Prey

Demon Stalkers

by Douglas Arthur Hill

Nick Walker can pass for eighteen, which comes in useful while living on the streets. But Nick isn’t eighteen. He’s fourteen. He’s been fourteen for years... A chance encounter with Manta, an exceedingly powerful witch, sees Nick cursed with changelessness. Not only will he never age, but, more usefully to Manta, broken bones and sliced flesh, while excruciatingly painful, will mend themselves in a short space of time – making Nick the perfect weapon against the demonic assassins sent by the evil Cartel. Constantly hunted, Nick is forced to run – evading his enemy when he can and facing gruesome and bloody battles when he can’t. But, help comes from a surprising source – April, a young girl Nick rescues from some occult enthusiasts intent on sacrificing her, has powers beyond her control or understanding. Together, might they be a match for the sinister forces that stalk them?

208 pages, Paperback

First published July 4, 2008

About the author

Douglas Arthur Hill (6 April 1935 – 21 June 2007) was a Canadian science fiction author, editor and reviewer. He was born in Brandon, Manitoba, the son of a railroad engineer, and was raised in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. An avid science fiction reader from an early age, he studied English at the University of Saskatchewan (where he earned an Honours B.A. in 1957) and at the University of Toronto. He married fellow writer and U. of S. alumna Gail Robinson in 1958; they moved to Britain in 1959, where he worked as a freelance writer and editor for Aldus Books. In 1967–1968 he served as Assistant Editor of the controversial New Worlds science fiction magazine under Michael Moorcock.

A lifetime leftist, he served from 1971 to 1984 as the Literary Editor of the socialist weekly Tribune (a position once held by George Orwell), where he regularly reviewed science fiction despite the continued refusal of the literary world to take it seriously. Before starting to write fiction in 1978, he wrote many books on history, science and folklore. Using the pseudonym Martin Hillman, he also worked as an editor of several anthologies, among them Window on the Future (1966), The Shape of Sex to Come (1978), Out of Time (1984), and Hidden Turnings (1988). He is probably best known for The Last Legionary quartet of novels, supposedly produced as the result of a challenge by a publisher to Hill's complaints about the lack of good science fiction for younger readers.

Hill and his wife had one child, a son. They were divorced in 1978. He lived in Wood Green, London, and died in London after being struck by a bus at a zebra crossing. His death occurred one day after he completed his last trilogy, Demon Stalkers.

Reviews

[John Naylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought all three books in this trilogy together. My rating for this one could change depending on the other two books.

I didn't dislike much about this book. It has a few ideas that haven't been done to death in young adult books, a likeable main character (as well as side characters that also fascinate), a reasonably good plot (more than good versus evil) and original monsters.

It just felt rushed. The enemies (not necessarily the monsters) didn't get much development. I assume they will have to in the sequels. It felt like the author had too many good ideas at once and wanted to include them all.

As a first book in a trilogy, it show promise and it gives enough reasons to read the sequels. I also find it harder to review a first book as they are never usually indicative of a series.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The arcs of the characters developed in jagged flow with a thin base. Nick Walker’s character was not described in detail. There is no account for his years of being fourteen in terms of maturity and emotional growth. For instance, he needs to move around a lot to survive, but he never found wisdom in how to do this without harming others. Or there is no sign that he tried. He steals and find officious ways instead of showing any sense of strength and ethics. The man who gave him a ride ended up his collateral damage and he just left him unconscious on the side of the road, robbed him of his jacket, and stole his money. There was no thoughts or consideration toward an innocent. Just how he is going to survive: he is immortal but this poor man is not, but he doesn’t care. At this point, it is very hard for me to feel sorry for him. It’s hard for me to take his side when it is all about him.

And April’s sudden change from meek and terrified to furious and violent is too forced. I don’t see a segue from her being pushed into a corner nor an internal dialog that propelled her into action.

The violent parts of the book at the end are too deliberate. It also didn’t read like how a person would react when exposed to a friend when in humiliated state. Nick didn’t seem bothered that April would see him in blood and filth; all he thought about was to evoke enough shock or trauma so April would release her power to save him. He could have had Elg told April about his being there and left it at that. Instead, he had them brought her over to see him in a tub if his own blood and filth.

I just can’t recommend this book to any youngsters. The main character doesn’t have traits for a role model.

[Isaac Workeneh · Rating 5 out of 5]

To be honest this book was not easy to come across. And to that I would like to say that all that time was worth it. I could not be sure if I should gobble it up at once or to savor every letter and as much as I tried to restrain myself. I failed miserably every page you finish you want to go to the next. It was every bit as good as every one who finished the book made out. Maybe even better. Buy the book and read it those $34 are worth it.

[Derelict Space Sheep · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fast-moving mix of supernatural horror and YA adventure. Hill includes some dark real-world elements—homelessness, abandonment, torture, sadism—but does so for purposes of realism, not shock value. His protagonist is not without flaws, yet maintains a sense of morality throughout.