Title: False Prophet

Author: Dave Jeffery

Release date: October 3rd, 2025

I’ve long been a fan of Dave’s through his stellar ‘A Quiet Apocalypse’ series and his great werewolf novel, ‘Tooth and Claw.’ I still need to get to reading his ‘Frostbite’ series, but when I saw he had a novel coming out through Eerie River, I was stoked to check it out and quickly pre-ordered it.

A few years back now, I read (and really loved) Clive Barker’s ‘Next Testament’ comic series. When I saw this one announced, I was curious if this was a similar idea. Of a God among men type situation, though it soon became apparent when I read the synopsis it wasn’t going down that road. Still, between the cover art and the synopsis, I was very curious to see if we’d see some of that territory and knowing how well Jeffery weaves mental health topics into his books, I couldn’t wait to dive in.

What I liked: The story follows Ray, a man whom you’d believe to be just a normal guy. He works a demanding job in administration, overseeing a team, and has been happily married (for the most part) to his love, Denise. But he also hides a secret. Though he tells his wife that it’s a form of Epilepsy, in truth, he has crazy, apocalyptic visions and lately, they’ve been happening more frequently.

We soon learn that his wife had an affair, and the man she cheated on Ray with doesn’t want it to end. As well, Ray’s team has some issues going on Eloise is being stalked by a cleaner in their building, while Mike secretly loves Eloise, all the while keeping his craft-making ability to himself, hoping to share it with Eloise when he gets up the nerve to share how he feels with her.

Jeffery blends the stories together, snapping back and forth between Ray’s increasing visions, Denise’s attempts to get rid of her former fling and Eloise, Mike and the stalker’s triangle of strangeness.

It all comes to a head when Ray has a vision during a big presentation. It’s these visions that really drive his breakdown, his inability to determine what is real and what isn’t and it was a fascinating look at psychosis and how the brain reacts when reality becomes blurred and someone snaps. His boss insists he go get checked out and when Denise won’t answer her phone, Ray tracks her down, leading to a final confrontation that ties back into the opening of the novel.

As well, we see how Jeffery handles the trio and their storylines and it made for a fun – and subtle – sleight of hand between how we think things are going to go and what actually happens.

It’ll keep the reader on their toes and ultimately made for a very engaging final quarter of the book.

Throughout, Jeffery’s warm writing voice carries the story, making for a world where I easily fell into and was more than happy to revisit over a handful of reading sessions.

What I didn’t like: It’s going to sound odd, but I’m still not sure why we had the Eloise/Mike/Stalker storyline. It didn’t connect to Ray’s story other than the fact that Eloise and Mike worked under Ray. I kind of wish that storyline was it’s own story completely, as I wanted to know more and more about Ray and his visions and Denise and her own story. The Eloise/Mike/Stalker aspect was great and engaging, but when the two are held up together, side by side, they feel very disconnected.

Why you should buy this: If you’re looking for a really engaging story about marital stress, trying to find common ground and dealing with something unsaid between partners, Dave has nailed that here. If you’re also looking for a story about coworkers, uncomfortable situations and confronting a situation head on, Dave’s also nailed that here.

And, if you’re looking for a fast-paced story about a man dealing with uncontrolled visions featuring potentially Biblical beings who give him instructions and details that he really shouldn’t be able to know on his own, look no further.

Jeffery’s ‘False Prophet’ was engaging, exciting and veered awfully close to careening off the tracks, except Dave’s masterful storytelling mind kept it on the rails, benefiting the reader and the outcome.

This was a lot of fun and a novel that’ll stick with me for some time.