The Devil's Breath Lib/E

by Robert Irvine, R.R. Irvine

When a Utah town turns land sacred to the Indians into a hunting resort, it is terrorized by a series of brutal murders, possibly due to an Indian spirit

Genres: Horror

Audio CD

First published March 1, 1982

About the author

Aka Val Davis, R.R. Irvine, Peter Heath, Peter H. Fine, Peter Heath Fine

Robert Ralstone Irvine studied anthropology and archaeology at the University of California at Berkeley and now lives in Northern California.

Reviews

[Phil · Rating 3 out of 5]

Published in 1982, with a dramatic cover, TDB definitely fits well into the paperbacks from hell of the 70s/80s horror boom. Our story follows Jack, an artist living in L.A., who suffered losing his right hand in a car wreck. Jack is full of self pity, and drove away his wife as Jack assumed she could never really love a cripple, and now a failed artist to boot. Solace seems to come his way as he found out he has inherited a house and some land in Utah from his uncle. Jack was born and raised in Salt Lake, so in an odd way, he feels he is coming home when he gets to Moondance, the small town where his uncle lived is portrayed nicely, being in the heart of Morman country. Jack, however, ends up in the middle of a controversy. It seems the town of Moondance has staked it fortune on a private hunting area nestled in the mountains, surrounded by protected federal land. The only glitch is Jack's property being the gateway to the hunting ground, and the town council wants Jack to sell his land to complete the hunting ground. His uncle, much to the chagrin of the townfolk, refused to sell.

Things come to a head quickly (and this is a quick read) when it is announced that a TV star will be filming a show in the hunting ground (the show is based on hunting and has a national audience). The star will take a camera crew and some people from the town on the first ever hunting trip in the new private hunting area. Turns out it will also be the last...

TDB is predicated on old Indian lore that the hunting area, known also as The Devil's Mouth, is sacred territory, and if you harm any animals on it, the Great Spirit will in turn hunt you down. Lots of strange deaths have happened to poachers and so forth who have wandered up that way and there is one old Indian who keeps trying to warn people, but they do not take his advice...

Jack is not a lovable figure to be sure, and his romance with the town's newspaper owner Harriet is pretty cheesy, but so it goes. Good pacing and some gruesome scenes, but over all a very thing plot abounding with cliche horror tropes. 2.5 stars rounding up due to the excellent characterization of the L.D.S. community.

[Krista · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wow, this book was bad. It's not THE dumbest book I've ever read, but it's definitely in the top 10. Bog-standard "Arrogant white men ignore the Wise Indian's warnings about trespassing on sacred ground" story. With a stupid romance and absolutely cringeworthy sex scene thrown in.

[One More Page · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was really interested in the premise and story but the writing quality lost me. Too many tropes and stereotypes.