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The Omen #4
Armageddon 2000
PB
216 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 1982
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews
January 21, 2023
Here we are again. Originally I thought Damien Thorn was dead. But there seems to be something left. A new boy is around. Will Philip Brennan be able to stop the new Antichrist? What about the daggers? This installment has many motifs of the previous series. At parts it was very intriguing at other parts it was a bit too political and worn out. Nothing new under the sun but definitely worth reading for the fan of the series. Would have liked more religious background and action in Rome. Had this on my table for a very long time. Great cover. Recommended!
May 7, 2022
McGill wrote the third novelization of The Omen, The Final Conflict. Obviously a book titled Omen 4 would be a novelization of the 4th all-but-forgotten horror sequel in the series. But no. And why? I don't want to get into the mystery of this, but did give the book the benefit of a doubt. And yes, it satisfies in some small examples: the continuation of the Thorn bloodline, the continuation of a sacriligeous black mass centerpiece, the killer rotweillers....
But enough to satisfy the millions of die hard fans PLUS the entertained readers of the novels (all similar sized, paced and themed)? Nope. Which is why filmmakers decided to revamp the original story with a new terrible kid, the offspring of Satan. Oh, and switch the genders. And have the Ave Satani. Yup. That recycled and unsuccessful attempt is eons BETTER than this messy protagonist-less revisit of things that both worked and did not, including mirror situations but with zero left to lose. But hey! The world of Hollywood novelizations is one I cherish truly!
But enough to satisfy the millions of die hard fans PLUS the entertained readers of the novels (all similar sized, paced and themed)? Nope. Which is why filmmakers decided to revamp the original story with a new terrible kid, the offspring of Satan. Oh, and switch the genders. And have the Ave Satani. Yup. That recycled and unsuccessful attempt is eons BETTER than this messy protagonist-less revisit of things that both worked and did not, including mirror situations but with zero left to lose. But hey! The world of Hollywood novelizations is one I cherish truly!
March 17, 2021
প্রকৃত রেটিং ৩.৫। অনেকদিন পরে সেবার একটা হরর উপন্যাসের অনুবাদ পড়ে আরাম পেলাম। অশভ সঙ্কেতের শয়তান পুত্র ডেমিয়েন মৃত্যুর পরেও কতটা শক্তিশালী আর ভয়ংকর তার গল্প। গল্পের পটভূমি, কাহিনির বিল্ড আপ, চরিত্রগুলো সবই চমৎকার। শুধু শেষের দিকটা বেশি তাড়াহুড়ো হয়ে যাওয়ায় মনটা পুরো ভরলো না।
August 19, 2024
3.3 - This one was just all right. I found that it focused a little bit too much on the previous books and re-hashing everything that we had just discussed in the first three books. I found that rather redundant because you can watch the movies or read the books and be caught up on everything that happened. It felt like the first 100 pages were just re-covering what Damien had done in the first three books. Overall, this one I wasn't overly invested in, the ending was pretty good but I found myself more confused and rather disappointed in this one because I felt like I was re-reading the first three books summarized in this one.
August 21, 2012
What I took most from this book was: how does cow shit end up on the wheel of an aeroplane, and would you be bothered if you were stuck to that wheel as it came in to land?
And something about the end of the world.
August 14, 2018
EH, it was ok, but sort of lack luster. Also weak ending.
July 20, 2013
This was actually a really good book. Basically Damien is reborn since his soul wasn't destroyed at the end of the 3rd book and he continues to bring about Armageddon. A good read if your a fan of the Omen!
December 1, 2009
Giving birth out of your arse... ouch.
Pretty forgettable other than that bit.
Pretty forgettable other than that bit.
April 23, 2018
Yuck. The “original” novel in the Omen series is by the author of one of the film novelizations and he really seems lost without a screenwriter to come up with ideas for him. He seems to fall back on a lot of ideas from the films and they come as no great surprise to anyone who has seen them (in theory this book is for fans of the films). I love Richard Donner's 1976 original “The Omen”, it's a masterpiece, and “Damien: The Omen II” is a decent entry... so why didn't I have fun with this?
First, this “The Omen IV” is not the same as the late 80s TV movie “The Omen IV: The Awakening”, that one was an unrelated TV pilot about Damien having an evil daughter. This book is about Damien's evil son.
I only fuzzily remember last real Omen movie “The Final Conflict” (which had Sam Neil as the antichrist!) but I guess that has adult Damien balling a British lady reporter. After the happy ending on that film, this 1982 book suggests she was told she had a tumor but it turned out to be a devil baby which the satan-folks took and raised. So the book takes place when we flash forward to “The Year 2000” when the devil kid is 18 and hangs out in the same fortress of solitude that Sam Neil did in the 3rd film.
The plot is not really a plot so much as it is a series of “scary” deaths. Monks and others tell various important people about how the antichrist is reborn and how the big old armageddon is coming and these people poke around a little only to be killed by accidents or by a dog. The dog gets the same annoying description each time it turns up and I guess it needs a bath. There's some business about an ambassador and tensions in the middle east threatening to erupt into nuclear war.
Yes, good old nuclear war! This leads into the dated Reagan-era view of 2000. Were there tension in the Middle East then and now? Sure, that was an easy prediction. But in this 2000 it is largely due to The Soviet Union. People also listen to the radio or read the paper to get news... there is a line about the TV news being “extended” to cover a tragedy (24 hour news not being foreseen here). Characters listen to tape decks in their cars (I did that too in 2000, but most folks had CD players... which already existed in 1982).
Now, I can't really fault this book for not attempting more futurisms and predictions, mostly because this is meant to be horror-focused and attempts at science-fiction probably would have distracted from that purpose. The problem is that the horror is very pedestrian and the anorexic prose just keeps it all dragging along like the throwaway drugstore paperback it is.
Does it read fast? It can't help but read fast, since there's nothing in it. No content, no wind-resistance. There are some so-called characters who have names and appearances and some defining traits, but they are flat and you don't mind when they get killed.
“Armageddon 2000” (sounds similar to Alberto de Martino's sterling “Omen” knockoff “Holocaust 2000”) is also an example of Tell-Don't-Show writing, passively explaining vanilla life-details of people when they turn up in a vain attempt to humanize them. This was a big reminder of why I don't tend to read 70s and 80s paperbacks as a lot of the ones I have tried on have problems similar to this book. Thank your lucky stars they never filmed this book, it would have put any viewer into a coma.
Oh! And one of the first deaths is double-extra un-scary since we are told straight out that the victim's soul has been redeemed before a big concrete Jesus crushes her. In a Christian horror universe there's nothing all that scary about knowing that God loves you know and that heaven is totes for realz.
First, this “The Omen IV” is not the same as the late 80s TV movie “The Omen IV: The Awakening”, that one was an unrelated TV pilot about Damien having an evil daughter. This book is about Damien's evil son.
I only fuzzily remember last real Omen movie “The Final Conflict” (which had Sam Neil as the antichrist!) but I guess that has adult Damien balling a British lady reporter. After the happy ending on that film, this 1982 book suggests she was told she had a tumor but it turned out to be a devil baby which the satan-folks took and raised. So the book takes place when we flash forward to “The Year 2000” when the devil kid is 18 and hangs out in the same fortress of solitude that Sam Neil did in the 3rd film.
The plot is not really a plot so much as it is a series of “scary” deaths. Monks and others tell various important people about how the antichrist is reborn and how the big old armageddon is coming and these people poke around a little only to be killed by accidents or by a dog. The dog gets the same annoying description each time it turns up and I guess it needs a bath. There's some business about an ambassador and tensions in the middle east threatening to erupt into nuclear war.
Yes, good old nuclear war! This leads into the dated Reagan-era view of 2000. Were there tension in the Middle East then and now? Sure, that was an easy prediction. But in this 2000 it is largely due to The Soviet Union. People also listen to the radio or read the paper to get news... there is a line about the TV news being “extended” to cover a tragedy (24 hour news not being foreseen here). Characters listen to tape decks in their cars (I did that too in 2000, but most folks had CD players... which already existed in 1982).
Now, I can't really fault this book for not attempting more futurisms and predictions, mostly because this is meant to be horror-focused and attempts at science-fiction probably would have distracted from that purpose. The problem is that the horror is very pedestrian and the anorexic prose just keeps it all dragging along like the throwaway drugstore paperback it is.
Does it read fast? It can't help but read fast, since there's nothing in it. No content, no wind-resistance. There are some so-called characters who have names and appearances and some defining traits, but they are flat and you don't mind when they get killed.
“Armageddon 2000” (sounds similar to Alberto de Martino's sterling “Omen” knockoff “Holocaust 2000”) is also an example of Tell-Don't-Show writing, passively explaining vanilla life-details of people when they turn up in a vain attempt to humanize them. This was a big reminder of why I don't tend to read 70s and 80s paperbacks as a lot of the ones I have tried on have problems similar to this book. Thank your lucky stars they never filmed this book, it would have put any viewer into a coma.
Oh! And one of the first deaths is double-extra un-scary since we are told straight out that the victim's soul has been redeemed before a big concrete Jesus crushes her. In a Christian horror universe there's nothing all that scary about knowing that God loves you know and that heaven is totes for realz.
February 21, 2024
Gordon McGill makes an interesting plot out of threads from the Omen movies (1,2 and 3), and it's fun to recognise character names and be able to visualise them in their roles.
The book's largely a mystery, blended with a corporate thriller and horror elements. Leaning nicely into the religious and cult angles, the thriller milks themes of devotion and paranoia, relying on the gradual unravelling of the American ambassador as our way into the core of the story as he comes to accept that maybe there really is something supernatural and horrific going on.
Folks expecting a return of the 'omen' itself - the titular photographic flaw/portent of death from the first film will be disappointed, as it doesn't crop up and is thoroughly shelved in favour of total commitment to the notion that yes, there's definitely a battle between good and evil taking place.
While that level of transparency thoroughly irritated Richard Donner, director of the original movie, who felt that the ambiguity that it could all be coincidence was more intriguing, it does work better in the context of a horror novel. However, if you ditch the subtlety and go for a secret war between heaven and hell, you have to do what the 2nd and 3rd movies did, and lean into the horror with elaborate set-pieces and shock people.
That's something that McGill fails to do. His writing remains enjoyable enough to keep the story going through mystery, suggestion and conspiracies, and the dialogue, characters and behaviour are pretty convincing, but it falls down with the central figure; - the son of Damien Thorn.
The new antichrist is weird, and a little unsettling at first - but he soon devolves into a kind of bland diet-cola remake of his father, but more of a recluse who doesn't really do anything. There's none of the grandstanding and glee in evil that made Sam Neill's adult Damien so terrifying, there's little charm, and while he does occasionally exert some supernatural power over victims, it's largely in terms of influencing their thoughts or psychically nudging them into an action from a great distance. No opportunity is taken at all to define him as his own thing. He even keeps the black chapel from the 3rd movie, and ends up with a dog whose size is described in terms that render it ridiculous and shatter the suspension of disbelief ('the size of a deer').
You have to give McGill credit for an ending that embraces the idea that man will give in to his worst impulses with just a little encouragement - but even this is a surprising whimper rather than a bang. It's no secret that nukes go off as that's given away in the back-of-book spiel for the sequel, but it's mentioned almost in passing.
You get no sense of the horror and suffering or the appalling shock of something so unthinkable happening, and it's treated at arm's length as if the author doesn't really want to dwell on it as anything but a plot device. This neuters the outcome into being 'okay' rather than shocking, when it had the power to be something quite special. That's not helped by the fact that the new anti-christ more or less sits by the sidelines for the book, exerting almost no influence on anything that happens apart from making people feel uneasy and reading corporate reports - and commits that gravest of villain errors - the complete failure to remove a threat when it's quite literally in their grasp... The character, the feel of the story, and the outcome are all a little smaller in scale than they should feel for something that has such enormous stakes.
An interesting but slightly disappointing extension of the stories.
The book's largely a mystery, blended with a corporate thriller and horror elements. Leaning nicely into the religious and cult angles, the thriller milks themes of devotion and paranoia, relying on the gradual unravelling of the American ambassador as our way into the core of the story as he comes to accept that maybe there really is something supernatural and horrific going on.
Folks expecting a return of the 'omen' itself - the titular photographic flaw/portent of death from the first film will be disappointed, as it doesn't crop up and is thoroughly shelved in favour of total commitment to the notion that yes, there's definitely a battle between good and evil taking place.
While that level of transparency thoroughly irritated Richard Donner, director of the original movie, who felt that the ambiguity that it could all be coincidence was more intriguing, it does work better in the context of a horror novel. However, if you ditch the subtlety and go for a secret war between heaven and hell, you have to do what the 2nd and 3rd movies did, and lean into the horror with elaborate set-pieces and shock people.
That's something that McGill fails to do. His writing remains enjoyable enough to keep the story going through mystery, suggestion and conspiracies, and the dialogue, characters and behaviour are pretty convincing, but it falls down with the central figure; - the son of Damien Thorn.
The new antichrist is weird, and a little unsettling at first - but he soon devolves into a kind of bland diet-cola remake of his father, but more of a recluse who doesn't really do anything. There's none of the grandstanding and glee in evil that made Sam Neill's adult Damien so terrifying, there's little charm, and while he does occasionally exert some supernatural power over victims, it's largely in terms of influencing their thoughts or psychically nudging them into an action from a great distance. No opportunity is taken at all to define him as his own thing. He even keeps the black chapel from the 3rd movie, and ends up with a dog whose size is described in terms that render it ridiculous and shatter the suspension of disbelief ('the size of a deer').
You have to give McGill credit for an ending that embraces the idea that man will give in to his worst impulses with just a little encouragement - but even this is a surprising whimper rather than a bang. It's no secret that nukes go off as that's given away in the back-of-book spiel for the sequel, but it's mentioned almost in passing.
You get no sense of the horror and suffering or the appalling shock of something so unthinkable happening, and it's treated at arm's length as if the author doesn't really want to dwell on it as anything but a plot device. This neuters the outcome into being 'okay' rather than shocking, when it had the power to be something quite special. That's not helped by the fact that the new anti-christ more or less sits by the sidelines for the book, exerting almost no influence on anything that happens apart from making people feel uneasy and reading corporate reports - and commits that gravest of villain errors - the complete failure to remove a threat when it's quite literally in their grasp... The character, the feel of the story, and the outcome are all a little smaller in scale than they should feel for something that has such enormous stakes.
An interesting but slightly disappointing extension of the stories.
March 14, 2021
Ok so I haven’t technically finished this because the used copy I got off Abe Books just seems to end mid chapter, it’s not a battered copy or badly worn or looks like there’s pages fallen or torn out but it just doesn’t have the ending? It just ends in the middle of a chapter and middle of a sentence when main character Brennan and his wife go to the dinner with Buher. And I can’t find spoilers or the ending like anywhere online ! The fact that there’s an Omen V makes me think that Brennan didnt succeed in his quest to kill Damien’s spawn.
The whole story itself seems so useless to me like there was no need to continue it on. The whole giving birth out of her anus thing is a far fetched idea of a madman. It’s pointless and the character himself is nothing like the character of Damien, despite the child seemingly worshipping his father and his father’s corpse. It just all seems so pointless to me.
That being sad, I’ve come this far so I’m gonna see the series out and read Omen V, but if this is anything to go by I doubt I’ll enjoy it
The whole story itself seems so useless to me like there was no need to continue it on. The whole giving birth out of her anus thing is a far fetched idea of a madman. It’s pointless and the character himself is nothing like the character of Damien, despite the child seemingly worshipping his father and his father’s corpse. It just all seems so pointless to me.
That being sad, I’ve come this far so I’m gonna see the series out and read Omen V, but if this is anything to go by I doubt I’ll enjoy it
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 1, 2025
I first read this book when I was in the sixth form at school. A friend of mine was reading it. I hadn’t known there was a fourth Omen book. I was even more surprised to find out there was a fifth one too.
I very much enjoyed re-reading this book, having read it forty years ago. As I read I found scenes being dredged up from my distant memory. Oddly, as I read the final scene of this book I was puzzled. My memory had told me the ending was from the fifth book. Now I’ll have to revisit Omen 5 to clear up my memory and recover the story.
Omen IV:Armageddon 2000 is a fast-paced and enjoyable story. It was interesting to see how Damien’s kid carried on his father’s cosmic plan.
Definitely need to dig out Omen V. I need to see what happens next.
I very much enjoyed re-reading this book, having read it forty years ago. As I read I found scenes being dredged up from my distant memory. Oddly, as I read the final scene of this book I was puzzled. My memory had told me the ending was from the fifth book. Now I’ll have to revisit Omen 5 to clear up my memory and recover the story.
Omen IV:Armageddon 2000 is a fast-paced and enjoyable story. It was interesting to see how Damien’s kid carried on his father’s cosmic plan.
Definitely need to dig out Omen V. I need to see what happens next.
August 4, 2022
The first half of the book is a snoozefest. Damien Jr born of an ass (not the animal) has none of his father's charisma.
The book (and someone else surprisingly) is redeemed in the second half. The ambassador's wife being a villain is the most predictable thing ever and makes one wonder about the ambassador's intellect but also proves that one can get ahead with good connections and half a brain.
I have no idea what's going to happen in the final installment. I'll find out tomorrow I suppose. Stay tuned.
The book (and someone else surprisingly) is redeemed in the second half. The ambassador's wife being a villain is the most predictable thing ever and makes one wonder about the ambassador's intellect but also proves that one can get ahead with good connections and half a brain.
I have no idea what's going to happen in the final installment. I'll find out tomorrow I suppose. Stay tuned.
September 14, 2021
Was surprised to find this not only readable but that it also played like a solid entry in the film franchise. It has all the problems the films do in playing fast and loose with the rules of supernatural retribution and a sort of obnoxious body count. The narrative was engaging and clear with consistent characterization and a plot with solid twists and turns. Not a revelation in literature but a far far far better Omen IV than the one we eventually got.
October 1, 2021
Damien's body was destroyed by the dagger in the spine but not the soul. The son of Damien is a terrifying figure and wants total destruction. His dog will snap his jaw on flesh of those who come to Pereford. A man who wants to help eradicate The Boy will get struck to a wheel of an airplane as it lands and is squshed on impact, his body smeared along the 2 mile tarmac. The Middle East will be plunged into nuclear war. Daggers stabbed again into Damien will occur.
October 1, 2024
Love this media-tie in series. This is the first installment not based on the screenplay of a film and it goes in an interesting direction. In some ways it feels like a mirror image of the first omen and there are definite positives in revisiting that but it also feels like a rehash at times. There are some pretty gruesome kills and the mystery of what will happen at the end definitely drives you to finish. All in all a solid addition to the franchise.
October 15, 2025
Apart from some gruesome kills and a disturbingly implied...birth sequence this book didn't do much for me. Brisk read, hallucinatory, so not much to complain about. Effectively creepy but not scary enough for me.
November 13, 2017
Quick read and fun, I laughed out loud.
February 11, 2018
216 pages
March 14, 2019
Silly stuff, and not nearly as wild as I had heard. Still, some great over-the-top horror moments, and the ending it pretty cool.
July 29, 2024
There’s NO Armageddon, Gordon McGill YOU LIAR
August 25, 2024
Read August 2024
September 3, 2025
Gordon McGill may have done a good job with his novelisation of the third Omen film, but this original title is terrible.
October 19, 2025
It is what it is. Was never going to be the best read, but I won't lie, I did enjoy this. better than the 3rd in my opinion. The ending was a bit strange, but hey, it's a strange series
May 6, 2018
Plot:
Was it an accident that Kate Reynolds got pregnant and gave birth to Damien's son out her buttocks?
Was it murder when pretty much all the priests involved in Damien's planned execution have been killed in bizarre accident's?
Was it a coincidence that ambassador Phillip Brennan has been plagued by visions of horror around the same time he's given a daunting task?
Or are all of these more signs of Omens?
Review:
What to say about the fourth installment in a long running franchise? Well, let's look at what is did right first shall we?
Brennan is pretty much our main character. He's not a religious man but by the end is a believer. While not the strongest of the main characters I will give him points for being involved over the course of the story and is given information about halfway through involving the anti-Christ (The Devil's Grandson) whom is only known as The Abomination. Even though he becomes a true believer at the end it's not like everything was unloaded on him in the last twenty pages.
As for the new anti-Christ. He's a brat. During the intro of this book, Kate Reynolds gives birth to this supposed "supreme ruler" out of her backside nether region. Not even joking. Then the story jumps eighteen years later and this "Brat" wants world domination. Paul Buher wanted to stick to Damien's original plan. That being to have control over the world. This kid is ready for world war III to occur!
Oh yeah, Paul Buher finally returns in this franchise and even if he's a bit older he still has the same ideologies as Damien once did and he tries to follow them even with the Brat of the Devil trying to mess everything up.
Father De Carlo also returns and this time he sends one of his fellow monks to give the letter to Brennan.
There is a twist in the characters at the end that I actually won't spoil because it is so minor but it was totally obvious to me for some reason. It involves Brennan's wife.
The climax of the book is sort of tense. It had good tension going there then all of the sudden it is just released and the ending approaches.
One thing I will gladly give the author (McGill) is that he didn’t have to follow any screenplay in order to write this book. He was given more room to breathe and expand the surroundings of this book. I got a strong vibe of The Omen and The Final Conflict in here which is a great thing. I don't despise part two but I know this series could've done without it. I know he meets Buher and Neff in that installment but they didn't have to make a movie to justify why those characters were there. And where the Hell has Neff gone anyway?
Gore:
There are quite a few gruesome and horrific kills.
A woman is brutally crushed by a statue of Christ, a reporter woman is attacked by a dog and then the abomination child/brat rips and tears at the back of her neck (Like a dog), a man is buried alive in a grave by dogs.
There is more I believe but I don't remember them off hand.
Overall Thoughts:
That's one of the problems with this book. It's sort forgettable. I saw the movies first so when I read the first three books I had the movie's in mind. Now here comes another installment that wasn't made into a movie and I had no mental notes to follow it.
Still what I read was a well written, fast pace, brutal, blasphemous book that is creepy and downright disturbing.
Sure the climax and ending could've been better but I still highly recommend this book. Especially since the actual fourth movie is a piece of crap!
Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5 (Closer to a 3 out of 5 than a 4 out of 5 I'm afraid)
Was it an accident that Kate Reynolds got pregnant and gave birth to Damien's son out her buttocks?
Was it murder when pretty much all the priests involved in Damien's planned execution have been killed in bizarre accident's?
Was it a coincidence that ambassador Phillip Brennan has been plagued by visions of horror around the same time he's given a daunting task?
Or are all of these more signs of Omens?
Review:
What to say about the fourth installment in a long running franchise? Well, let's look at what is did right first shall we?
Brennan is pretty much our main character. He's not a religious man but by the end is a believer. While not the strongest of the main characters I will give him points for being involved over the course of the story and is given information about halfway through involving the anti-Christ (The Devil's Grandson) whom is only known as The Abomination. Even though he becomes a true believer at the end it's not like everything was unloaded on him in the last twenty pages.
As for the new anti-Christ. He's a brat. During the intro of this book, Kate Reynolds gives birth to this supposed "supreme ruler" out of her backside nether region. Not even joking. Then the story jumps eighteen years later and this "Brat" wants world domination. Paul Buher wanted to stick to Damien's original plan. That being to have control over the world. This kid is ready for world war III to occur!
Oh yeah, Paul Buher finally returns in this franchise and even if he's a bit older he still has the same ideologies as Damien once did and he tries to follow them even with the Brat of the Devil trying to mess everything up.
Father De Carlo also returns and this time he sends one of his fellow monks to give the letter to Brennan.
There is a twist in the characters at the end that I actually won't spoil because it is so minor but it was totally obvious to me for some reason. It involves Brennan's wife.
The climax of the book is sort of tense. It had good tension going there then all of the sudden it is just released and the ending approaches.
One thing I will gladly give the author (McGill) is that he didn’t have to follow any screenplay in order to write this book. He was given more room to breathe and expand the surroundings of this book. I got a strong vibe of The Omen and The Final Conflict in here which is a great thing. I don't despise part two but I know this series could've done without it. I know he meets Buher and Neff in that installment but they didn't have to make a movie to justify why those characters were there. And where the Hell has Neff gone anyway?
Gore:
There are quite a few gruesome and horrific kills.
A woman is brutally crushed by a statue of Christ, a reporter woman is attacked by a dog and then the abomination child/brat rips and tears at the back of her neck (Like a dog), a man is buried alive in a grave by dogs.
There is more I believe but I don't remember them off hand.
Overall Thoughts:
That's one of the problems with this book. It's sort forgettable. I saw the movies first so when I read the first three books I had the movie's in mind. Now here comes another installment that wasn't made into a movie and I had no mental notes to follow it.
Still what I read was a well written, fast pace, brutal, blasphemous book that is creepy and downright disturbing.
Sure the climax and ending could've been better but I still highly recommend this book. Especially since the actual fourth movie is a piece of crap!
Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5 (Closer to a 3 out of 5 than a 4 out of 5 I'm afraid)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 9, 2017
I did enjoy it but it wasn't as good as the others in the series, probably because it wasn't made into a film. That was why I couldn't remember much about it.
December 10, 2025
Last night I found, scribbled in a notebook, a couple of lines about Gordon McGill’s Omen IV: Armageddon 2000, the sequel to his novelisation of Omen III, The Final Conflict. These lines simply astonished me because, not only did I have absolutely no recollection of reading it at all, but also I had finished reading the previous book in the series swearing that would be it for me. As my mug of camomile failed to lull me back to sleep, I grabbed the book - again, apparently - and began reading.
It suddenly all came rushing back: The rectal childbirth, the ageing Paul Buher (Damien Thorn’s right hand man from the previous entry) bizarrely growing a good old sense of morality, Damien Jr in black cassock being the proverbial chip off the old mummified block, a mangled nosey reporter and a mangling Rottweiler, the inventive if not unlikely use of landing gear, the Seven Sacred Daggers of Megiddo, Jesus nailed to the cross back to front, a Middle East peace talk going horribly - and hilariously - wrong and the expected twist ending…
It all came back as well as the questions that kept me occupied while reading the book the first time around such as “if Damien was 33 when he died in 1981, shouldn’t his son be at least 19 in 2000 and not 17? Wait a minute! How could Damien be 5 in 76, 12 in 78 and 33 in 81?” or “What can Devil worshippers think to benefit from their worship? Don’t they ever read the fine prints?”. Obviously, such deep and meaningful musings aren’t good news for the book itself but the fact that I had forgotten all about it is perhaps review enough. I suppose Gordon McGill should be given credit that his book is a far better narrative than the insignificant 1991 Warner Bros made-for-TV film Omen IV: The Awakening. But that’s hardly a recommendation now, is it?
It suddenly all came rushing back: The rectal childbirth, the ageing Paul Buher (Damien Thorn’s right hand man from the previous entry) bizarrely growing a good old sense of morality, Damien Jr in black cassock being the proverbial chip off the old mummified block, a mangled nosey reporter and a mangling Rottweiler, the inventive if not unlikely use of landing gear, the Seven Sacred Daggers of Megiddo, Jesus nailed to the cross back to front, a Middle East peace talk going horribly - and hilariously - wrong and the expected twist ending…
It all came back as well as the questions that kept me occupied while reading the book the first time around such as “if Damien was 33 when he died in 1981, shouldn’t his son be at least 19 in 2000 and not 17? Wait a minute! How could Damien be 5 in 76, 12 in 78 and 33 in 81?” or “What can Devil worshippers think to benefit from their worship? Don’t they ever read the fine prints?”. Obviously, such deep and meaningful musings aren’t good news for the book itself but the fact that I had forgotten all about it is perhaps review enough. I suppose Gordon McGill should be given credit that his book is a far better narrative than the insignificant 1991 Warner Bros made-for-TV film Omen IV: The Awakening. But that’s hardly a recommendation now, is it?
March 14, 2021
“The thunderclouds were heavy and the first drops of rain spattered them as they came out into the driveway. The tiny church ruined, built with the house, stood on a rise behind the shrubbery, two hundred yards from the west wing. Buhrer remembered hearing that Damien, as a boy, had wanted it to be demolished, but he has been persuaded to let it stand as a reminder of the waning power of Christianity. Later, as a young man, he had forced himself to enter the church, conquering his fear, so that by the time he reached maturity, he could tread easily on the hallowed soil and gain strength from the desecration.”
*****
SPOILER ALERT!!!
This series just keeps getting better and better. Damien’s son is being raised by a man by the name of Paul Buhrer, which naturally, is one of the top heads of a large corporation. Although Damien is dead, his son still lives and Buhrer is taking care of Damien’s son. Just like when Damien was alive, people around his son start dying, strange things happen, the world we live in is still crumbling down. Clearly killing Damien didn’t complete the duty, there is someone else that needs to be killed for the world to return to peace...well, as peaceful as the world can be without the Anti-Christ on it.
*****
There’s one more book in this series and I am so looking forward to getting my hands on it. Gordon McGill’s writing is phenomenally horrid, gory and down right creepy. I may have to look into some of his other works.
*****
SPOILER ALERT!!!
This series just keeps getting better and better. Damien’s son is being raised by a man by the name of Paul Buhrer, which naturally, is one of the top heads of a large corporation. Although Damien is dead, his son still lives and Buhrer is taking care of Damien’s son. Just like when Damien was alive, people around his son start dying, strange things happen, the world we live in is still crumbling down. Clearly killing Damien didn’t complete the duty, there is someone else that needs to be killed for the world to return to peace...well, as peaceful as the world can be without the Anti-Christ on it.
*****
There’s one more book in this series and I am so looking forward to getting my hands on it. Gordon McGill’s writing is phenomenally horrid, gory and down right creepy. I may have to look into some of his other works.
April 24, 2012
One of those movie-related books similar to a novelization you pick up occasionally at a flea market for a quarter. In this case, there hasn't been an Omen IV yet, and the re-make of The Omen probably put this franchaise in the basement for at least another decade. So. I'll have to settle for this instead of another sequel.
This one starts out with an amazing adherence to Omen 1 and Omen III (events in Omen II are discretely ignored as were those in Planet of the Apes II and Exorcist II). Same corporations, same government positions are in play. The author could have stretched himself a little more.
Still, there are some scary things taking place herein. A good quick read with a solid beginning, middle, and end. Can't ask for much more than that -- especially for 25 cents!
This one starts out with an amazing adherence to Omen 1 and Omen III (events in Omen II are discretely ignored as were those in Planet of the Apes II and Exorcist II). Same corporations, same government positions are in play. The author could have stretched himself a little more.
Still, there are some scary things taking place herein. A good quick read with a solid beginning, middle, and end. Can't ask for much more than that -- especially for 25 cents!
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