Bless the Child

by Cathy Cash Spellman

AN INNOCENT CHILD IN MORTAL DANGER.

AN AGE-OLD BATTLE BETWEEN GOOD AND EVIL.

Praised for creating fiction that "will keep you turning pages night after night" "(The Dallas Morning News)," bestselling author Cathy Cash Spellman imagines a terrifying realm of devilish menace in a novel that will touch your heart -- and chill you to the bone.

Vibrant, youthful, and a grandmother at forty-two, Maggie O'Connor has lovingly raised her drug-addicted daughter's child ever since the newborn appeared on her doorstep three years ago. But when little Cody is kidnapped and sequestered inside a satanic cult, Maggie's world is shattered by unimaginable evil. Drawing strength from the bond she shares with her granddaughter, Maggie vows to fight anyone and everyone who dares to claim this child for themselves.

Even the Devil.

Genres: Horror, Fiction, Thriller, Paranormal, Fantasy, Magic, Mystery

608 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Cathy Cash Spellman is a best-selling author of multiple books that have been on The New York Times Bestseller List and International Bestseller lists, in both hardcover and paperback. Bless the Child became a Paramount movie starring Kim Basinger and Jimmy Smits, and has developed a cult following since it's Paramount release in 2000. Cathy's books have been sold in 22 countries.

Cathy was born to two parents who loved to read and filled their home with books and poetry. The small town in which she grew up had a library that was a small castle, brought over stone by stone from Europe, and gifted to the town by a benefactor, replete with suits of armor, stained glass windows and a round tower that held the classics. It was to this fairytale place that Cathy biked every afternoon after school to immerse herself in stories and to dream of one day seeing her own books on the shelves of such a magical place.

Born with a caul, the Irish harbinger of Second Sight, Cathy has always been an ardent student and practitioner of multiple esoteric disciplines: astrology, metaphysics, and a wide variety of healing modalities including Qi Gung, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Cranio Sacral Therapy, Homeopathy, and spiritual healing. She holds Black Belt rank in Goju-Ryu Karate has had the joy and privilege of studying with shamans, healers, Native American medicine men and women, a Jain saint and a Tibetan High Lama.

If you'd like to learn more about her adventurous life, Cathy invites you to visit her website at www.cathycashspellman.com

Reviews

[Sue Gerhardt Griffiths · Rating 5 out of 5]

5⭐️s

SpookTober read 2025


I read Bless the Child 20 years ago and it’s still just as bone-chilling and enthralling today.

For those interested in…

Egyptian Mythology

Reincarnation

Past lives

Christianity

Satanism

Black magic

It’s terrifying and gory and perfect for horror fans although not for anyone who is very religious.

[Marcie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was incredibly disappointing to me. I am surprised that I even finished it. However the author gave just enough bait to keep me hanging on until the end...now I wish I hadn't. The copy I read had 477 pages and in my opinion 200 of those pages could've been eliminated. There was SO much back story and detail that I found myself getting bored and wishing for the good stuff to finally happen. Furthermore, I feel the author did a horrible job tying in all of the relentless back story with the ending. I am giving this book two stars only because I am proud of myself for finishing it...reading it was a horrible waste of time.

[Mike (the Paladin) · Rating 1 out of 5]

Strangely, This is one of the few books where I've got to say, I found the movie to be better. I'm sure some will disagree. I have seen some very high ratings for this book, but I found it unreadable. The set up was apparently intended to be a sort of examination of "religion" and good vs. evil. The use of straw man arguments etc. along with what I found a poor story left me cold. It seems so odd to me to say I enjoyed the movie but not the book.

[Julie Chettle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too long, too confusing, too much angst from the priest, could have been so much better, without all that guff from Peter, the priest, the other characters could have been more developed. I enjoyed the Rabbi and Ellie, the Egyptology but not much else. Labelled horror, it was mildly horrific, seemed to me the author couldn't decide what she was actually writing, romance, religion, horror. I almost gave up many times, don't know why I bothered finishing it.

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a great example of why books are better than movies; they are so much more in depth! There was so much more to the plot of this story in this book. I couldn't stop reading! This usually isn't my type of read, but it hooked me and kept me interested until the end. I recommend this book to anyone!

[Jenn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book seemed so terribly long. I should have read the back as I wasn’t really in the mood for such a religious book. Exorcism, good vs evil, satanists...maybe it was written too long ago to be truly enjoyable. I would have preferred much more from the child’s viewpoint.

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I saw this book at the Friends of the Library Bookstore, sometime last year, I knew the title was familiar but couldn't remember why. I went ahead and bought the hardcover, for $1, and took it home. It's been sitting on my shelves ever since, but since this was Halloween month, I wanted to get it read. Once I started reading it, I realized why it was so familiar. This was the book the Kim Basinger movies, of the same name, was based off of. Luckily for me, the book was way better than the movie, which was mediocre at best.

I'm going to be honest with you right up front, this won't be a very detailed review, I have been trying to figure out what I can say about the book without spoiling the surprises, and I've decided that's not very much. If you have seen the movie, which for your sake I hope you haven't, you'll know the basic plot points already. If not, I apologize now for what will probably being a boring review.

What drove this book for me were the characters. Lead by the strong willed, Maggie, the entire cast seems to be ready made for the big screen. There is the fiercely loyal cop who not only falls for Maggie, but is willing to do whatever it takes to protect her and Cody. There is the priest who was sent into exile for his views, he too falls for Maggie, but it's the memories of the past and a crisis of faith that help him put that into context. The white witch, bookstore owner, proves to not only be a powerful ally for Maggie, but a good friend as well. Maggie also has a martial arts master, her friend and business partner, and her housekeeper that will do what needs to be done to rescue Cody. I'm not even getting to the FBI agent, the rabbi, or the various international agents that all, in some way, help Maggie along the way. It's a large cast of characters, not one of them was weakly drawn.

What I was really impressed with is that Cathy Cash Spellman manages to mix in Christianity, Satanism, Egyptian Mythology, Kabbalah, and a few other disciplines and make it work. Nothing feels forced or out of place. She was able to create a seamless narrative that allowed me to believe in the Isis Messenger and the amulets. I actually was hoping they were true, but alas they weren't.

I'm not sure what else she has written but I'm curious enough about her writing style to do a little more digging into her other books.

[D'Ailleurs · Rating 1 out of 5]

Βάζω στο σέϊκερ του Κουϊκι γάλα και δύο κουταλιές από: Χριστιανική μυθολογία, Αιγυπτιακή μυθολογία, αντιγραφή "The Devil Rides Out", 650 σελίδες ακατάπαυστης πάρλας, μια ηρωίδα σέξυ γιαγιά μόλις σαράντα χρονών που ΟΛΟΙ μα ΟΛΟΙ μα ΟΛΟΙ τη βοηθάνε χωρίς καν να την ξέρουν (σας παραπέμπω στο επεισόδιο "Pinky and Brain" με τη μασέλα χαμόγελο που κέρδιζαν τη συμπάθεια του κόσμου), βάλτε και λίγο Αιγύπτιους κομμάντο VS Μοσάντ, κάτι κακούς καρικατούρες, επίσης και μια μεγάλη δόση (τριπλή) μελόδραμα καθώς η όμορφη σέξυ γιαγιά "παίζει" ανάμεσα σε έναν Ιρλανδό σκληροτράχηλο μπάτσο και έναν Καθολικό ανορθόδοξο (but of course) ιερέα με προσωπικούς δαίμονες, επίσης βάλτε μια (επίσης σέξυ) ανατολικοευρωπαία μάγισσα/ιέρεια/σαμάνισα/new-age hippie που αν και όχι νέα έχει κορμάρα και τη βλεφαριάζει ο συνάδελφος του σκληρού Ιρλανδού μπάτσου (επίσης Ιρλανδός μπάτος) καθώς επίσης και ένα flashback μετεμψύχωσης πιο βαρετό και από την εισαγωγή της κινηματογραφικής λέσχης με το μουστάκια (ΓΙΑ ΤΟΥΣ ΜΥΣΤΕΣ ΠΟΥ ΞΕΡΟΥΝ). Ξέχασα κάτι; Α ναι, η σέξυ γιαγιά κάνει μαθήματα κούνγκ φού με τον δάσκαλο ΣιΦου (NAI AYTON ΑΠΟ ΤΟ KUNG-FU PANDA) και μάλιστα ο δάσκαλος κούνγκ-φού κάνει και βελονισμό και άλλα κινέζικα κόλπα και δεν κάνει μαθήματα σε τυποποιημένο ντότζο αλλά στο διαμέρισμα του σε λίγους και εκλεκτούς.

Θα μπορούσε να ήταν ΕΣΤΩ διασκεδαστικό αν δεν ήταν τόσο φλύαρο και βαρύ: αφού κυρά μου ήθελες να γράψεις ένα ερωτικό συναισθηματικό μυθιστόρημα με τον παπά τη γιαγιά και τον μπάτσο γιατί βάζεις ένα πλούσιο σατανιστή και την Αφρικάνα μάγισσα μέσα να ψάχνουν Αιγυπτιακά κειμήλια και να κάνουν επικλήσεις σε αρχαίες θεότητες και δαίμονες και σατανάδες και άλλα τέτοια. Και εντάξει τα βάζεις όλα αυτά κάνε το λίγο πικάντικο, δεν γίνεται η σέξυ γιαγιά να εκπαιδεύεται για την αναμέτρηση με τη μαύρη μαγεία και ταυτόχρονα να αναρωτιέται πιο θέλει περισσότερο (παπάς/μπάτσος) κατονομάζοντας τα συναισθήματα της λες και βλέπουμε Παπακαλιάτη. Επίσης το subplot με τη Μοσάντ και τους Αιγυπτίους ήταν too much, για όνομα.

Εν ολίγοις ένας αχταρμάς με κάποιες καλές σκηνές, ΟΤΑΝ ΘΥΜΑΤΑΙ ΟΤΙ ΕΙΝΑΙ ΘΡΙΛΕΡ, και πολύ, μα πολύ βαρεμάρα.

Υ.Γ. υπάρχει επίσης και μια φίλη της σέξυ γιαγιάς, και αυτή σέξυ είναι, και η κόρη της γιαγιάς είναι σέξυ, βασικά η μόνη που δεν είναι σέξυ είναι η οικονόμος της η sassy λατινοαμερικάνα νοικοκυρά.

[Ioanna Stefani · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really good book with great writing! Like reading a movie, so vivid! The missing star is because at the end it’s has a lot of infos (that are interesting but I got confused 🥴).

[Emiliya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Препоръчвам най-горещо книгата на всички любители на хорър и мистика. Великолепна!

[Ana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now, this is a case where I first saw the movie before I even knew there was a book and naturally, like many cases when this happens to me, I always buy the book to see which is better. Oh, needless to say, I should've known...I'd recommend anyone interested in the book, avoid the movie, for the love of sanity.

I don't know how many books have been wronged by movies and to what standards, but to me this is the book that has been wronged above all. The book includes witchcraft, Egyptian mythology, very high rating (An R leaning to Mature, I'd say), reincarnation and the little girl is more than just 'gifted'. To me this movie just took a small detail (like the names, location and little crumbs from the plotline) and tried to go Picasso with it... In my opinion, it didn't bode well.

Some important notes that bear mentioning: reviews are highly subjective, including mine. My opinion is meant to give an overview of what I saw/felt when I read it. What I see might not be what you see, and what I like might not be what you enjoy, which is fine. My advice to anyone looking into a book? Read the premise; if it interests you enough, give it a chance, and it may surprise you—or not, but at least then, you'll know.

[Craig C · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not good

I watched the movie a long time ago and picked up the book on a whim.

The movie was intriguing but also not particularly great so I thought the book might have something more interesting to say.

The story has a multitude of flaws the largest being no appreciable build-up to the final good versus evil battle.

There are so many various characters that are introduced the story just moves around trying to expand on their backgrounds through long dense paragraphs of dialogue-based exposition. It makes for very boring reading and none of the characters seem well fleshed out despite their knack for launching into long-winded monologues.

They're pretty much all cliched takes: The character flawed priest, the mysterious rabbi, the salt-of-the-earth detective, the Wiccan new age priestess, the old Chinese martial arts master... I won't go into the cartoon evil depictions of cannibalism and torture porn or the borderline racist depiction of the African witch villain other than to say, "We get it these are the bad guys!"

It's very poor writing on so many levels it was a real struggle to read the whole book.

Very much, not recommended, even if you have a predilection for satanic cults who murder and eat babies.

[Reed Roberts · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bless the Child by Cathy Spellman started off good, but started to steadily decline for me loosing my interest as the book went along. Actually became very dry for I say, about would 200 pages of just unnecessary dialog and information. The last one hundred pages of the book were quite entertaining to a point however. Spellman’s arrogance shines when trying to implement Christianity into the novel by using it as a bases to fight the antagonists in the story. Clearing showing she has no idea what she is talking about, which bugs me. Especially when she intertwines it with other jumbo which makes no since in Christianity itself, and instead tarnishes it, which is insulting. This is one of the fewer instances where I prefer the film then that if the novel.

Also throughout the novel, Spellman constantly makes feminism remarks which I find unnecessary and have no need in the story.

Overall this novel is entertaining for about only two hundred pages out of five hundred and something. Sure it has some frightening imagery but, it’s not really worth the read in my opinion.

[Bryan D]

Honestly, I use the word Read lightly, I skimmed through a fair chunk of it because it was a chore, good concept, sporadically violent, but this book shouldn't have been 500 pages long, the amount of unnecessary shite that suffocated it was tedious and prolonged the question of what will happen to the child. Does anyone remember the disclaimer on William Goldman's book The Princess Bride where it's the Good Parts version? This book is what happens when someone doesn't condense it to the point where the reader gives a damn at the end of the read.

I couldn't give this book to charity quick enough.

[Janet Eshenroder · Rating 2 out of 5]

Can’t believe my long and detailed review has disappeared. So the short summary. It’s a novel of a major showdown between forces of good and evil. That means it is black and white characterizations. The good side struggles with doubts, etc., but have big hearts and the strong will to do right. The bad side have totally sold out in the race for power and only struggle to get higher up the power ladder

The author has done enough research to make the story believable but not enough to make it a reliable source of background into other cultures and belief systems.

The author keeps you turning the page. Great escape fiction. Don’t expect to come out versed in other religions.

[Sue Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Powerful reading

Scary, and engrossing, and ultimately satisfying when good triumphs over evil. A really great read with lots of philosophy and theology to engage my mind. Just right.

[Mary Chrapliwy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Could not put this one down. It's a little longer than it needed to be, but still had me turning pages well into the night.

[Socrate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maggie O’Connor puse în funcțiune alarma cu mâinile tremurânde și inima bătându-i nebunește. Răsuci cheia, încuind ușa micului magazin de antichități care îi asigura existența, situat la intersecția Străzii 68 cu Madison Avenue, și încercă să-și redobândească stăpânirea de sine. Dar amintirea vocii de la telefon o răscolea profund. Sunase Jenna. Fiica ei. Jenna cea răzvrătită, încăpățânată, ostilă și absentă de aproape doi ani. Vocea aceea grăbită, nu prea familiară… durerea amintirilor mistuită de cadența ei aproape copilărească… brutalele semne de întrebare în legătură cu unde fusese, enigmă pe care o simțea ca pe o pedeapsă. Un carusel de viziuni o copleșise pe Maggie, la auzul ei. Jenna, copilul adorat, pe care îl iubea mai mult ca viața; Jenna, sfidătoare și neiertătoare după fiecare tratament inutil, de dezintoxicare; Jenna sclava heroinei, care ți-ar fi smuls inima ca să-și plătească următoarea doză. Maggie își scutură cu putere capul, pentru a îndepărta imaginile ce o copleșeau, și făcu semn unui taxi ce se apropia prin perdeaua de ploaie.

„Trebuie să te văd diseară, mamă”, dictase Jenna cu o voce impersonală, venită de nicăieri. Era furie, nerăbdare sau disperare în glasul ei? „Acasă. La șase și jumătate. Pentru numele lui Dumnezeu, să fii acolo!”. Apoi, tonul telefonului rămăsese singura dovadă a convorbirii lor.

Unde intervenise ruptura dintre ele? Maggie își schingiuise sufletul de milioane de ori, în căutarea unui răspuns. Unde se spulberase toată dragostea? Fără îndoială că fetița deosebită, a cărei imagine îi era atât de vie în amintire, o iubise cândva. Copilul acela cu păr blond argintiu, strălucitor, și ochi albaștri ca Marea Irlandei, care obișnuia să-i strângă mâinile și să inventeze povești, o iubise.

Patrusprezece ani fusese vârsta inexplicabilă, când copilul de argint dispăruse pentru totdeauna și o adolescentă obraznică și morocănoasă îi luase locul. Patrusprezece, anul când iubita ei fiică se metamorfozase în ceva greu de iubit și greu de atins. De câte ori, de atunci, încercase Maggie să-i răspundă la reproșuri și acuzații ostile? „Urechile ei nu sunt conectate la frecvența ta, draga mea”, obișnuia să spună soțul ei, Jack, clătinând consternat din cap. „E îngrozitor să asiști la asta, Maggie, dar parcă, pur și simplu, nu pricepe un cuvânt din ce-i spui. E probabil încă o chestie freudiană, care o să-i treacă. Ai să vezi. O să râdem cu toții de ea, când o să fim bătrâni și cărunți”.

Maggie își ținu respirația simțind întreaga durere ascunsă în acele cuvinte. Vocea lui Jack îi răsuna încă în urechi… figura lui Jack îi era atât de proaspătă în amintire. Oare timpul nu ar fi trebuit să vindece toate rănile? N-ar fi trebuit să simtă mai puțin singurătatea?

Lacrimile îi inundară ochii, dar le reținu. Acum nu vor mai râde împreună, nu vor îmbătrâni, nu vor înțelege niciodată de ce viața lor luase o întorsătură atât de neașteptată. Jack era mort. Chiar dacă ea îl căuta, pipăind perna, în nopțile lungi și întunecate… chiar dacă stătea încă de vorbă cu el, în sinea ei, când avea nevoie de un sfat. Chiar dacă visa uneori că l-a obținut. Jack nu mai exista.

Cel puțin el nu mai apucase să vadă înțepăturile de pe brațele fetiței lui, care își vindea trupul pe Strada 8, pentru bani de heroină. Maggie înfruntase, toate acestea, singură.

[Jeannine Morin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have always been a big fan of the horror movie! It is one of my favorite horror stories of all time. The casting was perfection, and I've wanted to read the book for so long!
It truly is a wonderful book, same characters, with more added! All the characters were written perfectly and had a lot of charisma to them. The story line is also perfection! However, I was shocked to read that the book is more about Egyptian worshiping than Satan, who was only mentioned a few times throughout the book. Really great creativity from the author, along with true facts about many different types of religions. It was wonderful to spend time with this book and read it as much as I could. Some interesting love triangles and I love anything that has to do with past life regression, or chosen ones, or even priests being involved and especially exorcisms. The book had some darker aspects than the movie, and I guess if I had one complaint it would be that Eric was spectacular in the movie, and the main focus villain, who was traumatizing to the audience, and was very much the ruler and involved with the progress of trying to turn Cody on to his side, but in the book, hes more of a shadow, who appears occasionally and the torturing and persuasion is done more by his witch servant, who was frightening in her own manner, but Eric was always something else, otherworldly and it was unfortunate not to get much of him in the book. He's definitely one of the most sinister characters out there.
I am a very devoted satanist, and I have a hard time digesting the lies that have been told about him, and the extremes that people have gone to get things from him. Or the promote him as someone who believes in sex and orgies and all that fake occult stuff. Usually I find myself cringing or upset reading those sorts of lies, but I found myself enjoying the book because I had a feeling the devil would make them pay a price in the end, and he did!
Cathy is a very gifted and educated writer and I am excited to read more by her some day, and glad to finally check this off my "To Be Read." list!
I highly recommend it to those who love to learn, or read about characters who are going through a spiritual battle! Very great book for those who love knowing that God will overcome all in the end!

[Alyssa Hubbard · Rating 3 out of 5]

I ended up abandoning this book about halfway through. I really liked the book at the beginning. I had high hopes for it only to be let down. I was expecting this to be a lot more horror filled. But it really wasn’t. I like reading horror books based around exorcisms, satan, & demonic possessions things of that nature. I was fully expecting to read a lot of that when I started this book. To me this book had way too much romance going on. That’s the quickest thing to turn me off from a book. If I wanted to read romance, I’d read a Nicholas Sparks book. This book should have focused more on Maggie’s fight to get her granddaughter Cody back and what Cody was going through. Not the nonsense of the relationships she was building with these men.

[Kim Weaver · Rating 3 out of 5]

After an exciting beginning, I was hooked. Unfortunately toward the middle of the book, I was slowly losing interest. The religious detail became redundant and over detailed. Determined to finish, I plunged onward. I'm glad I did because at the end, it cultivated with an action packed conclusion. If the author would have focused more on the characters and less on the religious zeal, the book would have moved faster and been easier to read. Cathy Cash Spellman could have had a 4 or 5 star book if she would have concentrated more on the characters and plot, then on the overall religious tones that she repeated over and over again. Overall it was a good book about good vs evil.

[Katie · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was a wild ride. I picked this up after watching the movie that is based on it. The movie is also bonkers, but the book takes it a step further. It also desperately needed an editor. It took me quite a while to get through this book because so much of the middle third was spent on the main character, Maggie, refusing to believe what was happening around her. She is literally attacked by a demonic sending, but still refuses to believe in past lives and all the other spiritual information people are trying to tell her. Also, pretty sure Maggie is a narcissistic parent - the text tries to show her as loving and perfect but all of her interactions with her daughter Jeanna are just off.

[Kristin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good premise , but...

Good premise, However, the story unfortunately became bogged down with too much extra information that took me out of the story. It became frustrating because it began to feel redundant and excessive.

I applaud the author for her obviously extensive research into the novel. I was prepared to read a work of fiction and this novel seemed half fiction and the other half non fiction. The non fiction sections became so lengthy it felt almost like reading a stuffy text book.

[Mara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Podría haber sido un libro de 4/4,5 ⭐️ perfectamente, porque la historia es buenísima, pero… le sobran 200 páginas por lo menos, que son de completo relleno y al final no aportan absolutamente nada.

Me encanta cómo escribe esta autora, ya que cualquier sentimiento que ella describa (amor, miedo, ira, atracción) te hace empatizar automáticamente. También tiene unas reflexiones súper interesantes, y un toque feminista.

Pero lo dicho, a mitad del libro empieza a enrollarse con la trama de una manera que te entran ganas de dejarlo, una pena la verdad.

[Manon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am amazed by the researchs that was done to write this book! Some of the words just stay with me for a long time, cause it is a lift for the soul. "We struggle against the odds that are meant to break us and we prevail. We light one candle instead or cursing the darkness... If we were perfect, there's be no heroism in our goodness. As it is, we reach for God with clumsy hands, but still we reach! I really loved that book.

[Rébecca Côté · Rating 5 out of 5]

I always hate ready... But that book was the exception.. i read it first at school cause we had to read a book in class and didn't have choice ....Finish it.. start it over again... I think i read it more then 23 time. Was desapointed when the movie came out.... Of course the book have so much more... Last time i read it was almost 20 yrs ago... Just bought it again.. cathy cash Spelman the only autor name i remember since im 13yrs old.. im 43 now
.. its a amazing book AMAZING .....

[D.C. Phillips · Rating 2 out of 5]

I *really* wanted to love this one, and for the first 100-or--so pages, I did! In its best scenes, this novel is reminiscent of De Felitta. The insight into mysticism was a true feat of research on the author's part, but became overwhelming, especially considering the number of characters introduced in the middle third (when things get dialogue heavy).

This one can't quite decide what it wants to be and ends up mixing horror, political conspiracy thriller, romance, etc. in unequal parts.

[Melissa Maxwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book when I was about 15 ... And it was so long and I never thought I was going to finish .. I was so mad that it ended , overall it is a good book - the author definitely has alot of knowledge about occult and other subjects.. I was very excited later when they made this book into a movie... 💘

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

I honestly had no idea how religious this book was going to get. I'm not a religious or spiritual person but I did thoroughly enjoy this book. Although a bit lengthy it's worth the read. I could have done without the author using "inexorably and inexorable" at least 15 times throughout the book. There are other words that convey the same point.

[Lilly · Rating 3 out of 5]

A grandmother is raising her granddaughter. Drug addicted daughter decides she wants the child back. She is involved in a satanic Cult who believes the child has special powers. The author goes into a lot of details on mysticism and other ancient beliefs. It is exciting in places, but really drags in other spots. Reincarnation is a central theme.