Rites of azathoth by Frank Cavaallo.
F.B.I. criminal profiler Diana Mancuso doesn’t do field work anymore. Not since a tragic mistake that cost innocent lives. But when notorious serial killer Luther Vayne escapes from prison and resumes his campaign of brutal murders, the Bureau convinces her to take one last case.
To catch him, she must understand him. She must delve into the arcana that fuels his madness, risking her life and her sanity to follow his twisted path.
The trail plunges her into a shadowy world of occult rituals and unspeakable horrors, leading to a secret cabal operating at the highest levels—and a plot to summon the darkest of all powers, to bring forth an evil that does not belong in our world—to enact the Rites of Azathoth.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Great story and characters. Read in one sitting. 5*.

Sometimes horror can feel formulaic but not this novel by Cavallo. An intriguing premise meets with an understanding of what really scares. I enjoyed this one immensely.

RITES OF AZATHOTH is well thought out, super descriptive FBI thriller by way of Lovecraftian science fiction epic. Wow! It was a good storyline that could have benefited by just a bit of editing. It seemed a little long in the beginning, but once the story got started and I was invested in the plot, I read straight through to the end.

I really enjoyed reading this book and recommend it to everyone who is looking for something just a little different.

An amazing adventure that seemlessly presents the Cthulhu myth in a fresh, exciting way. An absolute must read!

Review of RITES OF AZATHOTH
by Frank Cavallo

RITES OF AZATHOTH is an exceptional and outstanding horror/mystery/thriller which can proudly take its place in the Lovecraftian Mythos as a fine work of fiction. Riveting, intriguing, and terrifying, the novel speeds us along as an FBI profiler, highly intelligent but morally ambiguous, agrees to field work after a lapse of several years. The case to which her Assistant Director assigns her is one so strange and farfetched that no one in law enforcement can comprehend or encapsulate it. A confessed killer of the mid-1970's has bee incarcerated for forty years. The man is blind. He disappears from his cell in the Federal Penitentiary in Ohio. He kills without leaving traces, and without touching the victim. He insists all he does is “at the command of Azathoth.” Arrayed in opposition to him are not only local law enforcement and the FBI, but also a highly organized, highly powerful, very wealthy secret group, The Disciples of the Black Fame. They are awaiting the Convergence, a date “when the stars are right,” to summon Yog-Sothoth to open the gate and allow the return of the extra-dimensional Outer Gods.

If this summary sounds Lovecraftian, it does so for good reason. I have to think that HPL himself would approve! Certainly I find this novel utterly delightful—and very terrifying.