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.

To set the scene a little, this gave me dark urban fantasy vibes mixed with the intensity of an SA Cosby thriller. This story is inventive and woven so well.

With a mix of very different characters, Compton has given us a complex tale of monsters, humanity, and justice. Very different from his debut, but it shows the scope of his talent. I am here for it and can’t wait to see what we get next.

I loved the story, the world building and meeting the different characters. I felt completely immersed in the story and couldn't stop reading it.

This book was beyond creepy. But I got lost. After loving Spite House, I really wanted to like this book but it was just really hard to connect with the characters in this book. If you are looking for off putting vibes and uneasy creatures, this is for you.

Devils Kill Devils by Johnny Compton is a gripping horror novel that excels in building a foreboding atmosphere and creating deeply unsettling scenarios. Compton's talent for character development and suspenseful plotting keeps readers on edge throughout the story. The novel’s intricate narrative and dark themes offer a compelling read for fans of psychological horror. Despite its intensity, the pacing occasionally falters, but the overall experience is both engaging and memorable.

I was really looking forward to reading Devils kill Devils.
Compton’s The Spite made me an instant fan.
I really loved the premise.
I was also pretty blown away by the amount of violence and dread.

The opening pulled me in right away, but as it goes it started to lose me. I enjoyed the creatures and vampires, the gore and writing, but found the story a little confusing/bloated at times.
A cool premise that somehow fails to land.

After reading The Spite House I was excited to dive into Johnny Compton’s sophomore novel, Devils Kill Devils. However, I wasn’t prepared for the rocky ride that was this novel. It was most definitely wild and intense, and quite graphic, so do be prepared for that. It took me a while to get into the story, and things were rather confusing at times. I also felt that the story was a little clunky at times and didn’t quite work for me. I also feel like we didn’t truly get to know the characters, things were kept at surface level and for being a short novel, there was time to dig deeper. The pacing was quick, and the book was short, so this is one that I read in one sitting.

I do generally think that this author is going to write some amazing horror books, this one just wasn’t my favorite. I will, however, be looking out for their next book.

This book is unique, and please be sure to take care if you are sensitive to gore.

This is another entertaining book by Johnny Compton! It’s definitely a wild and intense story with creep, horror and gore. I really enjoyed The Spite House, and although this was an exciting story, it didn’t catch me the same as the other book.
This book has vampires, devil creatures and darkness! The story starts out strong, but dies down a bit for me and I did get a little confused in parts.

I will be checking out more stories from this author.
Thank you to NetGalley for an arc of this exciting book!

Devils Kill Devils
by Johnny Compton

I enjoyed this story. It was well-written and approached a known element from an interesting and fresh angle.

The meat of this tale were the characters. Primarily two characters (and a half - almost three) that could be referred to as the protagonist and antagonist. Significant portions of the books not only focused on them, but got inside their minds, their perspective.

The yarn was exciting and unpredictable. I wasn't sure what was going to happen. No one seemed safe. There were a number of interesting characters that I wanted to learn more about. I wanted to learn more about the world, the mythos.

Abstract spoilers: The ending. It wasn't bad, per se. It was serviceable. It's the sole con that's stuck in my head - and it's not really a con - it's my interpretation of a portion of the book. A lot of time was spent setting up and exploring a world (technically hundreds of years - ha). Setting events in motion. The ending felt rushed and I felt somewhat disappointed. It could be construed as open, which means more titles could take advantage of this setting. It almost feels like we got half of a book. Again, it wasn't bad - It just felt like the book picked up speed at a nice pace and then came to a sudden stop. I didn't expect the ending to be the ending. I wonder if the ending is what the author intended and how they feel about it.

I'm curious how others will feel about it. I'm glad I read this book and look forward to seeing what the author does next.

Earlier this year I read a metefictional New Weird cosmic horror novel called Edenville by Sam Rebelein. It was wild and bizarre, completely unafraid to go places and do strange and unusual things to thrill and chill the reader. It is also a novel with a surprisingly low rating across websites like Goodreads. And while their tones are very different, I think any fan of Edenville would get a kick out of Devils Kill Devils.

I loved The Spite House when it came out last year and cheered when I saw we wouldn't have to wait long for another book by Johnny Compton. This book was pitched to me as "what if your guardian angel kills your husband on your wedding night?" and I didn't read anything else about it. I didn't need to, the premise was so strong. The final result blew me out of the water with a cosmic horror tale featuring a mountain of gore and one of the freshest takes on a classic Halloween ghoulie I've seen in ages.

But, I can understand why others might not click with it. It comes down to Compton's prose and the details he chooses to dwell on. This book's prose is on the denser side, and characters spend a lot of time thinking, planning, and reflecting. This includes analyzing their own thoughts, and trying to understand if their thoughts are what they are actually thinking or are being influenced by something else. This causes the book to have an interesting pace, where the action is blistering fast but scenes go on longer than expected due to being deeply inside the mind of the current point-of-view character, privy to their every split-second though. I am reminded of shonen battle anime where you watch 15 minutes of a fight but because you are being shown every character's thoughts and reactions, only 30 seconds have passed in the story. I laughed out loud when I got to the author's note at the end and he cited two anime as being part of the constellation of inspirations for this book.

I did have some minor quibbles with the story. I think he could have gone farther with the theme of cults and religions, and there's two characters that seem like they will be important who ultimately are not. But overall, if you want to see buckets of blood, love body horror, or are just begging to see a new take on an old classic monster, I highly recommend this novel.

4.5 stars rounded up.

Thank you NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for giving me this ARC.

I loved Spite House, so I was so excited that NetGalley sent me the ARC of devils kill devils. It hit the floor running and did not let up! I loved the mix of devils, angels, and vampires. Intense dread, violently gory deaths, and a guardian angel that is more than what he seems! I loved every minute of this book!

I really enjoyed this book and loved that it was totally different than The Spite House by this author. The horror was still there, and the well-developed characters, but the story was a rollercoaster. This book has me questioning every patch of shadows I’ve ever encountered.

The narrator, Imani Jade Powers, knocked this one out of the park as well and did an incredible job with such a wide cast of characters. Listening to this book on audiobook was a tiny bit difficult for me as there are a lot of character names that I don’t encounter every day, so I had a bit of a hard time keeping everyone sorted.

I’ve had this book preordered since preorders were available and I can’t wait to read my physical copy of this one!! I feel like this book will jump up to 5 stars when I’m able to keep up with the characters a bit better. (This is the same reason I struggle to listen to scifi and fantasy books on audio.)

Check this one out if you like horror, devils, devils killing devils, and action-adventure with high-stakes thrown in!

**Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC, and Tor Nightfire and Macmillan Audio for the ALC of this frightening title!!**