Fiction Addict

Genre: Suspense, Supernatural

Publisher: NavPress

Publication Date: May 18th, 2007

Frank Redman’s Review:

I have to admit thrillers are my favorite genre. I love the action and the pacing. But even with thrillers, it’s rare when I get so lost in a novel that I’m not mindful of the page numbers as I’m turning pages. Despite the fact Tosca Lee’s DEMON: A MEMOIR is not a thriller and not action oriented, the story is so wonderfully engrossing it literally captured my imagination. I was amazed when, finally cognizant of the act of turning pages, I’d look at the current page number and realize twenty pages just flew by. The story—the writing—is mesmerizing.

The story begins as we join Clay wandering aimlessly in an earthly purgatory. He’s recently divorced, a recovering alcoholic, a failure as a writer, and in a dead-end job. Life has no meaning. Enter Lucian, a mysterious fallen angel who desires to tell his version of biblical history. “I’m going to tell you my story, and you’re going to write it down and publish it.”

DEMON was in my queue to read, but I was in the middle of another book for review. Succumbing to the temptation to look at DEMON, one night I opened it and perused through the first few pages. Just a peek. I soon found myself obsessed with finishing it.

I admired the melodic feel to the words and phrasing. The dialog is also “voiced” well. There were no instances in which I was removed from a scene because of disjointed or boring dialog. The settings are enjoyable with sufficient description to effectively imagine the background, but not so much that it impedes the flow of the story.

Never before have I read a novel that made me really think about my lifelong perceptions of religion, angels, demons, and culturally defined happiness. I gained insight into things I had previously taken for granted—new perspectives. Unfortunately, I cannot provide examples here as they would spoil the impact of the discovery for yourself as you’re engaged with the story. Just as Clay (and I) had to experience these things firsthand, you will have to as well. But let me say traveling through time with Lucian is absolutely worth the trip.

Clay is propelled face-first through spiritual realms while he desperately tries to grasp all that is happening, as best as humanly possible. Lee kills our complacency as we read, constantly changing the character manifestations of Lucian and his demeanor. This does not detract from the enjoyment of the story, but adds to it. We don’t know when or where Lucian is going to appear and we never really know what’s going to happen next. Just when you think you might have something figured out, you’re wrong.

The writing is captivating, the story is riveting, and the themes are enlightening. Lee makes you evaluate what we believe regarding grief, grace, and spiritual beings. I’m thankful I read DEMON. It has jumped high onto the list of my all-time favorite novels.

Kaci Hill’s Review:

I said in my Havah review I’ve been looking forward to reading Tosca Lee’s books since I first started hearing rumors about this demon lurking in Bosnian cafes. Well, Demon: A Memoir was hiding from me but was at last apprehended. And I have to say, again, I’m far from disappointed.  Okay, so the recently-divorced fiction editor, Clay, receives a summons from a demon named Lucian, who has a story to tell that begins one way and ends another.

Demon begins with a tone dark and tense, full of conflict, with the story of a man in transit with his life. Honestly, the demon is compelling, and I was a little unnerved at my own appreciation for his storytelling presence. This command is, in fact, Lee’s ability to combine intensity and beauty manifesting itself once again. It’s the subtle attention to detail that, once more, is full of surprises. Even Clay’s name has a purpose.

There are two stories going: Lucian’s narrative, and Clay’s life as it’s further affected by the conflict imposed on him by his personal demon, and the two quickly become one.  Unfortunately a great deal of what I would like to say is too wrapped up in spoilers. The end is definitely not what I was expecting, almost a challenge.

Once again, Lee covers an extensive amount of ground and subject matter: creation, the Fall, the nature of man, the nature of God, how they related to one another, sin and redemption, spiritual warfare – honestly, it’s all in there.  Oh, yes, and the temptation of the angels. I almost wish I’d read Demon first and Havah second, even though the order doesn’t actually matter because they’re stand-alone titles, if only because the thought of reading Lucian’s account before Havah’s is intriguing to me personally.  I’m definitely looking forward to whatever comes next.