Thursday Review: WAR DEMONS, by Russell Newquist

WAR DEMONS follows veteran Michael Alexander who returned from the Afghanistan war with PTSD, but he also happens to have to deal with war demons of a more tangible variety. Michael enlisted after 9/11 to fight the people who launched that attack, not only from an overflow of patriotism and thirst for vengeance but also because of the gut-wrenching personal impact he suffered from the event. After he returns he finds that the real battle between good and evil is not only on the battlefields in the Mideast, and may never be described in the history books...

This book is filled with engaging characters and memorable, significant action scenes. The themes are serious and it treats them seriously, but there are moments where the somberness is broken not by levity but by hints of grace coming from above, like a sunbeam breaking through the clouds.

The plot builds to a page-turning rush of action that never lets up (well, eventually the book ends...but not till shortly before that). Some reviewers have remarked the first part of the book was slower; it is, but I didn't have any problem with it: Newquist does a great job setting out the background with intriguing storytelling even before you get to the zombies and vampires and...oh, just read it.

Since it's listed on Amazon with the subtitle (or whatever you call it) The Prodigal Son Book 1, I don't think I spoil anything by mentioning that the end leaves room for a sequel or two, or several, and I'm hoping those will be forthcoming. It's excellent reading.