What do you think?
Rate this book
Demon Eyes
When her new boss, the charismatic and powerful head of Keltner Industries, hosts a weekend party at his secluded estate, Emma stumbles upon the real, grotesque purpose of the party and the true nature of her employer and his guests. Original.
338 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published November 27, 2007
8 people are currently reading
111 people want to read
About the author
L.H. Maynard
30 books15 followersL.H. (Len) Maynard writes supernatural horror with M.P.N. (Mick) Sims.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
February 23, 2024
Maynard and Sims, well known for their short stories, wrote a handful of novels for Leisure, with Demon Eyes being their second one. While a bit of a slow burn to be sure, they kept the surprises coming throughout the novel as the horror slowly became apparent. Our protagonist, Emma, had been working for a company as a personal assistant when she gets a promotion to be the big boss's pa (Alex Keltner). Happy with the new salary, she and her lover Helen have big plans, until Helen dies in a 'freak accident' shortly thereafter. Devastated, Emma keeps her stiff upper lip (the authors are British after all) and soldiers on, however. Bad move!
I do not want to go into the plot to avoid spoilers, but the basic sitrep involves Emma and her new boss travelling to his country estate for a weekend party, where things go from bad to worse. The authors managed to move the story along, albeit slowly at times, punctuated with reveals and the occasional gory sequence. I enjoyed the overall story, but this was almost a homage to 80s horror fiction as it quickly went OTT and stated there at eleven. Cemetery Dance blurbed on the back that "Maynard and Sims revitalize the traditional thrills" and that is somewhat true; the tropes evoked here are 'classic' but they do put a neat twist on them. My biggest issue concerned how certain meetings of the characters just happened as the story devolved into a good versus evil battle fought by the plucky friends of Emma (the good) against the Keltner family (the bad). I just had a hard time suspending my disbelief at times at all the fortuitous happenstances as the novel progressed. YMMV! 3 spooky stars!
I do not want to go into the plot to avoid spoilers, but the basic sitrep involves Emma and her new boss travelling to his country estate for a weekend party, where things go from bad to worse. The authors managed to move the story along, albeit slowly at times, punctuated with reveals and the occasional gory sequence. I enjoyed the overall story, but this was almost a homage to 80s horror fiction as it quickly went OTT and stated there at eleven. Cemetery Dance blurbed on the back that "Maynard and Sims revitalize the traditional thrills" and that is somewhat true; the tropes evoked here are 'classic' but they do put a neat twist on them. My biggest issue concerned how certain meetings of the characters just happened as the story devolved into a good versus evil battle fought by the plucky friends of Emma (the good) against the Keltner family (the bad). I just had a hard time suspending my disbelief at times at all the fortuitous happenstances as the novel progressed. YMMV! 3 spooky stars!
November 21, 2021
Parasites and the unknown
I've had this book for 5 years and I decided to read it. I was not disappointed I had one idea how the book was going to go but the author threw me for a loop. This book was hard to put down and the character development was superb very relatable. This book was hard to put down kept me many of night's trying to finish it.
I've had this book for 5 years and I decided to read it. I was not disappointed I had one idea how the book was going to go but the author threw me for a loop. This book was hard to put down and the character development was superb very relatable. This book was hard to put down kept me many of night's trying to finish it.
June 29, 2011
Although much of this book was fun to read, a lot really didn't make sense, even the small details. For instance, both Helen and Emma have decent jobs and although the livery/stable where Helen works is supposedly flourishing with business, the two can't afford to pay their gas and electric bills. People spoke and acted very oddly to each other, overreacting, and many times simply speaking rudely without provocation. On her first day of work, Emma's boss tells her she looks terrible and needs to put on makeup to cover the bags under her eyes! Who says those things? It really felt awkward, and did not seem intentional. It just took me out of the realism of the story. Much of the action later in the book felt rushed, not giving much, if any chance for creepy atmosphere or suspense that Maynard and Sims had in their last book, Shelter.
Another series of problems I had were all the strange coincidences. The back-story of Jim Davies and Nathan Wisecroft felt forced and only introduced to give a resolution on how to combat the evil. Once they were introduced, Emma took a backseat to the story, which I thought was a bad choice. Also, the fact that Billy Farrier just happened to finally hack into the mainframe at Keltner Industries during the one week these events come to a head is a bit much. My other issue was the lack of mythology involving the Keltner family. We are told they are very powerful, and have been around for generations, but you never really get a sense of their history or origins. The reveal of the mole inside Bexton Hall was also anticlimactic and could have been used much more effectively. The trick for this book would have been to keep the perspective with our protagonists and not jump to the villains all the time. This only took the mystique out of them and their plans of evil, instead of allowing the reader to experience the story piece by piece as the danger escalates.
With the exception of the stable attack in the beginning, there was nothing here that I have not read before and not too much to recommend. Although Demon Eyes seems to have more focus than the previous Maynard and Sims book, Shelter, along the quality and smoothness of the writing, this story - Demon Eyes - was not as engaging. While the atmosphere and overall creepiness could have been better, Demon Eyes did have a few nice surprises but unfortunately not enough to rise above an average rating. The open ending was also frustrating and ultimately, unsatisfying. Let's hope their third book, Black Cathedral, has better results.
Another series of problems I had were all the strange coincidences. The back-story of Jim Davies and Nathan Wisecroft felt forced and only introduced to give a resolution on how to combat the evil. Once they were introduced, Emma took a backseat to the story, which I thought was a bad choice. Also, the fact that Billy Farrier just happened to finally hack into the mainframe at Keltner Industries during the one week these events come to a head is a bit much. My other issue was the lack of mythology involving the Keltner family. We are told they are very powerful, and have been around for generations, but you never really get a sense of their history or origins. The reveal of the mole inside Bexton Hall was also anticlimactic and could have been used much more effectively. The trick for this book would have been to keep the perspective with our protagonists and not jump to the villains all the time. This only took the mystique out of them and their plans of evil, instead of allowing the reader to experience the story piece by piece as the danger escalates.
With the exception of the stable attack in the beginning, there was nothing here that I have not read before and not too much to recommend. Although Demon Eyes seems to have more focus than the previous Maynard and Sims book, Shelter, along the quality and smoothness of the writing, this story - Demon Eyes - was not as engaging. While the atmosphere and overall creepiness could have been better, Demon Eyes did have a few nice surprises but unfortunately not enough to rise above an average rating. The open ending was also frustrating and ultimately, unsatisfying. Let's hope their third book, Black Cathedral, has better results.
June 12, 2008
Emma Porter begins her new job as personal assistant to Alex Keltner, a very powerful man, head of Keltner Industries, with powerful friends, soon after the accidental death of her lover, Helen, grateful for the distraction. She attends a party at the secluded Keltner estate and soon after realizes that she is working for a sexual vampire, that Keltner Industries is nothing more than a brothel, and that his friends are nothing but hungry soul fuckers, demons that get their energy from sex. These demons have a weakness, a genetic defect that is diminshing their numbers, and they desperately need Emma's help. I really liked this book, never read anything like it before. It was an interesting, suspenseful horror story with quite a few character subplots, which Maynard and Sims successfully managed to unfold in the end, unlike some authors who fail to provide any connections between subcharacters. I highly recommend this book. It was disturbing without being too graphic, a good read.
May 26, 2016
I found this book at a Dollar General which I bought with a bottle of Windex and some Skittles. Didn't think I'd ever read it because it was called freakin Demon Eyes. Boring title, huh? Well, this book stayed on my dresser for a while, on the back floor board of my car, various places then I started to read it...Couldn't put it down. Wonderfully detailed, characterization was amazing and the concept, a young woman seduced into a demonic company, offered a refreshing and original voice that deftly avoided cliché.
October 21, 2019
Maynard Sims at their best
I started reading this some time ago, but never finished it, no idea why. I've just re-read it, only this time I completed it, and I'm glad I did. Although in one way I wish I hadn't started up until 2am to finish it. Thank heavens I'm not in work tomorrow :)
I started reading this some time ago, but never finished it, no idea why. I've just re-read it, only this time I completed it, and I'm glad I did. Although in one way I wish I hadn't started up until 2am to finish it. Thank heavens I'm not in work tomorrow :)
June 4, 2023
An easy and short enough book to rattle through pretty quickly, but was it worth it?
I going to skip straight to my biggest problem, and that was the ending. It’s probably supposed to be a shock ending, designed to horrify, but all it achieved was an unfinished product. It felt like it needed another chapter or two to close everything off. Far too many unresolved threads.
The story isn’t great to be honest, it’s a cliched tale of who to trust, but lacks the plot twists that a book like this needs. The writing isn’t that engaging, it’s a bit ‘teenagey’. There is some serious cultural confusion that for me was incompatible (set in England, with British characters, using American slang that isn’t common in the UK).
The characters are exceptionally shallow, and don’t really conjure up any sort of emotion. The main female lead is too dumb to have made it past nappies, and the baddies are more like the rejects from castle greyskull rather than being horrifying villains that they needed to be.
All in all, not great.
I going to skip straight to my biggest problem, and that was the ending. It’s probably supposed to be a shock ending, designed to horrify, but all it achieved was an unfinished product. It felt like it needed another chapter or two to close everything off. Far too many unresolved threads.
The story isn’t great to be honest, it’s a cliched tale of who to trust, but lacks the plot twists that a book like this needs. The writing isn’t that engaging, it’s a bit ‘teenagey’. There is some serious cultural confusion that for me was incompatible (set in England, with British characters, using American slang that isn’t common in the UK).
The characters are exceptionally shallow, and don’t really conjure up any sort of emotion. The main female lead is too dumb to have made it past nappies, and the baddies are more like the rejects from castle greyskull rather than being horrifying villains that they needed to be.
All in all, not great.
March 11, 2019
This is a fun read. A young woman whose girlfriend has died under mysterious circumstances suddenly becomes assistant to the most powerful man at the corporation she works at. She is then told that she is to help out at a party of his, and things get kind of crazy from there. Throw in her girlfriend's brother, who suspects something bigger is happening here, and a Jamaican cult leader with a barman who has a penchant for knowing things and a young man whose face is twisted beyond all belief, and you have this lunatic story. I was worried it was going to go in a vampires or werewolves direction, and I'm glad it didn't. If I had anything to complain about, it's the ending, and I don't discuss spoilers here. Long story short, you should probably read this book.
July 6, 2020
It never ends
Don't you get tired of series. One after another stringing you along with 1 payment after another to get resultes
from the 1st book that did not inform you it was in a series
.. Maynard some does not do that. It leaves you to figure it out for yourself. Do you like that even better?
Don't you get tired of series. One after another stringing you along with 1 payment after another to get resultes
from the 1st book that did not inform you it was in a series
.. Maynard some does not do that. It leaves you to figure it out for yourself. Do you like that even better?
September 30, 2020
It starts off really strong, then gets dull about half way through. Not awful but I feel like reading it was a waste of time.
September 26, 2011
This is my first read by Sims and Maynard. There was so much wrong with this "creature story" that I will not list it all, but I will say that the storyline was a jumbled mess and everything was wrapped up so quickly in the last 5 pages that for a second I thought there was going to be a "to be continued" ending. I did finish it in the hopes that it would get better. It never did. Not recommended.
November 26, 2010
Several of the reviews said it was boring. I disagree. To me this was fast-paced and interesting. Believable? Never. And two men creating a lesbian female lead character is more than risky -- it's almost foolish. But I liked this book more than I expected. And I really grew fond of Emma. The ending wasn't what I expected or liked, but in some ways that may be for the best.
January 4, 2012
This book was a never-boring page-turner with an unexpected ending. I wanted something scary/frightening. And, it gave me just what I was looking for. I'd definitely recommend to horror/thriller fans.
June 17, 2008
I'm not really sure how you can write a book about sex monsters and make it boring. But, here it is, somehow.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews