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Book Summary and Reviews of The Demonologist by Andrew Pyper

The Demonologist by Andrew Pyper

The Demonologist

A Novel

by Andrew Pyper

  • Critics' Consensus:
  • Published:
  • Mar 2013, 304 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

Fans of The Historian won't be able to put down this spellbinding literary horror story in which a Columbia professor must use his knowledge of demonic mythology to rescue his daughter from the Underworld.

Professor David Ullman's expertise in the literature of the demonic—notably Milton's Paradise Lost—has won him wide acclaim. But David is not a believer.

One afternoon he receives a visitor at his campus office, a strikingly thin woman who offers him an invitation: travel to Venice, Italy, witness a "phenomenon," and offer his professional opinion, in return for an extravagant sum of money. Needing a fresh start, David accepts and heads to Italy with his beloved twelve-year-old daughter Tess.

What happens in Venice will send David on an unimaginable journey from skeptic to true believer, as he opens himself up to the possibility that demons really do exist. In a terrifying quest guided by symbols and riddles from the pages of Paradise Lost, David attempts to rescue his daughter from the Unnamed—a demonic entity that has chosen him as its messenger.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"Starred Review. A mesmerizing and melancholy narrative voice lends chilling credibility to this exceptional supernatural thriller." - Publishers Weekly

"Pyper's novel takes on 'things that go bump in the brain' and delivers a stirring entry in the supernatural thriller genre." - Booklist

"Pyper is an intelligent writer, steeped in Miltonian symbolism, gifted with language ... This artful literary exploration of evil's manifestation makes for a sophisticated horror tale." - Kirkus Reviews

"Pyper crafts compulsively readable and finely written thrillers...This book is going to be the 'Gangnam Style' of 2013." - The National Post (Canada)

"Smart, thrilling, and utterly unnerving. Pyper's gift is that he deeply respects his readers, yet still insists on reducing them to quivering children. I like that in a writer." - Gillian Flynn, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Gone Girl

"Plenty of books claim to be scary, but this is genuinely terrifying, don't-read-late-at-night stuff. Thrilling, compelling and beautifully written, The Demonologist makes Rosemary's Baby feel like a walk in the park." - S.J. Watson, New York Times bestselling author of Before I Go To Sleep

"Richly crafted, deliriously scary and compulsively page-turning from beginning to end. Imagine The Exorcist and The Da Vinci Code as penned by Daphne du Maurier. Don't miss this one!" - Jeffery Deaver, New York Times bestselling author of XO

"Smart and astonishing, Andrew Pyper has created a recurring nightmare for adults. The Demonologist holds a mirror to the reader and reveals the places where our deepest darkness lurks. Like Milton's Paradise Lost, this is the story of the human condition, the fall, and the way back. I slept with the light on for nights, too obsessed to stop reading and too terrified to dream." - Brunonia Barry New York Times bestselling author of The Lace Reader and The Map of True Places

"The Demonologist is that rare thing—a novel that is both genuinely terrifying and erudite. The research is excellent and lightly worn, the pace and cleverness of the plot thrilling. One of the most exciting works of fiction I've read for some time." - Kate Mosse, New York Times bestselling author of Labyrinth, Sepulchre and Citadel

"As compelling and smoothly chilling a tale as you'll find this year. The Demonologist shows an enormously gifted writer at the top of his game, producing a novel of eerie menace and unique depth. Those of us who write supernatural stories do not throw the names Ira Levin, William Peter Blatty, and Peter Straub around lightly. You'll be hearing all three associated with Mr. Pyper soon, and all such comparisons are warranted, the highest praise I can offer." - Michael Koryta, New York Times bestselling author of The Prophet

This information about The Demonologist was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

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Author Information

Andrew Pyper

Andrew Pyper is the award-winning author of five internationally bestselling novels. Lost Girls won the Arthur Ellis Award, was selected as a New York Times Notable Book of the Year in 2000, and appeared on the New York Times and Times (UK) bestseller lists. The Killing Circle was a New York Times Best Crime Novel of the Year. Three of Pyper's novels, including The Demonologist, are in active development for feature film.

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