Genre: Occult
Length: 452 Pages
Publisher: Sinister Grin Press
Release date: March 15, 2017
Synopsis: Chicago is gripped by terror. The Sweet Sixteen Killer is brutally murdering young women, and the authorities are baffled.
When the police are called to an affluent home in the middle of the night, they learn that a seemingly normal fourteen-year-old boy has attacked his family. The boy exhibits signs of demonic possession, and even more troublingly, he knows too much about the Sweet Sixteen killings. Father Jason Crowder, a young priest assigned to the case, must marshal his courage in order to save the boy and the entire city from the forces of evil.
But this is a darkness mankind has never encountered before. It craves more than blood. And it won’t rest until it possesses Father Crowder’s soul.
My Review-
I have to say I’m surprised at how much I enjoyed Exorcist Falls, and the novella Exorcist Road (which is the first third of this book). Not because of any doubts to the ability of Jonathan Janz to write a great story, but because this isn’t subject matter I find interesting or seek out. I was never interested in The Exorcist, the book or movie, or reading the occult in general. Books wrapped this heavy in religion is another component I tend to steer clear from for the same reasons.
To Jonathan Janz’s credit, and despite my feeling on the subjects, I was drawn into the plot and characters as the first chapter reached its conclusion. But, more than that, I was impressed with the quality of writing, the development of the plot, the narration in the first-person perspective, and the numerous surprises along the way. I was shocked more than once, having thought I had the case solved, only to have the tables turned. I strongly feel this is the best piece of writing I’ve read from Jonathon Janz to date. With The Dark Game looming on the horizon, I am now even more excited, and eagerly waiting to dig into that book. As for Exorcist Falls, it’s a hell of a read and one any fan of Jonathan Janz should check out.
Link to purchase Exorcist Falls
Jonathan Janz, biography
Jonathan Janz grew up between a dark forest and a graveyard, which explains everything. Brian Keene named his debut novel The Sorrows “the best horror novel of 2012.” The Library Journal deemed his follow-up, House of Skin, “reminiscent of Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House and Peter Straub’s Ghost Story.” Since then Jonathan’s work has been lauded by writers like Jack Ketchum, Brian Keene, Edward Lee, Tim Waggoner, Ronald Kelly, and Bryan Smith; additionally, Booklist, Publishers Weekly, and The Library Journal have sung his praises. Novels like The Nightmare Girl, Wolf Land, Savage Species, and Dust Devils prompted Thunderstorm Books to sign Jonathan to an eleven-book deal and to give him his own imprint, “Jonathan Janz’s Shadow Side.” His most recent novel, Children of the Dark, received a starred review in Booklist and was chosen by their board as one of the “Top Ten Horror Books of the Year” (September 2015-August 2016). Children of the Dark will soon be translated into German. Jonathan’s primary interests are his wonderful wife and his three amazing children, and though he realizes that every author’s wife and children are wonderful and amazing, in this case the cliché happens to be true. You can learn more about Jonathan at www.jonathanjanz.com. You can also find him on Facebook, via @jonathanjanz on Twitter, on Instagram (jonathan.janz) or on his Goodreads and Amazon author pages.
The Scary Reviews 