The Water Crystal: Deal with the Devil

by Alfred Muller

The monster in his nightmares calls him friend, but Anthony Luther wants nothing to do with the Man-in-the-Dark, wishing only to disappear into the small town of Heckhaven, TN. Unfortunately for him, that town has a long memory and it remembers he caused a fire that killed one of their own. Ten years later Anthony learns that sharing a drink with someone in the abyss of the afterlife is more than it seems.
His best friend, Dezeray Lilet is able to overlook his past transgressions making life in the small town bearable, until another fire threatens to unravel his happiness. Already marked by the first fire Anthony doesn't think he'll be able to overcome a second. To make matters worse Dezeray has hidden her past from herself as a coping mechanism, but when Anthony’s past resurfaces her own skeletons are pulled from the cobwebs of her mind unleashing her personal demons into the pot of chaos brewing.
All comes to a head when a demon crashes a graduation party and tips the pot flooding the town of Heckhaven with violence. Only then is a reluctant group of angels called Sciathan Zaldune dispatched to watch over Anthony, at least until the secrets of his past and his connection to the Man-in-the-Dark can be explained. Caught in an ancient struggle between good and evil Anthony finds himself forced to side against humanity to save himself and his few friends.

469 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 25, 2023

About the author

I hated reading growing up for multiple reasons. writing always sought me out however whether it was picture books or short stories my imagination was never quiet. my mom would tell me stories growing up at bedtime while w e aped in upstate NY building the foundation of my creative instincts. My dad would play G.I Joes with me and this only furthered my desire to create. It wasn't until I found the Percy Jackson series did I find my love of reading.
From there my future was set. I devoured every book I could get my hands on. I also realized I didn't read anything I was interested in as much as the mythos around religion and death. many fantasy books peeked my interest and grabbed my attention, but stories I wanted to tell, I couldn't find so, with the frothing of my magi8nation to contend with, I started writing. in the end I came up with the epic novel, The Water Crystal: Rise of Azrisol Kaimana.

Reviews

[Catelyn Chapman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book and this series. I’m so excited to start book 2 to give myself a refresher before I dive into book 3!
Gabriel is by far the best of them, and he deserves all the happiness.

[Nathan Helm · Rating 5 out of 5]

So let me just start off by saying... Sciathan Zaldune!! Mr. Muller's naming conversation for the supernatural was fascinating. This story follows Anthony Luther and his emotional torment from making a deal with the devil. The emotional depth of this character is amazing. In the first part of the book it was a little slower than I would've liked. However, I think the last third of the book pays it off beautifully! I love the history around all the supernatural and also the modern day references. You can tell the author had a blast writing this. Also... poor Leonard. You'll know when you read. As for Dezeray... will she is just awesome. I think her story is going to be interesting in book 2! Through this story I felt heavy Vampire Diaries, Supernatural, and Seven Deadly Sins vibes. Y'all need to check out this book. Great start to an exciting saga. Can't wait for next book! Last thing I'll say is... Gabriel is a d!ck.

[SMS · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you love supernatural reads and immersive writing, this is the book for you. I felt like I was in the main character’s shoes the entire time because the detailed writing was so on point. The author had an interesting take on angels and demons. I lovedddd that we got to meet guardian angels and find out their purpose. Very intriguing and captivating work! I would consider this book a slow burn, which I personally LOVE. The reader gets to experience each situation with high emotions. The characters were my favorite part, beautifully fleshed out, and likable. Each personality really shined through and I felt like I’d known them and their quirks in a personal level. Heckhaven itself was a great setting for this book. I have a soft spot for settings and enjoyed the way this one was written. After the ending, I was curious to know what was going to happen next to Anthony. Luckily it’s a series! Five stars for creativity, immersive world, unique characters, and the depth of emotions written.

[Jordan Chapman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not something I’d typically read, but it was quite good. Got really interesting towards the end! Looking forward to book two.

[Maxine · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a 3.5 for me. The author gifted me a copy of his book in exchange for an honest review. When the author reached out to me, I mentioned that this is not my usual type of book, but I was game to try if he was okay with that and he was. So please take my thoughts with a grain of salt as I do not believe I was the targeted reader for this book.

I think this book has an interesting concept and there were a lot of moments in the book that kept me going and intrigued enough where I didn't DNF the book. There were moments where I did feel the helplessness of the MMC due to how the town treated him and anger at the small-town mindset and mob mentality they exhibited towards him and there was a scene at the end that got me choaked up. These were the moments like I said that kept me interested and allowed me to finish the book. I really felt for Anthony and felt he got a raw deal. His friends made for an interesting cast of side characters.

But I do think this book needs a little help in the editing area as there were sentence structure, grammar and spelling mistakes. I usually don't pay too much attention to that when it comes to indi authors as I understand the constraints that can come with publishing your own book. But it did start to stand out and become more noticeable as the book went on. I do think some editing in terms of transitions between scenes and movements between the characters could have been added to make for a smoother read as sometimes I felt I was meant to infer things without all the facts.

In the end while this book had a very interesting concept and there were moments that kept me interested this was not the book for me. But I do think people who like straight fantasy or in this case urban fantasy should give this book an honest try as this could very much be the book for them.

This book is about Anthony Luther who as a child dies and meets the Devil. After some "convincing" by the devil a deal is made. In exchange for a future favor that has not yet been decided he will be given his life back on earth. To an 8-year-old this seems like a no brainer as he just wants to go home and be with his family. 10 Years later however he sometimes wonders if he got the short end of the deal as the small town, he lives in has not forgotten what happened all those years before and have ostracized and bullied him ever since. But thankfully he has his friends like Dezeray at his side to make it a little bit more bearable. That is until another fire occurs and some of their friends are killed but not by the fire, they were in but rather a demon. One sent by the devil to remind Anthony of his promise to the devil. It is only when this demon becomes loose in their small town that a group of reluctant angels come forward to deal with the situation. But with the addition of these angels, it only brings this ancient struggle to their town. This leaves Anthony right in the middle of it just trying to survive and find a way out of his deal with the devil.

[ShelleysReviews · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Water Crystal: Deal with the Devil has an interesting plot, while being very descriptive at times, it takes you on a dark and twisty road where a young man must make very serious decisions that involve not just his own life, but the lives of those he cares about too.

This is a perfect story for teens.

[Dan James · Rating 5 out of 5]

There’s a lot going on in this book, and that’s both its strength and slight weakness. The author juggles psychological horror, afterlife metaphysics, angel-demon politics, and personal trauma with mostly great results. At times I felt a bit overwhelmed by the lore terms like Sciathan Zaldune and the NewMark group took me a bit to grasp but once I settled in, I was totally immersed.
What really kept me going was the emotional complexity between Anthony and Dezeray. Their bond is full of grief and tenderness, and it doesn’t follow your typical YA or fantasy tropes. I love how Anthony isn’t a chosen one he’s just someone marked by tragedy who has to keep crawling forward. And the scenes involving his time in the Wandering? Pure literary gold. Eerie, surreal, and incredibly moving.

[Anthony Drake · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a great read and had a unique take on a supernatural story known around the world. There were so many twists and turns that surprised me and certain aspects that I found very interesting. The author builds his own world and lore for angels and demons and even Heaven, Hell, and what I would call Purgatory.
The book takes a bit to really kick into gear, but there are several characters that took time to introduce and provide a background and each one felt like a distinct character. Each character also has good development throughout. This book did have an abrupt ending, but it is will have at least a second novel, from my understanding. Anybody interested in a supernatural story with a shade of religion will enjoy it.

[Ryan J · Rating 5 out of 5]

The characters in this book draw you in and take you for a ride. The secret connections all come together at the right moments to keep you wanting more. Highly recommend this book! Love my girl Desirae!

[Peter Last · Rating 3 out of 5]

Potential: one word to sum up this novel and its author. The backdrop, a war between heaven and hell with earth caught in the middle, is an interesting premise but leads to problematic theology. God barely exists. People go to hell because their guardian angels fail to protect them on the way to heaven. These are just two of the problematic concepts. To be fair, the book is guided more by general principles of mythology than any specific religion, but it is still abrasive to my sensibilities since I am a Christian, the basic faith system explored in this novel. Despite its sacrilegious nature, the story is engaging. Its fantastic characters are the strongest part of the book. The protagonist, Anthony, is very relatable. Initially timid and self-loathing due to his past, he develops in realistic fashion. Though improvement is torturously slow at times, the pace of his arc gives it even more weight. To keep things grounded, he does not turn into a perfect character but develops new flaws alongside his strengths, flaws which I hope will play a role in later books. A standout supporting character is Dezeray. An interesting backstory and character logically based on her experience make this broken person sympathetic and likable. She is developed extensively enough that she could be a main character, but the book doesn’t always treat her as such. The rest of the supporting cast is a mixed bag. Some are caricatured and stupid, some are over the top, and others are a perfect mix. It is often difficult to tell which of the many supernatural and physical characters are the good guys, making for a dynamic read. By contrast, the plot is all over the place, and the pacing suffers for it. The same general arc drives the novel from beginning to end, but smaller plot arcs come and go in haphazard fashion. Most notably, Anthony changes location at one point, none of the supporting characters accompany him, and a new cast is introduced. Secondary plotlines are put on hold and new ones are introduced. The material of this section is interesting but feels like an intermission to rather than a continuation of the main storyline. From interpersonal conflict to superhero-esq fights between towering angels and demons, action in this novel is thrilling, well-described, and easy to visualize. Unfortunately, scenes lack cohesive arcs with little push and pull as each side gains or loses ground over time. Instead, characters bash at each other until one of them wins. The scenes aren’t bad, but they could be better. The writing is by far the weakest part of this book. Bad punctuation, missing/misspelled/wrong words, mixed tenses, run-on sentences, and general poor sentence structure abound. Paragraphs are often bloated with unnecessary sentences. On the other hand, dialogue is usually natural and raw in the best possible way, though sometimes it is hampered by poor attribution, lack of contractions, and stilted wording. Despite the plethora of writing errors, the strengths of the story make this weakness fade into the background to a certain extent. Normally I would rate this book two-stars on the writing alone; however, the story and characters are interesting enough to make it worth reading. The excellent aspects of the story are the most difficult to teach while the weakest ones are the simplest to fix. This is Muller’s first book, so he can certainly improve his skill with time. I will definitely read the sequel to these books and am excited for the future of this promising new author.