The Demon Within – a Review

Imagine that the battle for your soul’s eternal resting place was decided in a courtroom. You are on trial for every little thing, good or bad, that you’ve ever done in your life.

Joe has always heard this voice. This voice helped him with his schoolwork and when bullied. This voice helped him with his everyday life. After he graduated from school, it guided him towards ways to make money, lots of it. Then it tempted him with the promise of great power. Joe, who hadn’t a clue that every move he made was being recorded, gave in without realizing the cost.

Eventually, Joe learns to communicate with this voice. Since it helps him out anyway, it is rather convenient to be able to ask it questions.

Now enter a courtroom where the angel Michael is defending Joe’s soul for its actions in front of the Council. He is fighting to keep this soul from being thrown into the abyss, but something feels different about this one to him. What that difference is, he cannot figure out. The prosecution’s actions hint that there is something different about this soul too.

courtroom, wikimedia commons

The cover of this book, along with the title, is outstanding and gave me a desire to read it right away. The storyline is awesome, and the writing is good. But even though The Demon Within is full of twists, turns, and surprises, I had trouble becoming fully involved with this story; my mind wasn’t constantly thinking about what could happen next. It was impossible for me to make an emotional connection with the characters.

Just because I could not become fully involved with this story does not mean that you will not be able to. Each reader is different. Just read all the wonderful reviews this book has received on Amazon, and you’ll see that I’m right.

The sequel promises to be full of many more twists, turns, and surprises. The courtroom battle is over, or so it seems, but the story isn’t done.

I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. If you would like to read about this courtroom battle for a soul’s eternal resting place, I’ve provided an Amazon link below.

Recommended Article: The Demon Within – Guest Post by Josh Gagnier

Amazon Link: The Demon Within (The Last War, Book 1)

Favorite Sentences:
Several of his teeth have long escaped the captivity of his smile and those left plot against the warden.

He is slapped in the face with the smell of spoiled meat and rotten food that has been collecting since the Trash Detail started coming out only once every few months.

The pain brings him to his knees as he watches the flesh fall from his bones.

The questions pour from his mouth as water spilling over a dam during a storm.

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About the Author:
Josh has had a knack for writing—mostly poetry—from a young age. The Demon Within is his debut novel and, according to Josh, nearly wrote itself.  He is a US Army veteran and has been deployed to the Balkans and Middle East.  He has been an IT professional for about a decade.

Many of the events in The Demon Within were taken from Josh’s life and “put through the fiction blender” as he puts it.  When pressed for more details, he said he couldn’t give specifics for fear of giving spoilers, but he did say the book includes fictional spins on things ranging from childhood bullying to being placed in the Las Vegas foster care system.

He currently lives in Columbus, Ohio, with his family and is working on book two of The Last War series.