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.

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.