I am so thankful to Tor Nightfire, Johnny Compton, and Netgalley for granting me advanced access to this galley before publication day. I really enjoyed the dialogue and plot of this book and can’t wait to chat this one up with my friends!

I love Silvia Moreno Garcia so when this book was being touted to be perfect for fans of hers, I said sign me up! Alas, this story did not reach the level of awesomeness that Moreno-Garcia's works are. This was a disappointing read for me as I was not getting what I was expecting. To put it frankly, the story was downright boring and I feel like the plot got lost along the way. It felt all over the place for me and so when the story lost focus, so did I. I was still able to finish it though just because I felt I had to see this through. In the end, I did not feel any sense of fulfillment or resolution upon reaching the story's conclusion. I would say skip this one. Based on other reviews, it seems like this author's debut work was much more satisfactory than this so I may give that a read.

2.75 ⭐️

This is my first book by the author, but I own “The Spite House” and have been wanting to read it.

This book had a great idea. In the beginning, I was invested in the story. It was a little repetitive and it would go off in far too much detail for far too many pages about information we really didn’t need to know. I felt this happened more in Harrah’s chapters and it dragged and got boring for me, and I started skimming (I NEVER skim). Ex: Harrah describing how she knew where her ex husband lived and instead of a sentence mentioning that, it was paragraphs about the times she had went to that house over the years, and going off topic further discussing sports Frank played in school. It was just unnecessary and wasn’t relevant. It was very wordy and I just wanted it to get to the point.

Harrah was extremely annoying, immature, and narcissistic. I would have been totally fine without her pov chapters.

I didn’t enjoy the shift between viewing these higher beings as gods and then finding out they were vampires. I preferred gods/demons/angels.

Baby Mountain and the sleepers portion lost me. Things went downhill from there for me.

There was so much build up about Angelo and then she finally has a chance to actually speak with him and it was nothing.

The ending was rushed. There was so build up. So much blah information. The climax didn’t happen until the last 85% of the book and then it ended.

I am still a bit confused about certain aspects of the book. Some information about the religion was confusing.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for access to the ARC of this book! I truly appreciate the opportunity!

Wow this book had a lot going on, but in a great way. The multi POV was really well done, and I was hooked from the first chapter.

I loved this book and was enthralled with the writing. I loved the character study. Would read more from the author!

It was refreshing reading something new from this author after not loving his first novel. The plot had me hooked the entire time, the main character is super unlikable (because she's supposed to be!) and the horror was interesting and unique. My biggest complaint is that I wish it went even FURTHER. This was dark and unsettling but I wish it scared me so much that I couldn't stop thinking about it. The gothic atmosphere was really well done but I think it just wasn't enough for me. Overall, this was super quick and easy to read and I would definitely read what he writes in the future!

Life cannot be undone, and death is even more stubborn.

Devils kill Devils by Johnny Compton
👿


Ooof. This book put me in a full fledged reading slump. I was excited for this book because I loved the authors first book. This one fell way short for me. I didn’t care what was happening or if the characters. I couldn’t even tell you how it ended because I was just happy to be finished.

It was fine but not my favorite. I could just simply not connect with this one or the characters the way I'd like to have!

I really wanted to love this book. The title and the prospect of a thriller featuring vampires and demons had me eagerly anticipating starting to read. After a thrilling beginning, I struggled with the growing cast of characters and the world building. I couldn't keep track of who was who and what their histories were at times and this bogged down the pace. Thankfully, I liked the protagonist Sarita Bardales enough to persist. Overall this is a dramatic and unique take on familiar monsters.

Take vampires and demons, some religious/cult inspired horrors, add in some Southern Gothic flavoring, and a healthy dash of gore and violence, and you have the makings for Johnny Compton's sophomore novel, Devils Kill Devils.

When Sarita's guardian angel, Angelo, unexpectedly kills someone close to her, she is thrown into a world she no longer understands or trusts. in her search for answers to Angelo's apparent betrayal, she discovers that she is part of a larger conspiracy, her destiny already decided by a religious cult of demons and vampires.

DKD is quite a departure from Compton's first novel, The Spite House, a more traditional haunted house story. DKD is a hero's journey of sorts, as Sarita begins to learn her part in the battle between the vampires and demons that inhabit this world, which are true terrors. How these creatures exist in this world, and the inspiration that Compton took from his research into this novel, are quite unique, and equally terrifying, Along with these terrifying creatures comes plenty of violence and gore; DVD is definitely not for the squeamish.

Thank you to Tor Nightfire and NetGalley for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Compton's writing is rich, and it flows so well. The dialogue helps to distinguish between characters and the speeches by certain characters were wonderful, especially on audio. His descriptions, especially of things like the devils' elongated hands and the tattered gore of ruined bodies, was vivid.

That said, I was never fully invested in the story, or in Sarita and her struggle. I found other characters more interesting, and at the 75% mark I was still struggling to care as the two main forces very, very slowly moved towards each other. It was a long build up to a quick finale.

I do love that it went in an unexpected direction. Based on the synopsis, I was expecting a straight good-vs-evil story, possibly with more religious background. The supernatural elements were a fun surprise.

This is a dark story and it starts off with a bang! I think this is a really broad story that encompasses cult horror, supernatural horror and even a tiny bit of coming of age. Our main character’s plight was understandable and the pressure that she faced from her family (mostly mom) to hide the issue added some depth to the emotional elements while still delivering on the violent or scary factors.

I did have an audio and digital copy of this and there were some points at which it did not line up. Nothing that changed the story drastically but definitely noticeable if you had both.

dnf, or did not finish. i was interested in the beginning but then the writing/ plot just completely lost my interest.

I enjoyed this one! It did lose me in the middle for a bit so I didn't like the end as much as I wanted to because I wasn't as invested. I think if this was a little shorter it would have worked a little more for me. There were a lot of very interesting concepts in this book that I wasn't expecting. I liked the different discussions that happened throughout this book and will continue to read from Johnny Compton. I think he has some really great and unique ideas!

Sarita has had a guardian angel watching over her most of her life, saving her when she most needed it. She’d always trusted him to take care of her until he viciously murdered someone she loved deeply. This is the beginning of a harrowing journey that opens doorways to a dark world she could never have known was real, where there are monsters beyond conception.

Devils Kill Devils is an imaginative novel that is as philosophical in tone as it is horrific. At times, the story drags because the narrative spends a lot more time in the mind of its characters instead of showing the events occurring. More dialogue would have imbued a greater momentum and a more active feel to the story. However, Compton excellently builds tension and a sense of wrongness that explodes into outright horror in moments, even up to a spellbinding climax. The novel explores the concept of belief and how having a strong faith in something gives it a profound power. While this is portrayed in an overtly fantastic and supernatural way, this theme does have relevance in society in which extreme, fundamentalist belief without nuance can lead to the justification of horrific acts. It’s also a very insightful analysis of how humans have the tendency to demonize and make monsters out of others and not realize that hatred has made them as much of a monster. Readers will find something unique, thoughtful, and consistently unsettling with Devils Kill Devils.

3.5 stars

The first chapter of this book packs. a. punch. I was immediately sucked in, and wanted to know more about Angelo and why he did what he did.
Throughout the story, I stayed interested and intrigued by what would happen next. I did feel though like we only got to know Sarita on a kind surface level so I wasn't as connected to her as I wanted to be. That being said the plot definitely kept guessing what was going to happen next, and the different POV's of Sarita and her mother-in-law really kept the pace of the story moving quickly.

I am excited to see what Johnny Compton will come out with next.

A horror must in my opinion, it’s such a new take on “angels and demons” and how humans play into the chess board these creatures play in the regular world I was absolutely gripped early on and really loved what a unique story idea this was.

Devils Kill Devils is a wild read, and I suggest you go into this book knowing as little about it as possible first.

After a wickedly strong opening chapter, it took me a bit to get into this one.  Devils Kill Devils is It’s very different from Compton’s debut novel, The Spite House.  

His mythologies around vampires, angels, and demons are fascinating and complex, which I found a bit intimidating while reading it.

However, I kept going and the read was worth the effort. There are moments of tragedy and visceral, hypnotic fear.

Sarita is a great protagonist, and I love that Compton wrote her as resilient but not overly strong. She felt like a real person in the middle of an insane situation. The supporting characters were wonderfully developed.

I’m very curious to see what Compton comes up with next.

Thank you to Tor Nightfire and Netgalley for my review copy of this book.

😈Devils Kill Devils by Johnny Compton👿

Pages: 288
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Book Goal 2024: 97/100

✨Have you ever had something happen in your life that felt unexplainable?✨

This book is pretty unexplainable for me. So much potential but unfortunately left me feeling entirely too confused. I really liked the idea.

Vampires.
Cults.
Family drama.

I found a lot of info dumping happening and that we were often in the midst of a characters thoughts just.. stuck.

The violence in this book was exactly what I was hoping for though and it was very stabby which was cool.

I definitely think people who are into fantasy horror should give this a chance but I think I like my fantasy and horror separated. Slasher reads are more my drip.

I did read this one from ebook and from audio and the narration was great!

Devils Kill Devils is Compton's second horror novel filled with vampires, cults and a slew of other monsterous types. The opening chapters where our main character's, Sarita, new husband is violently killed by her "guardian angel" was such a strong start. I was curious to find out why Sarita's husband was killed, the limitations and reasons for the protection of her guardian angel, and when a cult was introduced I was definitely into it. However as I got further into the book, the plot meandered and the characters weren't dynamic enough to carry the story. I wish I had enjoyed this as much as I did the Spite House, but I will read Compton's next work.