Official Review: The Demon Heritage of Josh Thorne
Posted: 11 Jul 2015, 00:22
[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Demon Heritage of Josh Thorne" by Joe Fowler.]
4 out of 4 stars
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The Demon Heritage of Josh Thorne by Joe Fowler is nothing short of devilish goodness!! I'm going to go ahead and get this out right here because I was so impressed by this book that I can't even wait to tell you that I rate it 4 out of 4 stars!! The four stars are not given lightly as there were numerous errors, however, they were oversights of editing a first published novel, and overall the story reigned supreme. Therefore, I still feel that I cannot give it less than four stars, errors notwithstanding. An engrossing tale of demons, vampires, werewolves and another scary thing.......being a teenager! Not only that but being a teenager around said mystical creatures. This story is a whole lot of classic occult and dark fantasy, with a very little bit of Twilight style romance, all mixed together with Joss Whedon style camp and subtle humor. All you fans of this genre, what's not to love? This will go down as one of my favorite books of it's kind!
We begin this fast moving tale with the book's namesake, Josh Thorne, as he begins to have visions that he cannot explain. In his first vision, he sees his mom, and a few other people that he recognizes, summoning what he thinks may be a demon. He is absolutely taken aback and cannot believe what he has seen. Having a vision when all you want to do is be a normal teenager is bad enough, but to watch a male figure with an evil presence walk out of a fire due to your mom and her friends chanting mumbo-jumbo style, well that is just about more than a kid can take. I mean, come on mom, really? Can't you just join a book club or something? Our new friend Josh continues to have these visions and, unfortunately, also begins to see flashes of people's lives whenever he touches them. These flashes contain the secrets that people wish to conceal from the outside world. A little lie here, a little drug use there, and many other things that he begins to wish that he never had to see. (even if he thinks that he can learn to use his gift to be able to see into the girl's locker room--stop it Josh!)
We are then introduced to Josh's friends, and the story continues to amaze. Josh's friend Keith is always there for him, and is one of the only reasons that he has any friends at all. Keith is THE main man at school. He is the football team's quarterback and an all around perfect guy. He seems to have the right thing to say at all times, and always knows what the right thing to do is. He's a little too perfect, but Josh trusts him, and he has taught Josh over the years how to be a good person and has always been there for him even when he has failed to meet Keith's high standards. Keith's girlfriend Sarah is the most popular girl in school, and she tolerates Josh for Keith's sake, or so it would seem. One of our other main characters is Crystal, who is a girl that Josh hooks up with on a regular basis whenever her mom is over for one of Josh's mom's secretive "meetings." These characters lives become interwoven as the story charges on, and they all become as close as family. The characters are all very real and very well done, and you become connected to each one as their story plays out.
With the title of the book being what it is, it would be almost impossible for any summary to contain a spoiler, so we may as well get it out there that the demon that Josh saw being summoned turns out to be his dad. And his dad wishes to be summoned again and to possess his body. Jerk. With the horrors of high school already looming ahead of him every day, let's just say that that revelation is a total bummer and he will need all of his strength and all of the friends that he can get. And that is where the wolf pack comes in. Josh is bitten by a werewolf and therefore becomes part human, part demon and part wolf. The pack takes him in, some more reluctantly than others, and teaches him the ways of the werewolf. It is also at this time that Josh meets and begins to fall for a particularly cute and well built she-wolf. (it's not his fault she gets naked to change into a werewolf, he can't help but notice.) We are drawn along as Josh become very quick and powerful in a short amount of time due to his dual (part demon-part wolf) nature, but will it be enough to stop his deadbeat demon dad? And will any of his friends or his new love interest get hurt in the process?
The underlying theme of this book, as strange as it may sound is love. Whatever it looks like kind of love. No judgement kind of love. And definitely no making love to a demon and then summoning him to possess your only son kind of love. The theme is visited over and over and the author was adept at drawing you in to experience what he was trying to get across.
Alternatively, one of the points that I thought was distracting was when the theme of love (regardless of gender or any other qualifier) was drawn out just a little too much at one point of the book. That being said, it is not a bad message and it did not greatly distract from the overall story. As I said at the beginning of this review, there are errors throughout, but they are minor errors and are not overly glaring, but only because the story is so good. Great characters, great humor and great originality made this a book I could not put down, and now that it is over, I plan to read more from this author. 4 out of 4 stars, and looking forward to a bright and sarcastic future from Mr Fowler!!
******
The Demon Heritage of Josh Thorne
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
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4 out of 4 stars
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The Demon Heritage of Josh Thorne by Joe Fowler is nothing short of devilish goodness!! I'm going to go ahead and get this out right here because I was so impressed by this book that I can't even wait to tell you that I rate it 4 out of 4 stars!! The four stars are not given lightly as there were numerous errors, however, they were oversights of editing a first published novel, and overall the story reigned supreme. Therefore, I still feel that I cannot give it less than four stars, errors notwithstanding. An engrossing tale of demons, vampires, werewolves and another scary thing.......being a teenager! Not only that but being a teenager around said mystical creatures. This story is a whole lot of classic occult and dark fantasy, with a very little bit of Twilight style romance, all mixed together with Joss Whedon style camp and subtle humor. All you fans of this genre, what's not to love? This will go down as one of my favorite books of it's kind!
We begin this fast moving tale with the book's namesake, Josh Thorne, as he begins to have visions that he cannot explain. In his first vision, he sees his mom, and a few other people that he recognizes, summoning what he thinks may be a demon. He is absolutely taken aback and cannot believe what he has seen. Having a vision when all you want to do is be a normal teenager is bad enough, but to watch a male figure with an evil presence walk out of a fire due to your mom and her friends chanting mumbo-jumbo style, well that is just about more than a kid can take. I mean, come on mom, really? Can't you just join a book club or something? Our new friend Josh continues to have these visions and, unfortunately, also begins to see flashes of people's lives whenever he touches them. These flashes contain the secrets that people wish to conceal from the outside world. A little lie here, a little drug use there, and many other things that he begins to wish that he never had to see. (even if he thinks that he can learn to use his gift to be able to see into the girl's locker room--stop it Josh!)
We are then introduced to Josh's friends, and the story continues to amaze. Josh's friend Keith is always there for him, and is one of the only reasons that he has any friends at all. Keith is THE main man at school. He is the football team's quarterback and an all around perfect guy. He seems to have the right thing to say at all times, and always knows what the right thing to do is. He's a little too perfect, but Josh trusts him, and he has taught Josh over the years how to be a good person and has always been there for him even when he has failed to meet Keith's high standards. Keith's girlfriend Sarah is the most popular girl in school, and she tolerates Josh for Keith's sake, or so it would seem. One of our other main characters is Crystal, who is a girl that Josh hooks up with on a regular basis whenever her mom is over for one of Josh's mom's secretive "meetings." These characters lives become interwoven as the story charges on, and they all become as close as family. The characters are all very real and very well done, and you become connected to each one as their story plays out.
With the title of the book being what it is, it would be almost impossible for any summary to contain a spoiler, so we may as well get it out there that the demon that Josh saw being summoned turns out to be his dad. And his dad wishes to be summoned again and to possess his body. Jerk. With the horrors of high school already looming ahead of him every day, let's just say that that revelation is a total bummer and he will need all of his strength and all of the friends that he can get. And that is where the wolf pack comes in. Josh is bitten by a werewolf and therefore becomes part human, part demon and part wolf. The pack takes him in, some more reluctantly than others, and teaches him the ways of the werewolf. It is also at this time that Josh meets and begins to fall for a particularly cute and well built she-wolf. (it's not his fault she gets naked to change into a werewolf, he can't help but notice.) We are drawn along as Josh become very quick and powerful in a short amount of time due to his dual (part demon-part wolf) nature, but will it be enough to stop his deadbeat demon dad? And will any of his friends or his new love interest get hurt in the process?
The underlying theme of this book, as strange as it may sound is love. Whatever it looks like kind of love. No judgement kind of love. And definitely no making love to a demon and then summoning him to possess your only son kind of love. The theme is visited over and over and the author was adept at drawing you in to experience what he was trying to get across.
Alternatively, one of the points that I thought was distracting was when the theme of love (regardless of gender or any other qualifier) was drawn out just a little too much at one point of the book. That being said, it is not a bad message and it did not greatly distract from the overall story. As I said at the beginning of this review, there are errors throughout, but they are minor errors and are not overly glaring, but only because the story is so good. Great characters, great humor and great originality made this a book I could not put down, and now that it is over, I plan to read more from this author. 4 out of 4 stars, and looking forward to a bright and sarcastic future from Mr Fowler!!
******
The Demon Heritage of Josh Thorne
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
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