After really enjoying The Spite House last year, I was hopeful I would also enjoy the new book by the same author.

The premise of this one sounded great but I found myself disappointed by the execution. My issue was that I found the character flat and the narrative surprisingly dry. I wanted to love this one, but it left me cold.

Disclaimer I received a copy of this book from the publisher.

I really, REALLY wanted to love this one. While The Spite house wasn't my favorite read, I did enjoy it and I was looking forward to more of Compton's work. However, this one just did not work for me. I loved the concept and was really hooked up front. I've never read anything quite like it and I was intrigued by the idea of a guardian angel gone rogue.

What made this one a miss for me wasn't the plot - I finished the book because I wanted to see how it ended, and I enjoyed the story overall. That being said, it was a major struggle to finish it because I was just so bored. The scenes with action were PERFECT. In The Spite House, I felt like Compton held back and I wanted more, the violent scenes in this book delivered that more that I was looking for.

However, the scenes between the action were so tedious. This book is HEAVY on dialogue and much of that dialogue is repetitive descriptions of religious themes, gods, demons, devils etc. I absolutely could not stand Harrah or Cela (I also realize they aren't meant to be likable), but their chapters just didn't do it for me in any way.

I am so sad for this outcome, I really wish I had felt differently, but even after some reflection - this one is a pass from me.

DNF at around 50%. After a similar experience with The Spite House, I think I have to accept that Johnny Compton is just not for me. In the case of Devils Kill Devils, I struggled with the author constantly shifting away from present action to bombard us with back story. Some readers might find this fleshes out character nicely, but for me, it made building and maintaining tension nearly impossible. The idea of a guardian angel who chooses violence intrigued me enough to try this book, and even stick with it as long as I did. Unfortunately, when reading started to feel like a chore, I called it a day. Fans of supernatural mystery that unravels at a patient pace may enjoy this one.

Guardian angel, carnage, and lots of twists.  I truly enjoyed this vampire tale. Full of death and dismemberment. Compton does not fail. Great read for the upcoming spooky season.

I hate to write this but I had to DNF this one at ~ 24%. I just could not get into it. The premise was exciting, I was interested but it was so slow. I just couldn't keep reading it. Felt like a waste of time.

Thank you to NetGalley for a eARC copy of this novel; my review is completely unbiased.

I’m not sure what I anticipated going into this book, but this one honestly fell a little short for me. Hoping it’s a me thing and will try a reread again during spooky season

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for the opportunity to read and review Devils Kill Devils from Johhny Compton.

Sarita is our main character that since an early age has been protected by a guardian angel. At least that is what her family has referred to Angelo as in the several times he has saved Sarita's life. Sarita has grown to appreciate the awareness that she feels safe and adventurous knowing she has someone watching over her. All this changes when Angelo murders someone she loves.

First and foremost, I wanted to read Devils Kill Devils because it is written by Johnny Compton. I read The Spite House last year and loved it. One of my favorites of 2023. Unfortunately, this new novel by the same author was just not for me. The first 20 percent of the book hooked me in, but the constant inner dialogue of each character for pages and pages dragged me down in the reading experience. The plot in my opinion was slow and sluggish. This is the type of book, again in my opinion, that readers will love or not. I am probably in the minority here. I will definitely continue looking forward to more novels by this author, but this one wasn't for me. And it pains me to say it. Devils Kill Devils will be available September 24th at all your favorite retailers. Happy Reading!

"Devils Kill Devils" is a refreshing, brutal take on the vampire mythology, blending religious horror with an intensity of gore that is simply disturbing. If you like your vampires terrifying and totally bereft of romance, then this may well be the book for you.

It is Sarita-driven, with a protagonist vaguely reminiscent of a more mature, less lovesick Sookie Stackhouse, who ends up in the middle of some rather brutal supernatural struggle. There simply isn't room for any sparkly love interests in this vampire yarn. In their stead, we have old malevolent creatures that view humans as nothing more than pawns in their violent games.

The world-building is expansive, even though the pacing falls off from fast at the beginning to develop the epic setting. In this way, the reader can explore deeper into her world with Sarita, staying interestingly engaged to the end. This tension due to omniscient narration and auspicious villain POVs further enriches this narrative voice, ultimately keeping a reader on edge about the dangers ahead.

That said, it is a bit crammed with elements toward the second half: demon vampire gods, religious cults, ghosts, ancient deities…the works. For some, this might feel overwhelming, but to me, it added to the chaotic, nightmarish vibe of the story. For me, the multiple main characters with really distinct voices and journeys were what made this narrative compelling despite the complexity.

If you're a dark fantasy and horror fan that enjoys epic world-building combined with B-grade horror flair, "Devils Kill Devils" is definitely worth the read. The kind of wild ride it is certainly won't please all, but for those who do enjoy outlandish and brutal horror, it has everything one would ask for in a novel. I am quite excited to see what the author comes up with next.

This one was Queen of the Damned meets Terminator and John Carpenter's Vampires, sprinkled with Fright Night. It was a little hard to get in to, but worth it toward the end. It was gory and gritty with some nice body horror (you don't hear that every day 🤣). The monster horror was horroring. It was a different type of vampire story, in the vein (pun intended) of 30 Days of Night and Let Me In.

I definitely enjoyed it, and I actually want to reread it in the future. The story was intriguing, even though I only cared for a couple of characters. One of the villains was an absolutely shit person who thought they weren't, and felt justified in their revenge rampage. So, I hated them. But, most of the time you are supposed to hate the villain, right? The other villain and their back story was super confusing, which is why it took me a little bit to get into it, but it came together in the end and turned out quite intriguing. Sarita had both likeable and unlikeable moments, and Angelo was a super interesting character.

All in all, it was horrifying in the best way possible. It was a fresh take on a vampire story that I didn't realize I needed. Definitely worth a read, especially in spooky season.

Thank you Tor Nightfire and Netgalley for the e-arc.

This was an incredibly interesting premise and a great first 20%. However I felt like the book lagged and ultimately fell apart by refusing to delve deep into its characters, especially Sarita, and instead jump from multiple POVs. I really felt lost in some of the world building and the characters were not fleshed out (pun intended).

After reading the first 6 chapters, I realized that I had no emotional attachment to the story or any of the characters, and I decided to put it down. In my opinion, there is entirely too much telling what his happening, and not nearly enough dialogue to show the reader what the characters are experiencing. This one is definitely not for me.

I received an arc from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This novel offers a fresh and unique take on the vampire genre, but the overall execution fell a bit short for me. The narrative frequently diverges into tangents that appear to be aimed at developing the characters. However, I found many of the characters uninteresting, which made it difficult to stay engaged. The pacing felt a bit off because of this, and I believe the story would have been more impactful if it had been more tightly focused. I also thought the religious themes in the book were particularly confusing. I struggled to fully understand what was happening a lot of the time.
The sections that centered on the vampires were captivating and well-written, though they were few and far between until the last 25%. Overall, most of the novel felt like a 2-star experience, but the ending was more satisfying and raised my rating to 3 stars. While the book didn't completely work for me, I think its unique approach and vivid imagery would make for an interesting movie.

I loved The Spite House, Johnny's first book, very much, and I was thinking this one would be a bit similar in tone. I was incredibly (and pleasantly!) surprised at how sweeping and epic Devils Kill Devils feels. An incredibly fresh take on vampire mythology, with horrific monsters and a fantastic central relationship between siblings. Some incredibly tense and gory scenes and a fabulously compelling antagonist, the story grows from a small, intimate beginning to a massive battle on a cosmic scale. Really enjoyed it and very much looking forward to seeing what Johnny comes up with next.

This book was freaking wild. I always go into books blind and did not realize this was about vampires. Well luckily vampires are my favorite thing right now. I just can’t get over how well this book was written.

3 stars

This is the first time I've read from this author, so I don't know if this is indicative of his general writing style or not. Overall I didn't love it.

The positives. It was a fast read which was easy to get into. It was interesting and this kept me reading, because I genuinely wanted to know what was going on and how everything would develop. It was also somewhat unpredictable which is always fun. However... there are many negatives.

To me this was the typical example of an author having too many thoughts, and too big a story for the length of book we're given. There were so many plot elements, characters, and world building thrown at us, and none of it was properly developed. Even the main character was not fully flushed out, we are just told about events in her past through flashbacks and that was substituted for character development. The other characters were worse, with 95% of them being completely expendable or even interchangeable!

I had a hard time finishing this book. It started off strong, but fell short for me. I think the concept was interesting but could've been made better

Thank you, NetGalley, for the eARC. Devils Kill Devils by Johnny Compton is a fresh addition to the resurgence of vampire stories. Compton, known for his debut The Spite House, returns with a Southern Gothic novel that explores vampirism through religious occultism. His chilling and atmospheric writing offers a new interpretation of vampires, blending them with elements of ancient devils and divine intervention.
The novel’s tone shifts from restrained suspense to a more complex narrative as it delves into a web of religious rituals and ancient prophecies. While these elements add depth to the story’s mythology, they also create some convolution that detracts from the initial focus and intensity.
Despite these challenges, Devils Kill Devils excels in its exploration of the darker aspects of the vampire mythos, making it a compelling read for fans of gothic horror. Although the latter half of the novel struggles to maintain coherence, it remains a bold and imaginative take on a genre that continues to evolve. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and am honored to have had the opportunity to do so.

The beginning of this story starts out very strong, with our main character Sarita grappling with a creature that she considered to be her guardian angel murdering her husband on her wedding night. I was intrigued and was interested in how this creature came to be a staple in her life, as the story unfolded to allow us to learn more. Sarita becomes suspicious of this creature and begins to believe that it was never an angel to begin with, but perhaps something stalking her throughout her life. We learn quite a few ways this creature, “Angelo,” had saved her life a few times before, and each way could potentially be seen with a much more significantly sinister light.

However, I had to DNF this at about 44% in, as we are given another POV character that suddenly changes the plot significantly. Whereas before, we were only in our main character’s head, we now are within her estranged mother-in-law’s as well as another one of the same creatures as Sarita’s “guardian angel.” At first, I thought this POV shift to be interesting, but as the story developed I started becoming less and less invested until I realized I was skimming this novel at multiple parts. I wound up stopping reading when I was reading a longer chapter that had a significant amount of violence and blood/gore, but realized I was hardly paying attention to anything going on - including the action.

I don’t believe my issues with this novel are with anything to the structure or storytelling, but rather that I was much more invested in the story when this “Angelo” creature was working alone, and the mystery surrounding him. However, this story quickly develops into “secret society/cult” territory, which I tend to neither find fascinating nor something to be invested in, and that is when the story began to lose my interest. I do suggest checking out this novel for yourself to see what you think, as it begins strong and I could see this as a great novel for someone (unlike me) who enjoys secret cult stories.

Thank you to Netgalley and Tor Publishing Group for a copy of this e-ARC for an honest review.

Sarita has been watched over by a guardian angel her entire life. She calls him Angelo and has always kept him a secret. When he murders someone she loves, Sarita begins to see what's really been lurking in the shadows surrounding her and she will be glad to have Angelo on her side.

The opening is strong and appears to be a great set up for what's to come. I enjoyed the opening chapters that tell us about Sarita's past and Angelo's role in her life. Then another character is introduced and the story seems to change. We get the idea that something is going on behind the scenes but everything is murky.

When the direction of the story changed so did my interest. There is a lot happening and unfortunately it didn't work for me. I enjoyed the author's first book, but this one is quite different.

I read 42% of this book, so I won't be doing a full review. It moved slowly for me. I liked Johnny's book, Spite House, but this book has the same problems I found with that one. There wasn't enough explanation of certain things. I liked the main character, but when the narration shifts to other people, it feels like something is missing. I can't recommend this book, and I hate that I didn't finish it.