Review by londonmartine -- Demon Freaks

[londonmartine]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Demon Freaks" by J.R.R.R. (Jim) Hardison.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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Demon Freaks is fast-paced YA fantasy book by J.R.R.R. (Jim) Hardison. Right from the word go we leap into the plot and it doesn't let up until the very end. It's exciting and dramatic and packed full of demons, monsters, forces of darkness and... evil golfers? Sure, why not?

Twin brothers Ron and Bing Slaughter just need to get through their school year and pass their SATs without getting expelled. They, along with their band-mates Meat and Kaitlyn, decide to spend the night before their exam studying in Meat's family cabin in the wood. Or they might just spend the night jamming.

Sadly this plan never comes to fruition as they are quickly attacked by their evil history teacher, Brom, and a secret cult of golfers whose mission is to summon a demon. Brom comes bearing a sinister psychic dagger which turns out to be much more than just a physical weapon. Split from their friends, the twins must rescue Meat and Kaitlyn from this cult. They race to the seemingly innocuous golf club where a terrifying fate awaits Meat and Kaitlyn and fight supernatural forces galore.

I really enjoyed Demon Freaks. It's hilariously dramatic with action scenes reminiscent of cheesy movies but that's not a bad thing. There were plenty of synchronised screams and choreographed chase scenes. I could see it playing out in my head like a teen movie and on more than one occasion I thought it would be well suited to being made into an animated film. There is a lot of humour in the writing and it kept me laughing throughout.

There is a certain amount of violence but the way it is written countered the scariness. For example there were a lot of people falling down stairs or being thrown across rooms, but they would dust themselves off and be absolutely fine, much like you would expect from a cartoon. There were a couple of creepy moments which were very effective and the horror, comical though it often is, is very imaginative.

Demon Freaks is a fun, amusing novel which borders on the silly but is very enjoyable reading. The characters are likeable and while they are not very well developed the novel is clearly set up for a series so I imagine that there is room for character development in future books.

I'm giving Demon Freaks a rating of 4 out of 4 stars because I really enjoyed it and couldn't fault it for a book of this genre. The editing was extremely good. I caught only one (repeated) proper mistake which was both understandable and easy to overlook. If you like supernatural YA books and want a fast, fun, not too serious read, this is for you. If you're sensitive to a bit of violence and gore and like your reading experiences to be more profound, give it a miss.

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Demon Freaks
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[TheMazeRunner]

This is a great book for teenagers. The curiosity it awakens is perfect. Great review!