!

I enjoyed the fast paced story told from the point of view of Sarita Bariles we meet at her wedding to Frank. Tragedy befalls her and she is set on a race against time to kill the devils before they take her as their presumed bride of their “God” fulfilling an ancient devil’s prophecy. Many meet their end along the way!

I found it really disturbing with so much gore, but the story itself was engaging and well written.

Thank you NetGalley and TorNightfire Publishing for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Devils Kill Devils surprised me. I actually had no idea it was a vampire read and Compton made this unique for sure, taking the common vampire story, filleting it to the bones, and using uncommon lore to really make this story. The first chapter is one of the best opening chapters I’ve read in a long time. I do think there was some issues with pacing and occasionally just doing too much. I mean, there was A LOT going on and not always in a good way. It certainly kept me on my toes though. Very satisfying ending.

I prefer his debut The Spite House, but his sophomore novel shows that Compton is an author to watch in the horror genre.

I am so upset about this review. This title was one of my anticipated releases for the year. The premise was so interesting and not one I typically read. Unfortunately, I was let down.

The beginning was really attention grabbing. You are almost immediately thrust into action. Then you get some background and understanding. I enjoyed the mc and her story. However, things got slow and confusing. The story quickly lost my attention, things felt surface level, and repetitive.

Thank you to NetGalley for the Arc! I was drawn into this work for the title and the horror synopsis, and wasn't fully prepared for the amount of violence haha! That being said, I enjoyed the female main character and very much felt like a slasher...which I love! Definitely recommend to my horror/slasher genre friends!

"Lost, foolish, shuddering little devils who all deserved to be devoured."
As soon as I heard that Johnny Compton had another book being published, I knew I wanted to read it, because I really enjoyed The Spite House, and I didn't expect to love this even more than that creepy ghost story. The title was luring me in, that color combination and the art on the cover were promising me something spooky devilishly delicious and when I was done reading I realised I was thirsty. Well mostly because I wanted another ending, but I'll take that anyway because the story was great, writing was chilling and I got what the premise promised. I loved it all, the devils, who are actually different kind of vampires, religious horror and gore, everything was bloody amazing.
"She would do anything to prevent it. Even become a goddess to the godless."
Sarita was an interesting main character, biracial, strong and quite crafty with her life experiences(I won't mention what exactly but a trick she learned years ago becoming handy later in life made me smile and appreciate her smart thinking). Not much going on in the queerness section, her brother is gay(it's mentioned he dated an older guy so I assumed he was definitely queer)
I started reading hoping to get all the devils, and I got them and some more, in vampire form and sometimes even in human form. Sarita and her family believing that angels were who saved her from dying several times and them getting to know what purpose her life and her husband's death served was a thrilling meal that I was glad I got to taste.
I think the ending could have been stronger, or maybe it promises a sequel and then I'll get something more, but for now I loved this bloody horror with vampires, devils and angels and everyone in-between.

Sarita thinks that she has been looked over by a guardian angel all of her life. When he kills her new husband on their wedding night, she beings to reevaluate everything in her life. What kind of world has she actually been living in? Is she actually evil and that is what has kept her alive all this time? Can she stay alive and make a life once she realizes what is really around her?

This was a really cool concept, but it didn’t flow the way I had hoped. It took me until about 50% in to start enjoying it. I think this book could have been shorter and more effective, so much of it felt wordy and repetitive. I didn’t really care for any of the characters, Sarita drove me crazy and I hated Harrah but the lore interesting and Cela was an excellent, powerful, terrifying vampire. I really wanted to love this, but it missed the mark for me.

This was a wild read from beginning to end. Very graphic and often times it felt bleak but overall I really enjoyed this book. Sarita was a fantastic main character and even though her mother in law was not to be rooted for I enjoyed her story as well.