Thursday, April 16, 2015

Demons by John Shirley

(pb; 2000, 2002)

From the back cover:

"In a future uncomfortably close to present day, the apocalypse has surpassed all expectations. Hideous demons roam the streets in an orgy of terror, drawing pleasure from torturing humans as sadistically as possible. Ira, a young San Francisco artist, becomes involved with a strange group of scientists and philosophers desperately trying to end the bloody siege. But the most shocking revelation is yet to come."


Review:

Demons is one of most original and engaging world-in-bloody-mayhem novels I have read. Written in a thoughtful, satirical and wry manner, Shirley's work weaves Seventies horror/science fiction elements (Satanism and psychic phenomenon), splatterpunk ickiness, timely political and corporate events and entities, characters that are worth rooting for, as well as an entertaining tale scope that goes beyond -- transcends -- the usual 'everything's gone to hell' storyline by adopting a fresh and distinctive take on its events and characters. This is an excellent speculative fiction/horror book, one worth owning.

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