The concept and title of this book gripped me instantly. When I first dove in, I was vibing with the story, the characters, and the 'religious' aspect of it. It all felt so very dark and had me feeling gross as I got into it (which I loved). However, there was hardly any dialogue. The constant inner monologues of whoever's POV we were on and the pacing really racked my brain. The ride was inconsistently bumpy. The 'vampires' that were introduced into the story as well felt chaotic and messy. Once we hit vampires, I was confused and felt as though I was trying to swim underwater in mud. I think I would have enjoyed this much more if there were some pacing changes, more dialogue among everyone, and perhaps less monsters? The monsters also felt a bit overwhelming.
All in all, I didn't hate it, it just needed some tweaks. But I'm sure there is the perfect person for this read.

The premise of this novel intrigued me, and the first chapter hooked me in enough to continue reading it. I think it explores some very cool concepts, and does so in a way that brings a certain amount of originality to a genre where monsters are pretty commonplace. Having said that, however, I feel the plot got a bit muddied around the halfway point of the book, and I struggled to really connect with the characters in a meaningful way. I don’t think this book is bad, but more so that maybe it’s just not the type of story for me personally. I read the whole thing to give it a fair shot, but in the end I found it to be kind of underwhelming. I feel like the supernatural aspects of it was not explored as thoroughly as it could’ve been. Additionally, certain parts feel severely overwritten and probably could’ve been trimmed down or cut altogether without taking away from the overall plot. For these reasons I am rating it 3 out of 5 stars.

I have been wanting to read The Spite House for a while now, but haven't gotten around to it yet, so when I had the chance to read Johnny Compton's next book, I jumped at it. Well, I am even more excited to read The Spite House now because this is one heck of a vampire book! Devils Kill Devils starts out with a shocking and horrifying first chapter and it only gets better from there. There is a very high body count in this book. It's graphic and gory and the vampires are unlike any I have ever seen before. I could absolutely see this made into a movie or TV show because there are some very cinematic action scenes that would be perfect for the screen. I loved Sarita as a main character and found her chapters the most compelling. There were a couple of times during Cela's chapters that things kind of got a little esoteric and philosophical for me and that slowed down the pace a bit. The overall story was amazing and incredibly original though. I even got goosebumps at one part! If you like your vampires on the brutal side, I would highly recommend this incredible novel! Johnny Compton is definitely an author I will be reading more of!

Thank you NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group for the ARC!

Really loved Compton’s unique riff on vampire lore. His combination of mythologic and folkloric delivery combined with layered Texas rooted legends really made this story something that sets itself apart from the current vampire renaissance/resurgence in the best way.

The structure of the story telling wasn’t one that I super enjoyed at first and took me a little to fall into but once I switched over to the audiobook (around chapters 6/7) then everything started to fall into place and become a much more enjoyable experience for me.

DNF at 30% - I don’t think this author is for me. I liked the Spite House but the writing style in this one is very grating. I find all the characters unlikeable and while the premise should be interesting, I’m a third of the way into the book and simply don’t feel compelled to finish.

♡𝐀𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐨𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 &| 𝐞𝐀𝐫𝐜 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰♡
3.5 🌟
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𝐓𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐬 :
•dual timeline (Present and Past (flashback))
•Vampire
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Hunni, just from Chapter 1, this book started with a B A N G! Chapter 1 ALONE will grab you by the throat and will NOT let you go. Devils kills Devils start off extremely strong. What if you had a guardian angel that turns out to be the devil? After the first few chapters, it does take a weird turn, and those so-called guardian angels are vampires. I did get a little confused, but overall, it's not a bad book. It's definitely a book to read during the spooky season. The audiobook is done well, and the narrator did a good job bringing the characters alive.
𝐑𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 Sept.24
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Thank you, Netgalley, MacmillanAudio, for the (ALC)-audiobook and Tor Publishing Group for the (eArc)-eBook for my honest review.

Thank you #netgalley, #tor, and Johnny Compton for the ARC eBook in exchange for my honest review.

A tale of all consuming hated and the desire for vengeance.... of false prophets and very real devils.... This magnificently cinematic novel brings to mind old Hammer flicks from the 60's - 70's. (In the best of ways.)

I finished this novel in a day. It was impossible to put down. Very rarely does a book draw me in this intensely. I was devouring these pages faster than its vampiric devils could munch off faces.

We're primarily following three perspectives that end up intermingling in dark, gory, gruesome ways.

This novel brought to mind the film 'The Night House', mixed with a little of Dan Simmons 'Carrion Comforts', while being wildly unique.

5/5

Loved this book! Hooked me right from the beginning and kept me glued to each page. The characters were great and was a great concept! I thought it was executed perfectly. A favorite read of this year so far

Not my usual cup of tea, though the description was intriguing enough that I took a chance on this book. An incredible opening chapter that promised a bizarre world and some wild stakes, but then got lost in what I felt was a deluge of hit-or-miss worldbuilding, side characters, and a plot I just couldn't get my head around.

I loved Spite House, but it seems like maybe I'm just not the audience for this type of story.

** Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for providing me with an advanced readers copies in exchange for an honest review. All my opinions are my own**

I loved this author's debut work, and this has a very different feel from their previous book. This I would argue is fantasy horror as there is vampires or demons that act like gods. I felt this story to be really slow which took me out of the story at times. I really appreciated how much folklore, myth and vampiric history is incorporated into the story. The author talks about his research in the author's note at the end. The vampires were portrayed in less stereotypical ways which made them feel more unique. What prevented me from loving this story were the characters. I didn't feel connected to our MC Sarita at all and I didn't care about the side characters. I found myself just reading for the vampire lore. This is definitely horror, there is a lot of gore and descriptive gore in this book. If you didn't enjoy this author's previous work, I would recommend trying this one as its very different in tone, vibes and story.

This book starts off with a fantastic and bloody bang that really sets the tone for an exciting read ahead, then unfortunately gets super boring for kind of a long time. I must have completely forgotten that the synopsis says that this is a vampire book, because I didn't really know where it was going until close to the 30% mark where an obvious vampire shows up and hooked me again. I loved everything after that. It's interesting because it seems like a few other people had the exact opposite feelings, but I really struggled to maintain any interest during the much slower beginning. Johnny Compton is great at writing interesting characters, but the lore he created with his vampires is wild and really interesting and was definitely my favorite part. There is a lot going on, but I didn't find it at all hard to follow, and really loved the pulpiness of it. It took me more than a week to get through that first part, then I ran through the rest in about a day, so despite the pacing issues at the start, I really enjoyed it. It's super violent and really fun. After this and the Spite House, I'm definitely going to be looking out for whatever Compton next.

Johnny Compton proves once again he is a MASTERFUL storyteller!

Devils Kill Devils started out as such a mystery to me. It was seemingly full of a colorful cast of characters all with various backstories and motives. Sarita in particular was such a conundrum to me because I couldn't figure out whether or not I was going to actually LIKE her. However, at about the 25% mark of this book, everything takes a twist for the rather unexpected and that was when I knew I was HOOKED. This story does indeed follow Sarita and her mysterious protector since birth. The machinations that seem to revolve around these seemingly simple plot points just created a story that I could not put down.

As I mentioned, this book takes a minute (medium-paced) to built the setting and to truly frame the world. However, when you meet the mysterious woman in red..... ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE. I really wish that I could put into words just how spectacularly this set up. Each character's story follows a full arc and I just really enjoyed how Compton wove these stories together. I just told a story in the way that Stephen King crafts his novels. Each seemingly random piece of information becomes useful eventually.

I cannot say enough good things about this story and I know readers are going to devour this! Mark my words, Johnny Compton is an author you need to keep your eye on! This is perfect for fans of Fever House & The Devil By Name by Keith Rosson!

This started off so amazing--like, blew my mind. Just imagine if you had a guardian angel but he turned out to be a demon. Then the story got really odd with vampires and gods and prophecies. Just very bizarre and seemed to stray so far from the beginning. The ending does tie everything together and kind of made sense. Lots of gore in this and sadness too. Spoilers ahead. Poor Tori! I thought she was such an interesting character and thought she would have had a bigger impact. Everette was pretty cool. Sarita, the main character, was incredibly dull. Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC

Unlikely characters, slow, not fun at all. There was nothing here for me and I slogged the whole way through it as if it was a chore to just get to the end of this book.

Devils Kill Devils by Johnny Compton
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4/5 stars)

Johnny Compton’s latest, Devils Kill Devils, ups the spooky ante from his previous novel, Spite House. This time, we dive into a world of angels, demons, vampires, and ancient wonders, leaving you questioning who the real villains are. Are the angels truly the devils?

Sarita, the main character, navigates complex relationships and immense trauma as she fights to save her family—and possibly all of humanity. Her journey through this morally ambiguous world is both harrowing and thought-provoking. Compton masterfully blurs the lines between good and evil, making you reconsider your assumptions about these ancient beings.

With its chilling atmosphere and richly detailed mythos, Devils Kill Devils is a must-read for horror fans. Compton keeps you hooked with suspense and dark beauty, proving once again he’s a powerhouse in the genre.

This one wasn't for me. I think the story ended up falling flat because there were too many different elements that seemed to come together in the end in a rushed way. It's an interesting concept overall, but I was not very invested in the characters.

'd read and mostly enjoyed Compton's Spite House, which started strong and lost a lot of its propulsion at the halfway mark. I was hoping to enjoy Devils Kill Devils even more, but unfortunately this one was incomprehensible nearly off the bat despite an appealing protagonist. Too many POVs, too many internal trains of thought that never go anywhere, and every chapter or so is a quick little interlude designed to make the reader go "what"? Well, it did exactly that for me - but never became clear. This is just a classic case of Too Much, unfortunately - it was truly astounding how much this one dragged despite the modest page count. A disappointment for me on every level - I LOVE Southern gothic literature, and this just did not work for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for my copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

“Devils Kill Devils” promises a unique kind of vampire story with angels. I was so excited for this one, especially when I finished that opening chapter. SO GOOD. But it’s basically downhill from there. The author, Johnny Compton, made the interesting choice to use stream of consciousness and it was certainly a choice! Others really liked it judging from the positive reviews, but I was not a fan. I normally love that style of storytelling (hello to dear Miss Woolf) but it just does not work here. Not for me. The usage just led to A LOT of pages and pages of meandering narrative that served no narrative purpose in the book’s grand scheme of things. Additionally, it just really killed any good pace set by the opening chapter. And there’s so much time spent on telling us how the impact of the monsters that it resulted in dull and lifeless characters. I mean, truly, I was dead bored reading this and I’m normally really into stories like this. Genuinely, I think this would have worked better in a shorter format like a novella. It just really seemed like Compton was writing a paper and trying to hit the word minimum. They could have used a much more attentive editor to trim the 70% of useless bits from this.

Overall, not for me.

With an opening chapter like this banger, I thought I was going to be in for one hell of a ride.

I don't know what kind of ride this was but it was certainly...bumpy?

Some chapters dragged on so much that I forgot I was reading and my eyes were just grazing over the words.

But then there would be an amazing chapter between those that was action packed and kept my attention. Packed with gore and blood and all the stuff horror lovers expect to read from a vampire novel.

I will say I was confused for a lot of this book. I thought the different take on vampires was very cool but the designed religion in it was too convoluted. Multiple names for characters did not help this.

The lack of dialogue in most chapters made it feel super sluggish. I also didn't feel much emotion from any of the characters given the horrendous deaths they witnessed.

Were there some awesome scenes with scary monsters? Yes! But it definitely dipped closer to fantasy in some aspects, like other reviewers have mentioned.

The oddest part is, I didn't hate. I just didn't love it.

The story opens with our main character, Sarita, witnessing her husband's brutal murder. His murderer is someone she has trusted with her life up until now - her guardian angel. Sarita is determined to figure out why this happened.
From the beginning of this story I was gripped, I needed to know more about her guardian angel and his motives. The direction this story takes I could have never predicted and I'm still not sure how I feel about it. The vampire elements were very unique and different from the typical vampires you read about, which kept this story fresh. I did find it lost me a little in the second half with all of the new characters and history introduced. Overall an enjoyable read!