Demonic

by Karl J. Morgan

The world is on fire, and everything and everyone Bill Watson has ever loved is about to be wiped out of existence. A nuclear attack forces him to flee San Diego in the middle of the night. With his two dogs and a new friend, he heads for safety beyond the mountains. Bill is desperate to reach his family, but terrorists are everywhere and seem to be after him specifically, but why? Doors have been opened from another universe and hideous creatures have come to enslave humanity while slaughtering every Bill Watson and Mary Stewart on the planet. His family has been kidnapped, and now, Bill and Mary must step through one of those doors to rescue them and end the destruction. They will face ruthless killers and impossible odds over and again, but also learn unbelievable truths about themselves and the families they never knew they were part of. Their beliefs and faith will be tested to the limit as events spin out of control. Let us hope they are up to the challenge.

356 pages, Paperback

Published January 12, 2016

About the author

Karl Morgan grew up fascinated by science fiction, beginning with Victor Appleton’s Tom Swift novels that he read as a young boy. Later, he became enthralled with the works of his favorite author, Isaac Asimov, especially his Foundation series.

Those early experiences inspired his life-long love of science fiction and interest in hard science, focusing first on astronomy and later cosmology and quantum mechanics. Karl had the great honor to take his first astronomy course at the University of Iowa from the legendary scientist, Dr. James Van Allen. More recently, the brilliant works of Drs. Stephen Hawking, Brian Greene, and Michio Kaku helped him understand that our physical universe is still a magical and mysterious place.

It is that sense of magic and mystery that brings Karl to write about his alter ego, Dave Brewster, an unemployed accountant who finds himself a thousand years in the future with new friends and adventures far beyond anything he could have imagined. There, he can find answers to questions that befuddle mankind today. The truth he finds is no different from what we know today. Life is always about loving and caring for our family and friends.

Karl lives in San Diego with his wife, Aida and their beloved puppies. Their two grown children have fled the nest and started their own adventures in life.

Reviews

[Bill Ward · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an unusual and ambitious book, which at its simplest is an epic fantasy about good versus evil but as you read further it becomes a more complex story about different dimensions and multiple occurrences of the same character within those different realms. An imaginative mind has created the plot and characters! There is no shortage of action as our heroes fight enormous numbers of bad guys and try to save the world. Will appeal to fantasy lovers.

[Anthonia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book had me a little confused in some parts of the book. Other than that it was visual story about destruction, war, angels, demonic beings,and etc. We have portals that take Bill and Mary to alternate universe's that are similar but life is very different. These two have to face a lot of trials ans setbacks in this story. A good book

[Scott Skipper · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mild mannered Bill Watson, accountant, met a new workmate named Mary Stewart at a time when terrorists were bringing nuclear bombs across the Mexican border. The police issued an order to evacuate San Diego before a device detonated, which knowledge is never explained, nor why the terrorists didn’t push the button as soon as the order issued. Nevertheless, Bill and Mary, thrown together when her car breaks down, make it to the Salton sea before they see the mushroom cloud beyond the mountains. About that time they are attacked by a band of terrorists, and Bill, who has been hearing strange voices, transforms into a demon and slays the terrorist and Mary beheads them. Okay, I was ready to brand this the silliest piece of crap I ever encountered, but I had told the Rave Review Book Club that I would review it, so I soldiered onward through one more chapter.

When an innocuous guy known as J.C. begs a ride to Las Vegas with Bill and Mary, who are on their way to Montana to find Bill’s family, insists that Bill meet his father, I began to see where this might be going. J.C.’s father, Dom Emmanuel, rents a penthouse above the Bellagio—a hundred miles above the Bellagio. At this point the story devolves into parallel universes, dimensional portals, doppelgangers, shapeshifters and myriads of monsters called enforcers.

Demonic is a dark fantasy with a strong cosmological component that is set against a theological theme exploring the nature of God. I would rate it higher if I were into that. I am not, so this read was somewhat painful for me, although I pushed through to the end. The rationale of the multiple universes is thoughtfully constructed and the convolutions mind-twisting. Each character has hundreds of iterations, each universe has variations that make it hard to keep track of where we are, except for the mega-evil universe where Bill has assumed the role of the demonic Gaius Claudius Caesar who intends to crucify the entire population. Since the characters have so many incarnations, it is impossible to know which one we are following. Their names even change inexplicably—hell, everything is inexplicable in this book. Bill’s wife started as Audrey, but switched to Arlene about half way through, and I never did understand if that was intentional, or a mistake. One more quirk that baffles me. The first chapter seems to be part of another story. It ends with a character named Sam getting shot, but we never see Sam again. The writing is solid, if not really outstanding, but there are a dizzying number of viewpoint shifts, some quite jarring. Mr. Morgan’s book is a unique piece of work. If you don’t have a problem with characters flying through space and dispatching hordes of monsters and demons with mystical weapons, Demonic might be for you.

[Tony Parsons · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bill Watson (controller, adopted) & his wife Audrey Watson (wife) live in Chula Vista. They have 2 dogs: Chachis & Zelda.
Sandi their daughter & Tommy live in Billings, Montana.
Tom White is Bill’s boss & Mary Stewart (product manager) just started.

There were problems with ISIL terrorists on the US, Canadian & Mexican borders.
It was total pandemonium & chaos & PPL were going to other towns to avoid being killed.
How will this fiasco turn out?
I did not receive any type of compensation for reading & reviewing this book. While I receive free books from publishers & authors, I am under no obligation to write a positive review. Only an honest one.

A very awesome book cover, great font & writing style. A very well written paranormal (novella) book. It was very easy for me to read/follow from start/finish & never a dull moment. There were no grammar/typo errors, nor any repetitive or out of line sequence sentences. Lots of exciting scenarios, with several twists/turns & a great set of unique characters to keep track of. This could also make another great paranormal movie, or mini TV series. There is no doubt in my mind this is a very easy rating of 5 stars.

Thank you for the free Goodreads; Author; PDF book
Tony Parsons MSW (Washburn)

[Karl Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am the author of this book. That being said, it is also true that when I started this effort as part of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) last year, my first goal was to scare the heck out of myself. I sincerely hope you check it out and let me know how well I succeeded. Ultimately, I did have another goal. I had a reader note that "Two Doors", book 1 of the Modern Prophet series, was too predictable. I confess that I did not know how "Demonic" was going to end until I wrote the last two chapters. If it is as predictable as Two Doors, then you are more psychic than I. The end of this story was a surprise to me, and I hope the ride is as enjoyable for you as it was for me. Ultimately, the craziness of this story is the way my mind works. Now you should definitely be on my wife's side. Check it out and please let me know what you think. All the best.