DNF’d at 62%
This book started off promising but then quickly lost its appeal. The best I can describe it is ‘word vomit’. The overexplaination of everything without ever really saying anything is headache-inducing. This author needs to put down the thesaurus and weed out all this unneeded filler. I bet if they cut over half of the words they used, this book would’ve been a hit with me. Unfortunately, it was a miss.

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FYI: on a 5-point scale I assign stars based on my assessment of what the book needs in the way of improvements:
*5 Stars ~ Nothing at all. Chefs kiss. No notes.
*4 Stars ~ It could use some slight adjustments here and there but pretty solid overall.
*3 Stars ~ Adjustments need to be made and rewriting needs to be done. Good but could be a lot better. I read it once and don’t need to do it again.
*2 Stars ~ This book needs a lot of work. Whether it be rewriting the plot, characters, style or ending. Something or everything needs to be changed.
*1 Star ~ Dumpster fire.

I adored Johnny Compton’s previous novel, The Spite House. His emphasis on character development and plot, resulted in an incredibly impressive, and terrifying debut.

Compton’s follow-up, Devils Kill Devils, is straight-up, bat poop crazy, in an amazing way. Our protagonist, Sarita, has a literal guardian angel, Angelo. He first surfaced when she almost drowned as a child, and has appeared at various points to save her life. However, when Angelo appears on Sarita’s wedding night, and precedes to kill her husband, things get a little bit complicated, and we venture into the weird world of gods, devils, and vampires.

I loved this book. I finished it in two days. I’m often a little wary of male authors writing female characters, but there were no such concerns with Compton. Sarita is a beautifully complex character, and her relationships with her brother and her best friend are very well-formed. But the thing that held my interest in the sheer unpredictability of the plot. I was willing to put my trust in Compton and suspend all belief, and follow the path to the underworld.

If you like your horror on the fantastical side, I highly recommend Devils Kill Devils.

I absolutely loved the beginning scene of the book, as well as the rich mythology the author explores. I did feel left wanting for more. While the character details were rich, I didn’t find much that really bonded me to any certain one. While enjoyable, the story didn’t have much of a pull or much teeth for me. I do look forward to reading more from the author!

This is horror like I have never read before, and I recommend giving it a try.
I really thought the plot was going one way, but it really took a 180-degree turn. I will be honest; I was unsure of it up until about 75% of the way through. But I report that it worked out for the better and even wrapped up to a completed ending My advice for reading this: don’t be stuck on the initial way the plot comes across and keep an open mind!
Though this is tagged as horror it felt more like a thriller with extra gore. This was not ideal since in this case I was expecting a horror (Halloween month and all). The horror is gore and very light scares. Nothing more and nothing less. If we change gears and look at it as a paranormal thriller it was decent. I don’t know if there is a true phrase for this, but to me I consider this high intelligence thriller/horror. There is a lot of philosophy and cult religion going on in the background and can easily become confusing if you aren’t keeping a close tab on it. I don’t hate it but I am realizing that I don’t prefer it either.
This is multi-pov which worked out well. (I guess I don’t hate it as much as I used to) I liked that we got inner monologue from both the protagonist and antagonist, more than one of them actually. I don’t often see this and ended up really liking it. There is a ton of emotion and processing of emotion, both the outwardly and inner process of doing so. I also enjoyed this and thought it gave a sense of humanness to the story.

THIS BOOK STARTED OFF SO GREAT! I really enjoyed Compton's interpretation of the supernatural, fantastical, mythological, and occult. It provided a fresh point of view in a time of remakes, which I liked. I really enjoyed Sarita and her juxtaposition between "normal" and "reckless" due to having a guardian angel. I also really enjoyed the horror aspects of the novel as they helped keep my interest when the plot seemed to slow a little bit towards the end. I, however, will be looking forward to reading a sequel because the world that Compton built is too addicting!

Thank you, Netgalley and Tor Nightfire!

Devils Kill Devils is a dark horror/fantasy standalone featuring vampires, gods, and action-packed, blood-fueled sequences.

I was conflicted about this book around the 20% mark. I was initially hooked but slowly lost interest as the story progressed. Then, around the 40% mark, I fell back in love with it. The opening storyline—where our main character Sarita has a “guardian angel” who has saved her life multiple times but suddenly goes dark and kills a loved one—was intriguing. However, as more characters were introduced, the tone shifted, and the layers of the more complex, grander story began to unfold. The plot expands into themes of the occult, vampires, and gods, with some very gory scenes. While there was a lull for me between the 20% and 40% marks, those chapters were crucial for setting up the explosive, well-plotted ending.

That said, Devils Kill Devils offers a fresh and darker take on vampire mythology. I'd recommend it to fans of Stephen King, Mariana Enriquez, and those who enjoyed the show Supernatural.

I'll take whatever Johnny Compton writes next.

Thank you to Tor Publishing Group and NetGalley for an advanced reader’s copy.

This begins as a character study following Sarita who grapples with the question, “how do you cope when the thing you thought was your angel for so long is actually your devil?” While unpacking the lore of the devils in this world there is a fair amount of violence and gore, compelling time in likeable and unlikeable characters’ heads, and rich writing that Compton lured me in with yet again. There was a bit of info dumping that lost me sometimes, but for horror readers who like to slowly sink their teeth into a story I think this will work. Plot-driven readers might be disappointed.

Devils Kill Devils is a wild ride, a book that seems to have a billion ideas and the desire to leave nothing off the table. It is an intensely violent dark fantasy, with interesting characters embroiled in the intrigue of secret societies and occult practices, vampires and angels and demons alike lurking in the margins and making a mess out of otherwise ordinary people's lives (like the book's protagonist, Sarita).

If that's what you turn to a book to do, you're in for it. Never have I been more impressed with Compton's ability to string a yarn together, and I think the quality of his technical prose is wonderful here. The first third of the novel is electric, with plenty of character development to hang on and a delicious mystery to uncover.

But with all Compton's prowess in the line-by-line excitement of crafting a story, I think his ideas have a tendency of getting away from him a little bit, and the latter part of the book seems to struggle to make all the stuff going on in the book cohere. That's not to say that the journey isn't worth going on--Compton routinely stamps down on an interesting though or a concrete character anchor point that broadens his novel up to deeper philosophy, deeper contemplation--but it can be a lot to navigate.

That seems to be a recurring thing with Compton's work: his ideas are sprawling and so his stories tend to weave in and out of huge ideas that his story structure can struggle to reel in. I have so much respect for what he wants to cram into a story, and I love his delivery as each story beat hits. But at the same time, I cannot help but feel that each of his novels is kind of daunting in their own right, and sometimes it is a race to keep pace with the book.

I'm not going to stop reading Compton's work because he always manages to sweep me off my feet with an idea that I can't quite put down. But even with my enthusiasm for his work, I admit that it can sometimes feel like we're only getting a fraction of what he's really aiming to explore--or rather, fragments of ideas gradually assembled into a bigger, frightening picture. Regardless of the picture, I think I'm convinced enough that I'm going to keep coming back for more.

Disclosure Statement: I received a complimentary copy of the novel from Nightfire's publicity team. My opinions in this review are entirely my own and not influenced in any way by either author or publisher.

The premise of Devils Kills Devils is interesting, guardian angel gone rogue. First scene quickly takes you in but unfortunately the rest did not keep live up to the beginning. What the reader first thinks the story's about turns out to be different. The story became confusing and convoluted, there was too much going on. I could see the vision but the execution was not there.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I really tried to get through this one. It had a ton of potential and really grabbed my attention for the first 25% of the book. After that, it was just a struggle to get through, even with adding an audiobook to the mix. I made it to around 55% and had to stop.

It started with a clear storyline, a clear intention. Then it split off into a bunch of mini storylines that geared more towards fantasy with some horror thrown in. I couldn't stay interested and it makes me sad. I wanted to follow Sarita's story to the end, but it became too difficult to follow.

I really enjoyed this author's debut, but this one strayed way too far from that original writing formula for me.

I gave this 2.5 stars rounded up to 3⭐️.

As always, I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to have an advanced ebook copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

DNF at 60% - this one is totally on me, I did not go into this one expecting the scale we were operating on. I was going in hoping for a more surface-level story and the complexity made me lost interest. After spending over 3 weeks trying to get into this one, I couldn't. Knowing what I know now, I could see myself being interested in this if I was in the right mood.

Overall rating: 3/5

I usually give threes to books that hooked me but kinda left me floating. The first half of this book starts off so incredibly strong. We are given guardian angel that isn’t much of an angel, we are given a wild murder then BAM we are given a big plot twist about the husband. But then after there was just so much unnecessary narrative that it left me confused and honestly bored. This was one of those books where instead of dreading the end, I was left wanting it to end already. Hey, we all can’t be perfect so I’m willing to give this author another try. Just this book wasn’t for me but don’t let that deter you maybe this is the one for you!

Johnny Compton's Devils Kill Devils is a captivating blend of crime fiction and supernatural elements. It's a story of redemption, vengeance, and the dark forces that lurk beneath the surface of our world.

The novel centers around a former soldier who returns home to his small town, only to find it plagued by a series of gruesome murders. As he delves deeper into the investigation, he uncovers a sinister conspiracy involving ancient rituals and demonic entities.

Compton's writing is vivid and atmospheric, creating a sense of dread and suspense that keeps the reader hooked. The characters are well-developed and relatable, making it easy to invest in their struggles and triumphs.

While the supernatural elements are intriguing, some readers may find them a bit over-the-top. Additionally, the pacing could be a bit uneven at times, with some sections feeling rushed.

Overall, Devils Kill Devils is a thrilling and thought-provoking read that will appeal to fans of crime fiction and horror. It's a dark and gritty tale that explores the depths of human nature and the power of evil.

I was initially hooked, but slowly lost interest as the story went on. The opening storyline of our main character Sarita having a “guardian angel” that had saved her life on multiple occasions, but then goes 𝙙𝙖𝙧𝙠 and kills a loved one was intriguing. However, from then on more and more characters and perspectives are introduced and it all went downhill from there. I lost the plot multiple times and honestly it was hard to push myself to finish it. Honestly, the extremely well written and descriptive gore was what kept me going ultimately.

I will read whatever Johnny Compton publishes next, because I did LOVE his debut so much! I am just hoping that this a blip on the radar.

This was a complete 180 from his debut but don't be mistaken; this book in no way falls prey to the 'sophomore slump' that some books have. It started with a bang and kept going from there and while the plot was fairly medium-paced, the bouncing around to different points of views made it a faster trot than that. I think that this is a horror that takes no prisoners when it comes to who dies and the gore is very apparent and descriptive without going overboard and making it seem like you're reading the script for "Saw' or 'Hostel'. The ending was a bit abrupt and felt a bit anti-climactic in the fight that it was building up towards. But even then it was still a good and believable ending. Would recommend for any horror fans and those that enjoyed his debut, 'The Spite House'.

Full of ideas but never quite nailing the execution, Devils Kill Devils is a dark tale about religion, faith, and human connection that largely acts as a harrowing for heroine Sarita whose husband is brutally slain by Sarita's murderous guardian angel on their wedding night. Far from bad, Devils Kill Devils is a moderately-entertaining cosmic horror, from an author with plenty of potential.

The first two chapters were really good and I could easily follow along. I was tuned in and wanted to read more. After a while, it became too much. There was too many aspects that was trying to be pushed into one storyline and it clouded the plot. It left me questions in the end.

I was split on this book because I was absolutely engrossed with the first half of the book and did not want to put it down. However, I don't know what happened during the second half. Rather than a plot twist, it felt like I was reading a completely different book by a different author. The story got very convoluted and I found it hard to follow.

It may be a better fit for someone who is more into fantasy horror.

While this book started out strong, it lost itself along the way a bit. The ideas were there and interesting, with vampiric godlike creatures conducting humanity in a way that zooms in on person and her life. It got epic, with BIG plans, but I think I wanted more of Angelo and Sarita before all the Big Bads and epic-ness really took over. "In the Spite House" kept me creeped out, but this one didn't so much a creep me out as get too sweeping, too fast. Still look forward to Compton's other works.

I really appreciated the backstories of the characters. I thought Johnny Compton did great at delivering complex characters. With that said, I wanted to love this book, but I struggled with following the plot. Particularly, I believed Sarita to be the main character to begin with, however her storyline didn't exactly support that role, in my opinion.