The Boy Who Killed Demons (2015) by Dave Zeltserman
If ever a novel’s title nailed its content, The Boy Who Killed Demons by Dave Zeltserman is that novel as it sums up the plot quite perfectly. This was my introduction to Zeltserman and I most definitely want to read more from him based on the contents of this book. This is a fast-paced read, punctuated by some unexpected sex and strong violence. I say unexpected because on the surface this could easily be misunderstood as being an example of Young Adult horror fiction with its teen protagonist and his travails with not only demons, but also the threat of bullies and navigating his first serious romantic relationship while attending high school.
15-year old Henry Dudlow divides his life into 2 distinct time periods, BSD (Before Seeing Demons) and ASD (After Seeing Demons). Henry began seeing demons when he was 13, starting with a neighbor down the street, Mr. Hanley. Now he sees them with greater regularity and fears they may be on to him and his unique ability. The entire book is presented in the form of an ongoing journal written in first-person by Henry detailing his day to day efforts in combating the demons and determining their nefarious plan for mankind.
As I said, all of this could easily be formatted into a YA novel. Except that Zeltserman subverts those expectations by then adding in some decidedly non-adolescent elements into the mix, such as children being abducted and tortured in the demons' apparent plan to open a doorway to hell. Then add in some strong language, sexual antics between consenting 15-year old kids, the aforementioned neighbor, Mr. Hanley, being a pedophile (whether demonic or not) and some pretty gory violence (including beheadings), and you have a very adult horror novel that just happens to be narrated by a teen.
My favorite thing about the book is the use of the faulty narrator. Since Henry is telling us his firsthand account of his journey of discovery into the world of the demons and their plans for humanity, we are unsure of how reliable his version of events might be. Has he really been gifted with a supernatural ability to see through the disguise of demons among us? Has he really forged a demon-proof supernatural blade capable of killing the otherworldly foes? Or is Henry a very disturbed and delusional young man on a righteous crusade that is escalating into wholesale murder? I won’t spoil the revelations to those questions in this review.
Overall, I would recommend The Boy Who Killed Demons in spite of some minor reservations. There are times where Henry’s narrative voice is a bit too mature and smooth to believably be a 15-year old and sometimes his hunches play out a little too perfectly. But then again, that could also just be another element of the unreliable narrator coming to the fore. Regardless, the book builds a nice atmosphere of dread and suspense while also juggling some pretty dark humor at times. It’s been a while since I read a book over the course of a couple of days and to do it over the busyness of the holiday season is a testimony to the author’s ability to hook me in.
Comments
Post a Comment