Overall Rating: 4 stars. This is a novel which is full of surprises. It begins with the story of a war between Heaven and Hell, Lucifer and Michael. An agreement to create a child of both Heaven and Hell is made between all parties and the demon Asmodeus and the angel Jopheil are chosen for the task. Leap forward to a monastery in Scotland in 1329 and Brother John is an exorcist, brought up by local foster parents, he does not know who his parents are. A child is brought into the monastery to be exorcised, but it keeps referring to Brother John as his brother. Who is he? Another leap and we are in modern day Los Angeles and John or Sully as he prefers to be known is now a demon hunter, a job he is good at. The child, now named Edward by Sully is also there, a demon son of Asmodeus’ he is as much a help as a hindrance to Sully.
Tasked by the bar tender Mick to find her friend and fellow bar
tender, who has disappeared, he follows the trail. Thus beginning a journey that will take him back to Scotland, and the monastery. Will he find the clues to his identity there? Add into the mix, Margaret, a seemingly sincere woman, member of a secret society, a family, whom she says wishes to work with Sully. They know about his past and have details of his life. But is
Margaret to be trusted? As Sully uncovers more and more about his parentage and Mick’s roll in a Prophecy, their destinies become entwined. This is a fast paced novel, though it takes a while to get into, it is very enjoyable and an intriguing premise. The book promises more for the future, as Sully and his group still have work to do. (Carol Kerry-Green)

Overall Rating: 4 stars.  John has always had a sacred task set before him: to kill demons. Yet, when he meets Edward, a demon child in themonastery, it changes the course of his life forever. Without knowing it, he is embroiled in a complicated war between parties in Heaven and Hell and is part of a dubious pact to set things right. The book jumps ahead to modern times, where Brother John, now Sully, finds he is being targeted more and more by demons of all kinds and shady organizations. He meets pivotal characters like Mick early on, and their relationship feels somewhat believable. The other demons and villainous characters feel fairly authentic in their motivations and avoid being too tropey. Sully is an amazing protagonist, yet the dialogue and descriptions felt a bit too Gary Stu at times. The scenes and plots are well thought out and are intricate; making it an exciting read. The suspense is well done for the most part, and the characters are easy to support. The story was solid, and nothing felt too simple or too difficult. The pacing was odd every now and then; I think it was more due to the writing style which felt like a lot of telling vs showing sometimes, with scenes and inner dialogues that felt glossed over and hurried. The book could use some proofreading as there are quite a few errors. Otherwise the end of the book felt satisfactory and one wonders  what will happen next! (Sophie Jupillat Posey)

Overall Rating: 4 stars. I found the idea for this fantasy novel intriguing, and it moved along at a good pace, keeping me invested in the story. The writer obviously has an interest in her subject, and I enjoyed the different time periods and locations explored. I did find that some of the characters lacked depth and I couldn’t help but feel bemused by the constant references to John’s appearance and how everyone seemed to fall for him. There’s certainly nothing wrong with having an attractive leading man but I found it distracting after a while rather than appealing. (Michelle Marshall)

Overall Rating: 4 stars. Son of Asmodeus has a religious plot with a twist. It explores the life-long battle between good and evil following John Sullivan, Sully to his friends, on his voyage of discovering the secrets of his birth and his destiny. Along the way he meets Mick, a gothic bartender who is worried about her colleague who is missing. Sully agrees to find him, but finds himself in embroiled in a tangled web of deceit. I found the story a bit slow going and the religious tropes at first, but soon became enthralled with the story. It is well-written with only minor editing issues that can be glossed over. The story hasn’t ended – it as, after all, the first book in a series – and I find myself wanting to find out more. (Phoebe Wilby)

Overall Rating: 4 stars. Some enjoyable characters come together in the story. It’s an interesting mix of good vs evil and a few that sit in between. The author doesn’t really dig deep into characters and their personalities though and I feel more could have been done here. I do like the dynamic within Sully’s family though. Dialogue is ok in the main and supports the story. There are a few moments where extended dialogue from one character occurs and this feels too long-winded to really draw out effective interaction. It isn’t a huge distraction from the story though. The story progresses at a rather quick pace and at times it feels frantic. A little more ebb and flow would help draw the reader much deeper into the story and the characters. It can feel a little awkward at times as the author jumps around without building suspense which detracts a little from the story. For example the early introduction to Edward sees a much different character developed almost too quickly as the story progresses. This confused me as to Edward’s underlying intention. The story is quite enjoyable in places and you do get the sense of good vs evil as well as internal conflict within the key characters. There is very much a sense of Sully wanting to be the hero that saves the day and the author builds the plot around this well. The editing could be improved. There were a few places where I needed to reread the sentence to understand what was being told. In at least one place the sentence wasn’t finished towards the end of a chapter and other examples included evidence of sentence changes not carried out effectively. This did detract from the story in places. (Niall McKay)

Overall Rating: 4 stars. Son of Asmodeus is a fast paced story with interesting characters. It did take me a little while to fully settle into the story but once I had I did enjoy it. I did spot some editing issues but not enough to spoil the read and these can easily be addressed by the Author. There is clearly more to come as this is the first book in the series and I am looking forward to seeing what direction the Author takes the plot and the characters in subsequent books. (Bronwyn McKay)

Overall Rating: 4 stars. A solid start to a promising series. Although the plot moves at a fast pace, it was also a slow burn as it did take me a while to become fully engrossed in the story. That being said I did enjoy it and I am looking forward to reading the next instalment. This could be just the Author's writing style but I would suggest more showing rather than telling to enhance the readers experience further. I'd also recommend another editing pass and proofread although these did not in any way distract me from the story and I could move past them.  Overall this is a series full of potential and some great characters that readers can truly invest in. (Kirsty McKay)