This is a very interesting vampiric tale. The research the author did on vampire lore and of Baby Head Mountain in Texas was extremely interesting in weaving his own vampire tale. Stories of vampires in some country's lore have appeared with hooves, fighting against each other without explanation, thus, the title of "Devils Kill Devils." In some cultures, vampires bore the shape of the devil. I find this research so intriguing.

I loved how Compton created his own vampire novel that is different from the Western vampire lore. It's a little Anne Rice, but seeped more into the lore from other countries.

I am absolutely intrigued by the research that went into this. There's non-stop action and bloodbaths galore. The level of action that went into this made for an amazing horror novel.

Well done. I'm planning on looking more into his research that he lists at the end of his book.

"She will kill you."

Sarita is freshly married and has finally landed with her new husband in their hotel for the night. It's a sweet night, as they revel in how happy they are, how much fun they had, how silly and tipsy they are. It isn't until Angelo appears that Sarita realizes she should have been more cautious, more worried. She should have been more honest about what Angelo had done in her life.

The start to this story was so well done. I was hooked - this story of Angelo, the pulse-pounding moments, the shocking first chapter and murder. But, quickly, the story slowed way down. It piled on POV, ones that were confusing and scope was huge and unexplained. The chapters became quiet storytelling instead of any dialogue or action. Huge info dumps replaced plot and I quickly became disengaged. Once I hit halfway, I was almost completely lost in the story, who was who, and why anyone was doing anything. The ending was a bit of a letdown after all the explaining and build up.

I even read this with a friend and we both struggled to try to understand some of the motivation and storyline. I really wanted to love this one more, but it was a miss for me.

A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

This novel presents an intriguing and refreshing interpretation of vampires and demons, captivating the reader from the outset with its originality. The atmospheric setting and vivid descriptions of the demonic figures are particularly striking, creating a palpable sense of dread and allure.

However, the narrative loses some momentum in the middle third, where the promise of heightened conflict among the devils remains unfulfilled. The pacing slows, and the tension that could have propelled the story forward dissipates.

Nevertheless, the novel remains an engaging read, especially for those drawn to vampire lore who seek a fresh and inventive approach to the genre.

Devils Kill Devils is a fever dream of religious horror, murder, gore, and a sprinkling of vampirism mixed together to become one WILD RIDE.

This story starts off as the main character Sarita’s husband is brutally slain on her wedding night by the guardian angel she began seeing when he saved her from drowning at the age of nine years old. Sarita has no idea why her loving and gentle husband would be the chosen victim for this creature and bizarre events unfold as Sarita unravels the mystery behind who this “guardian angel” is, who is leading him, and why is her life so important to save.

Devils Kill Devils starting out incredibly strong as we navigate the set up of Sarita’s character/history and begin to plot out some of the “why” behind what happened to Sarita’s husband. I was very intrigued by the premise of the story, and LOVED the relationship between Sarita and her brother, however, as the thriller elements become more intertwined with the religious horror/demon (vampire?) aspects, the complexity of the storyline did negatively impact the degree to which my interest was sustained. Sarita The introduction of the other POV characters also had less character buildup than Sarita and I had a harder time caring about their storylines (and not just because they were the antagonists either). The story sometimes felt like it didn't know where it wanted to go and the author relied heavily on exposition rather than dialogue/action to introduce us to the book’s themes and concepts. Was it entertaining though? Absolutely.

Thank you to netgalley and Tor Publish Group for the opportunity to review Devils Kill Devils as an advanced reader group in exchange for an honest review.

DNF @ 50%. I really loved the first few hours of this audiobook, but then the focus changed from our main character and I got completely lost and ended up losing interest in figuring out where the story was headed.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Johnny Compton for providing me with a complimentary digital ARC for Devils Kill Devils coming out September 24, 2024. The honest opinions expressed in this review are my own.

This is the first book I’ve read by this author. It was compared to Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s writing and I really love her work. I also really love horror books. I enjoyed the first half of this book, but I was getting a little lost in the second half. I wasn’t feeling the story as much. I think I was expecting something a little different. It wasn’t as horrific or creepy as I was expecting. I would check out other books by this author.

I don't know what I just read but my, oh my, did I have a time.

Be prepared for gore, devils, demons, angels, vampires?, ghosts, religious horror, end of the world drama and I'm still just in awe of how that wrapped up in a single book. This easily could have been a series of twists and turns because there were so many elements. My head was spinning, but I couldn't put it down lol.

Thank you to NetGalley & Tor Publishing Group for sharing an E-Arc copy of this book.

"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."

I LOVE Southern Gothic Horror!

Another solid read by Johnny Compton. I enjoyed The Spite House and have been looking forward to his next novel. I loved the first quarter of the book. Sarita’s husband is savagely killed on their wedding night by Sarita’s supposed guardian angel. She’s obviously not super happy with this development and seeks to avenge her husband’s death.

Shortly after this, Compton adds a few different characters and other concepts and the book starts to lose focus a bit. We start shifting the between character perspectives, but there’s a fair amount of names/nicknames/“forgotten” names etc. and it can be hard to keep up with everyone. I also struggled to keep the various alliances straight. I did enjoy the ending. It’s pretty bloody but does manage to tie some threads together. I still don’t totally understand the connection between the various supernatural entities in this one, but the writing was awesome.

The characters were nuanced and I loved Sarita and Uncle Everett. The dialogue felt true and it’s a book I likely would’ve loved if it had stayed the initial course the author laid out.

I definitely look forward to reading more from Compton going forward, but did struggle to stay on track with Devils Kill Devils.

Sarita has had a guardian angel her whole life. His name is Angelo and even her family and closest friend, Tori, know about him. However, when Angelo goes rogue and murders Sarita's husband, she is plunged into a world where the shadows are coming to light. Sarita will have to embrace the evil within to survive.
Get ready for a novel full of angels, devils, gods and goddesses and of course, vampires.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for this e-arc.*

This story was a different take on the vampire genre. I enjoyed this new type of vampire, but other parts were lacking. I felt that the backstory of the vampire cult was lacking and boring at times. I wanted to read more about Sarita and less about Harrah. I just felt it was boring at times.

Johnny Compton won my reading affection with Spite House, taking a hounded house trope and turning it into something wonderfully unique.

Devils Kill Devils is a completely different creature. Almost the entire first half of the book really heavily focuses on the characters dwelling on the incidences that propel the story forward. Each major player in the book is placed under the microscope and shows in detail the mental thoughts and struggles born from the aftermath. Revisiting decisions, playing the dangerous 'what if' game allowing us to really get a solid feel for their true natures. I'm usually totally fine with a slow burn build, but I often found myself reading the same information over and over, just worded ever slightly different, and this made it a bit sluggish for me.
Now, don't get me wrong, after the second big mystery happens, there are some pretty intense graphic scenes and tense moments when our unusual creatures make their appearances. Think of The Prophecy moments when angels and devils get involved, that kind of chaos. You are essentially dealing with the, holy shit what other planes of existence are out there, and, what is even real anymore?!

There's a really cool concept of religious turmoil, self driven prophecies, and major existential apocalyptic crisis. The execution needs to be paired down, drawn more concisely like his first novel, and the tone overall can be greatly improved. Compton still manages to take a typical trope and make something truly unique, but this one is coming off a bit rough around the edges.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and the publisher for an e-arc of this novel.

Unfortunately, this one just isn't working for me right now. The pacing is a bit difficult and the writing...different from Spite House (which I quite liked). I also had different expectations for this one than what it's actually about, and I don't know if I love the direction the story is going in 20% of the way through.

I may pick this back up in the future, because I do like Compton's writing and storytelling. I think this would work for folks who are looking for an urban fantasy exploring religion and how humans can be pawns in gods' machinations. I've heard the vampire lore gets interesting later on, as well, so maybe dedicated vampire readers might want to pick this one up as well.

The pulse on this book never stopped. I read this book cover to cover in one evening; it's a really fast-paced, spooky read. I love vampires and I always will, so this satisfied my craving. I needed this gothic horror, that's for sure! I was drawn in and kept curious by the plot. The characters were masterfully written, and the writing style was flawless! When it's released, I'll definitely be adding this to my collection of creepy books, and I'd suggest it to anyone who enjoys vampire horror.

Absolutely loved the start of this story, but as the story continued it got too expansive and tried to cover too much. I’m not going to lie, I got lost a few times trying to process what was happening.

3.5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publishers for providing me with an eARC of this title. For the most part, I enjoyed this book. I felt like the beginning was pretty slow. It took a while for me to really become interested in the story. Once stuff started to actually happen though, I had a good time. I really loved the writing style and the imagery. There were some pretty great scenes and descriptions, especially toward the end.

This one didn't work for me as well as the authors debut, but I still had a good time. Perfect read for the Halloween season and I love seeing diverse representation in horror. A few moments genuinely spooked me and I love the writing styl

I think Johnny Compton and I are psychically linked and he knows what I like: gruesome and violent AF horror, super unique vampires, and a straight up cult. I also love a book that gives me room to form my own theories about what’s going on, and Devils Kill Devils did that from the start, then opened up a little and gave me more room for even more outlandish theories, which is so much fun.

I did find myself a little bored during Harrah’s early chapters and a tiny bit lost during Cela’s early chapters, but their later chapters were just as good as the rest and I loved the stark difference in prose between each character’s POV. The way they spoke, thought, acted… it was always obvious which character the story was following because the writing actually changed very organically. And oh my god the foreshadowing drove me crazy in the very best way, like I knew something was being alluded to and I wanted to know what it was SO BADLY. In a couple spots, I had to stop myself from skimming, not because I was bored or didn’t want to read it but because I was so desperate to know what was going to happen.

I liked most of the characters and that stories of their pasts were included to give context to their actions and motivations (especially The Northman). Sarita is a great main character and she has a lot of strengths but one of my favorite things about her is that she isn’t your standard Chosen One. I like the idea that a Chosen One isn’t necessarily more special than anyone else, that it’s more like “well, someone had to be chosen,” and happenstance is what gives the Chosen One their power.

The author’s note at the end was really cool - I always love when authors include information about their inspiration and influences. It’s very interesting. Don’t skip it!


***I will add a links to the review posted on socials etc. closer to the release date***

This book is … weird, but it's a good book that a fan of a particular type of supernatural monster will enjoy but I'm giving it a 3.5.

The book starts off really interesting. I was really into it until around 40%, when the concept morphs or reveals itself into being something I’m not super into, trope and/or paranormal-wise. While the book does introduce a new twist to them, it didn’t do enough to reinvigorate me to them. This could be because the latter half of the novel has plotlines that are kind of all over the place and bring in a whole bunch of supernatural aspects that didn’t feel super cohesive. The climax is quite exciting and fun, but in the thirty percent leading up to that, I found myself skimming a bit.

The mystery at the start is fascinating. You aren’t sure why Angelo does what he did, and you’re also not sure what Angelo’s deal is overall. The hints and questions and backstory around that are really interesting - the lore in teh book is fascinating, it’s just wrapped up in far too much meandering. The story moves at a languid, almost molasses-like pace that is sometimes hard to get through. However, those sections were punctuated with scenes of intense violence that are gory, exciting, and go in interesting directions. We just needed some trimming of the internal monologue of all the characters.

I did have some trouble connecting with the main character, though. Her grief, which should have been palpable, didn’t really feel there to me. I could understand why her mother-in-law felt the way she did about her, at times, because she was a little bit self-absorbed. Harrah had a far more interesting perspective, as did Cela, the villain.

Overall, not bad, but not my favourite book of the year.

The very beginning was incredible - I was super excited and was like okay, here we go! Except that the story never really went anyway. It got bogged down in itself and I honestly didn’t know what was going on most of the time. It felt like maybe big chunks were edited out? I really enjoyed the author’s previous book, The Spite House, but this one did not work for me. Thank you to NetGalley for a chance to read and review this book.