Exorcist Falls

An inexperienced priest, a teenage boy from an affluent family, and multiple girls gruesomely murdered by the Sweet Sixteen Killer. These are the main ingredients of the novella ‘Exorcist Road’ and its full-length sequel novel ‘Exorcist Falls’. Father Jason Crowder is called in the middle of the night to assist in the exorcism of a young boy. What he encounters is a force of evil like he hasn’t seen before. The entity is terrifyingly strong and intelligent… and seems to know too much about the murdered girls. The novella ‘Exorcist Road’ develops in the course of one night and takes place almost entirely inside the Hartman home. It offers a dynamic cast of character including the members of the Hartman family, a couple of police officers, and Father Crowder and his mentor. The standout character however is the demon Malephar. He’s cruel, witty and skilled at playing mind games, turning the characters against each other and leading the reader to trust no one. The story reads like a supernatural murder mystery (serial killer edition!) plus some blood, gore, and shocking possession scenes! ‘Exorcist Falls’ follows Father Crowder as he deals with the aftermath of the exorcism. He develops an unusual relationship with Malephar while obsessing over catching the Sweet Sixteen Killer. Although I appreciated the longer format (more space for bloody, gory, demonic goodness), I didn’t enjoy spending that much time inside Father Crowder’s head as I didn’t find him likeable at all and for a large part of the story, he doesn’t show much character development. I must say, however, that Janz delivered a lot of great action toward the end of the book, which kept me turning page after page for hours. Moreover, the book offers a fantastic ending which highlights the unrelenting presence of demonic evil in the world.