Literature Review – Sacrifice by John Everson

“They’re coming. They are a race of sadistic spirits known as the Curburide, and they are about to arrive in our world, bringing with them horrors beyond imagination. The secret to summoning—and controlling—them has fallen into the hands of a beautiful, sexy and dangerously insane woman.

Ariana has dedicated her life to unleashing the demons in our realm through a series of human sacrifices, erotic rituals of seduction and slaughter. As she crosses the country, getting ever closer to completing her blood-drenched mission, only three figures stand in her way: an unwilling hero who has seen the horrors of the Curburide before, a burgeoning witch…and a spiteful demon with plans of his own.”

John Everson the Bram Stoker Award winning author of Covenant returns to the written word with a fury. Sacrifice picks up where Covenant left off. There is enough back story in Sacrifice that you don’t have to read Covenant, but you will better appreciate Sacrifice if you do.

When I first read Covenant I said to myself, wow this guy is good. At the same time I was also cursing him because I wanted to know what happened to Joe and his new new constant companion Malachai. Thankfully Mr. Everson fulfilled my (and I’m sure a few other people’s) wishes.

First let me state that Sacrifice is not for the timid or weak of heart, it is a full frontal assault on your senses. It is a dark, brutal, bloody and terribly frightening book. Everson went deep into some dark abyss to bring this book to the light of day.

The pacing is non-stop, I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough. Just when I thought I’d get a chance to relax Everson kicked it up a notch and threw another atrocity at me.

The characters are very real, the good and the bad. I felt an emotional attachment to them, which makes a huge difference for me. If I can’t feel what the characters are feeling, the writing seems hollow and uninteresting. Not in this case, Everson really brought his characters to life and succeeded in drawing me in to the story.

And yes, the bad ones are decadently evil. Ariana is one of the most disturbing characters to come along in a while. What’s most scary about her is that she is one of us. She revels in her wickedness, seductions and sacrifices as she tries to bring about the end of mankind.

The two (well maybe three if you count the demon Malachai, you’ll have to read the book to find out more about him) trying to stop her, Joe and Alex make a wonderful team. Alex is definitely my favorite character. Her back story is in itself, a horrifying read. She rises above her past for the sake of the world to do battle with theses malevolent creatures, the Curburide.

If you like your horror “razor” sharp, bloody, ominous and dark you will love this book, it is genuinely disturbing.

Now, as you all know by now I am partial to less graphic gore and sex in my horror, that not withstanding I really loved this book. I don’t think John used the brutality and sex just for the sake of it, I think the story called for it and I don’t think the book would have been as good without it. If that makes any sense to you.

That being said, I highly recommend Sacrifice. I will be keeping my eyes open for his next book.

And as usual a special thank you to Dorchester Publishing for the book cover and synopsis.