Review: The Demonologist by Andrew Pyper

The Demonologist by Andrew Pyper

Published January 7th 2014

Professor David Ullman is among the world’s leading authorities on demonic literature, specializing in Milton’s Paradise Lost. Not that David is a believer—he sees what he teaches as a branch of the imagination and nothing more. So when the mysterious Thin Woman arrives at his office and invites him to travel to Venice and witness a “phenomenon,” David is hard-pressed to overcome his skepticism.

But there are forces at work beyond anything David can imagine, and they will stop at nothing to ensure that the professor does not escape their grasp. Against his better judgment, David, accompanied by his beloved daughter, Tess, finds himself traveling to Venice, where an unspeakable horror awaits.

Soon David is pulled into a journey that will redefine what he is willing to believe. Guided by symbols and riddles from the pages of Paradise Lost, David races to save his daughter. If he fails, he will lose Tess forever.

This was definitely more supernatural thriller than horror for me. I was expecting (okay, really, really hoping) that The Demonologist would be really scary and would keep me up at night. The blurbs on the front cover, back and the two and half pages on the inside really got me pumped. Unfortunately, I was more bored than scared.
I think it was mainly the main character. I was super bored with him. Right from the start, I felt really bored with him.
I thought the plot was really manufactured and didn’t seem to flow naturally. And there was so many coincidences. I just didn’t believe most of it.
Overall, there was a lot of potential with this book but it just didn’t work for me.