Coming across this book I had hoped for some insight into the Churches position on demonic possession and exorcism. We’ve all by now seen the film THE EXORCIST or read the book of have heard about the actions taken by Ed and Lorraine Warren when doing battle with demons. So here we have a priest who’s supposed to have done numerous exorcisms. What would be his views on the topic, his stories of battle?

To be honest I never found the answer to those questions. The books is poorly written with long expanses of writing that provide no information or jump from one thing to the next in the same sentence. There is little structure to the book that would induce a reader to want to continue on from one page to the next. I found myself dozing off every time I began reading this book prompting me to wonder if perhaps the exorcisms performed here were such that the put the demons to sleep.

I’m a firm believer in God and I do believe that demons exist doing their best to do damage here on Earth. Understanding better how that happens and what to do to combat those things when they happen is a noble cause and I salute Father Amorth for the work he’s done. But the fact is a book is storytelling, in this case a true story. But the goal of a storyteller should be to draw the reader in, to involve them in the story and encourage them to want to move from point A to point B to point C and on. Here the telling of the story is such that you find yourself not the least bit compelled to move to point B let alone the rest of the alphabet.

I was left with the feeling that the intent of those behind the book was noble but that their execution of that goal was lacking. The book falls into the category of books that I began but never completed, a sure sign for me that the books had issues rather than me. It’s rare that it happens but when it does and when numerous attempts to carry on fail I know that the problem lies in the writing and not the reading.