Synopsis:

The life of Jamie Cruz, a single father, begins to crumble when his eleven-year-old son, Casey, begins to exhibit signs of mental illness. At first, he turns to a doctor for help. To his dismay, Casey’s behavior inexplicably worsens as the boy becomes more aggressive—more violent. When Casey’s actions begin to challenge the laws of nature, their once-peaceful home becomes a house of unimaginable terror. Jamie is forced to question everything he knows. He tackles every possibility—psychological and supernatural—and enlists the aid of doctors, a parapsychologist, and a priest to help him save his son.

But, what are they fighting? And is it too late to save Casey?

Jon Athan, the author of Her Suffering and Madness at Madison Mall, brings you a battle between good and evil, mind and soul, and father and son in this supernatural horror story.

Please note: This novel is a remake of a previously-released book titled In the Name of the Devil: A Horror Novel. The book has been completely re-written from beginning to end and features a new chapter as well as over 10,000 words of new content. This is not your average re-release.

Personal Thoughts:

Rating: 💫 (3.5)

My 10th book this year and probably my last read for the month of January is A Boy Possessed by Jon Athan. This is also my first Jon Athan book. Despite my fondness of watching exorcism films, this is the first novel that I’ve read about it as I am just starting to read books from the horror/extreme horror genre. The whole reading experience felt like watching a horror film!

In this novella, we follow father and son, Jamie and Casey. Casey is just an ordinary boy and Jamie is doing his best to raise Casey properly without a mother. Honestly, since I have watched a lot of exorcism films, this wasn’t as frightening to me as it might for others. Instead, it was heart-breaking and it made me realize how much a parent would go just to save their child.

The ending was kind of abrupt, but it made sense, I guess. I enjoyed reading this as I root for Jamie and Casey throughout the story. I think that there could have been more to the story though.