I had an incredibly difficult time getting through this book. I don’t have the ability to DNF, otherwise I would have.

The characters weren’t written in a way to make me care about them. There were too many players. I was often confused as to who was what. At one point I thought two different characters were actually the same person.

The narrative didn’t flow well and it felt like the text droned on and on. And I honestly hope this wasn’t the finished version, bc the edit isn’t there.

BOOK REPORT
Received a complimentary copy of Devils Kill Devils, by Johnny Compton, from Tor Publishing Group | Tor Nightfire/NetGalley, for which I am appreciative, in exchange for a fair and honest review. Scroll past the BOOK REPORT section for a cut-and-paste of the DESCRIPTION of it from them if you want to read my thoughts on the book in the context of that summary.

Version Short: Ain’t nobody got time for that.

Version A Little Bit Longer: Started out intriguing, if somewhat oddly worded, then turned into a mishmash of words and people and ostensible plotlines that had my eyes crossing and me close to passing out stone-cold sober in the light day of day.

Literally.

Made it to p137 of 310 of the electronic version before taking myself firmly in hand and reminding me that there is no law that says I have to finish every book I start. So I didn't.

All that said, this author’s first book (The Spite House) still looks intriguing to me, so I do still plan to give it a try.

DESCRIPTION
Devils Kill Devils is perfect for fans of Silvia Moreno-Garcia's Certain Dark Things and Southern gothic horror. Johnny Compton brings his trademark terror and dread that readers fell in love with in The Spite House to a new roster of monsters—angels, devils, vampires—and a heart-pounding race to save the world.

When all hell breaks loose, you need a devil on your side

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.

Johnny Compton, critically acclaimed author of The Spite House and master of dread, takes you on a terrifying race of one woman against the hordes of hell.

Devils Kill Devils is the story of a girl who's guardian angel turns out to be no angel at all and the journey she goes through to get revenge for the murder of her husband.

The lore in this book was such a unique take on vampires, and I loved that aspect of the story. However, the cult plot line lost me a little bit with the lack of solid answers for how exactly Sarita was chosen and why, and my lack of emotional connection to the characters despite the heavy emotional components of the story made this one fall a little flat for me.

I enjoyed this Southern Gothic vampire story full of ancient demons by Johnny Compton. This is my first book by this author. The beginning of the story moved at a fast pace, but slowed down and got a bit complicated in the second half, where it seemed to get bogged down in the historical information on rituals and history. I co-read this book along with the audiobook and highly recommend the audio for readers interested in this book. While Sarita's story was very compelling, the second half definitely benefited from the audiobook narration.

Devils Kill Devils is a masterful blend of Southern gothic horror and supernatural suspense, perfect for fans of Silvia Moreno-Garcia's Certain Dark Things. Johnny Compton once again showcases his knack for weaving dread and terror, drawing readers into a world where the lines between good and evil blur.

The protagonist, Sarita, is a compelling character whose relationship with her guardian angel, Angelo, takes a chilling turn. Compton expertly builds tension as Sarita grapples with the dark secrets surrounding her protector, and the story’s pace kept me on the edge of my seat. The inclusion of a diverse roster of monsters—from angels to devils and vampires—adds depth to the narrative, making the stakes feel incredibly high.

Compton's atmospheric writing shines, immersing readers in a haunting world filled with palpable dread. While the story can feel intense at times, the emotional depth of Sarita’s journey truly resonates.

My only critique would be that some plot elements felt slightly rushed, leaving me craving more exploration of certain themes. Nevertheless, Devils Kill Devils is a thrilling read that showcases Compton’s talent for crafting dark, engaging stories. I can’t wait to see where his imagination takes us next! 4 stars!

Unfortunately, this one wasn’t for me. There was too much exposition, which was vastly different from Compton’s debut. I couldn’t get into the story past the prologue.

A chilling thrill of a read! Unique in its style and plot, fans of horror will delight in the fright this book delivers.

I was a bit confused during the majority of this book, but everything made sense and came together at the end. I thought it was an incredibly unique vampire story, I’ve never read any vampires quite like these ones and it was really interesting to read the author’s note on the inspiration. I thought the writing was well done and it was non stop action, just maybe a bit difficult to follow.

he description of this book sounded so good but sadly, I just don’t think this book was for me. I was bored the entire time and just couldn’t get into it. There was barely any conversation between characters and mostly just the characters’ thoughts, which were just drawn out. I really wish I could’ve liked this book but we can’t like them all.

This book was surprisingly... long and I am sad to say it was not a hit for me.

I wanted to love this book based on the intriguing synopsis, but I am going to be completely honest, I am not sure I was even following this story part of the time. It went down some crazy paths and felt like it was very chaotic and all over the place.

Sarita has a guardian angel... or so she thinks. This is her journey of understanding just what has been watching over her shoulders all these years and why the threat of danger has always been so imminent. It's a much bigger world than she ever imagined.
But it's also a story of ultimate supernatural destruction. Harrah and Cela and the rest of the characters that are introduced in order to dive deeper into the world of devils and... vampires??

Why this book was almost a DNF (but wasn't because I still wanted to find out what happened)
- By the time Harrah's role is made clear, I had already stopped caring about her, so each chapter from her perspective felt like trudging through just to get to the next Sarita scene. This also means that the lore we learn through Harrah was hard to grasp onto without a connection to her as a character.
- The chapters were NOT labeled as to whose POV we were getting, and this was confusing to try to figure out using context clues. This is, perhaps the biggest reason as to why the story never came together for me.
- Things were constantly happening in this book (a good thing!) but once the story lost me, it was nearly impossible to keep up with who was doing what and where they were. This book obviously has a ton of deep lore and I can see how some of this would be incredible, but it just felt like too much.

DEVILS KILL DEVILS is my first book from author Johnny Compton. He has a gift for writing really immersive horror. This book had a particular premise that really drew me in. It took me a while to get into the story and at about 30% -ish is when it started to get interesting and by "interesting" I mean, the gore! The kills! The vampires! The gore scenes made my skin crawl and the descriptions of Cela and the other vampires was really well. done. I think some of the plot gets lost in the sauce - the "prophecy" felt really confusing and I didn't really understand why it was needed in the first place. I understood the "church" Cela founded but I didn't understand how the followers worked. Were they also vampires? Devils? How did Sarita "hear" them? Those bits and pieces never made sense to me. I hard a hard time visualizing it, if that was meant to be visualized at all. The book also gave me some nostalgia vibes; it felt very 1990's horror to me with the legends and mythical creatures and "gods". Once the pace picked up, I couldn't put the book down. I'm definitely going to have to read Compton's other book, THE SPITE HOUSE.

This novel is interesting albeit confusing at times. The main plot becomes muddled with the “explanations” which only served, in my opinion, to derail the narrative and sever continuity. The plot itself is propulsive and thrilling but it never really seems to find its stride. The first two-thirds go by somewhat slowly and the final third seems to rush through.

After enjoying The Spite House by Johnny Compton I was excited to receive a Netgalley copy of this newest novel, Devils Kill Devils. I don't read about demons and angels often, but the blurb piqued my curiosity.
Three Words That Describe This Book: gothic, demons, violent
› When I saw the cover I wondered, what is this shadowy monster on the cover with big teeth and claw-like hands? Who is the tiny person standing up to it? I love the vibe of this cover. It accurately portrays the creepy monsters found in this story. Devils Kill Devils is different from Compton's first novel, The Spite House. We left Compton's creepy haunted house and jumped into an epic tale featuring a cast of angels, demons, and vampires.

› I found the character development lacking and had a hard time connecting with Sarita. I found Harrah and Cela more interesting than Sarita. I enjoyed the description but wanted more world-building. There is a lot of repetition, too many nicknames for characters, too much "telling", and too much internal dialogue (I did read an advance copy, so some of these things may have been changed in the final copy). The plot had some pacing issues with a very slow middle portion, yet I felt intrigued and wanted to know what was going to happen. There were too many concepts smooshed into one book. It would have been better if there was a lot of trimming and we ended up with a novella. Or, expand it into a trilogy. That would have given the needed space to develop the characters, world, and story. This horror fan loved the violence and gore!

APPEAL FACTORS
Storyline: unconventional
Pace: slow
Tone: angsty, dramatic, sinister, bleak, creepy, gruesome, violent
Writing Style: spare dialogue, stream of consciousness
Character: awkward, brooding

Read Alikes:
Tread of Angels by Rebecca Roanhorse
Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo
Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor
Incidents Around the House by Josh Malerman
Asunder by Kerstin Hall
The Briar Book of the Dead by Angela Slatter
Archangel's Viper by Nalini Singh
A Terrible Fall of Angels by Laurell Hamilton

› Final Thoughts
• Devils Kill Devils is a dark, mysterious, slow-burn story about dysfunctional families, secrets, monsters, friendship and courage. I recommend this one to people who are really into angels, demons, and vampires. In an interview, Compton said he's working on a paranormal detective "witch book" and I'm intrigued.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Well, this one was different. The plot instantly pulled me in but as the story went along…it seemed to drag forever and ever. I didn’t like that there wasn’t much dialogue and I was just stuck in the MC head. The story got messy and a little hard to follow after awhile and it just made me lose interest.

After reading The Spite House by Johnny Compton, I was eager to read his next book, Devils Kill Devils. It sounded exactly like something I would love. Right away, the first chapter had me gripped in its devilish claws. Unfortunately, the grip began to loosen soon after. The intense and intriguing chapters were broken up by so much monotony and unnecessary information, I was tempted to give up halfway through.

However, I don't want to deter anyone interested in this one from reading it. I think there is a lot of insightful discussion here regarding religion and the causes we stand behind, the protections we have or think we have, and the things we will do because of those beliefs. Also, I was into the lore behind the monsters. I needed more of that. I do love a cryptic beginning, but this book spent most of its time telling the trivial parts of the story while keeping its more compelling secrets hidden.

Thank you Tor Nightfire for the copy to read and review!

The beginning of this story had me hooked and ready for the ride! The premise this book starts with is so unique and a story I would have absolutely loved, but then the story expands too widely. The initial storyline would have been enough to create a solid book on its own without the other storyline brought in later. I was lost halfway through which was very unfortunate.

This book was atmospheric to the point of grimdark, relying heavily on mood-setting to guide the story. Because the tone was so heavy, the pacing got really bogged down at several points throughout. There were chapters that flew by and chapters that were a bit of a slog to get through. Key characters had repetitive inner monologues so long it derailed the momentum of the story. Mixed with the unsatisfactory and abrupt resolution of the story, I had difficulty maintaining interest.

Overall this book is A+ for vibes but a difficult read.

Thank you to NetGalley, Johnny Compton, and Tor Nightfire for a review copy.

A mysterious man saves Sarita when a wave crashes down on her. Sarita's mother calls the man an angel. This seems true, as the man shows up throughout Sarita's life to warn her of life-threatening events. But on one of the biggest nights of her life, Sarita's angel proves to be a devil. A great update to the vampire mythos.

🥳Happy Pub Day to DEVILS KILL DEVILS by @comptonwrites!🥳

Thank you to the author, @netgalley and the publishers @torbooks and @macmillan.audio for the audio and e-ARCs.

"Nothing tastes better than the blood of an angel or devil."

Cerida Bardalas has a guardian angel. Or at least, she thought she did. Until her wedding night to Frank when her supposed guardian coined by the name Angelo by her family slaughters her new husband right before her eyes. Stunned with grief and confusion, Cerida begins a journey of figuring out why she has been saved by this supposed angel multiple times in her life just to have him strike down her love and the answers are much more than she bargained for.

😇👿😇👿

While I particularly enjoyed the first half of this book, my attention span waned in the second half at times. Much of this is in historical third person perspective and starts out with lots of action and then kinda slows down with lots of background which is where I think I got off track a bit because of the pace shift. I got back on board and the ending was both expected and unexpected. In comparison to his other book, THE SPITE HOUSE, DEVILS KILL DEVILS is definitely a much deeper read, but THE SPITE HOUSE had a lot more action and suspense in my opinion.

As a whole this story is about the idea of good vs. evil and how sometimes it is hard to differentiate between the two. I felt some serious Octavia Butler vibes a la the PATTERN MASTER series. There is nothing I appreciate more than a story that explores the gray areas so all in all I would certainly recommend this book.

💚💚💚

Read this one if you:
😇Like ancient cult-like societies
👿Love a historical creature feature
😇Can relate to or revel in family drama
👿Don't believe angels are that far from demons

Are you team Angel or team Demon? And why?!?

💚SMASHBOT💚

#bookreview #netgalleyreviewer #netgalley #booknerd
#bibliophile #bookish #booklover #bookworm #devilskilldevils #macmillanaudio #bookdragon #bookstagram #historicalhorror

Renowned author Johnny Compton has masterfully crafted a literary universe that seamlessly integrates modern and traditional folklore, infused with compelling religious undertones and visceral depictions of violence. Within this realm, we follow the journey of Sarita, our protagonist who has long been sheltered by a guardian angel. However, a sense of unease has always lingered within her regarding this protection. On her wedding day, events take a drastic turn for the worse, setting in motion a chain of events that forever alters her fate. Compton's prowess as a wordsmith is unparalleled, requiring readers to keep pace with his boundless imagination. His works are highly recommended for those seeking a captivating and enthralling read.