Demon Lord

by Jason Jeffery

Talbot McCreary is dead...gone...reborn as a half-demon named Heretix. And the demon world now has complete access to our world. Alongside his friends and ex-wife, Heretix must find a way to close the gateway and prevent the Demon Lord from crossing over with his massive army to enslave the human race. When a false prophet steps forward, demanding the banishment of Heretix, things take a turn for the worse. Once celebrated as a hero by the people, Heretix now finds himself viewed as a monster...humanity frowning on his very existence once more. Demons intent on ending his life on one side, the people he protects intent on banishing him from our world on the other, Heretix must still try to find a way to save those that fear him.

264 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

A resident of Brevard County, Florida, Jason Jeffery has had short stories pasting the inside of magazines for the past five years. 2008 saw him break through to mass media with the publication of "Demon Inside and Out." The sequel, "Demon Lord" is available in ebook and trade paperback as is his short story collection, "October at Dusk." "Bloom," a suspense novel is current available in ebook and paperback."DaRkesT", Jason' first true horror novel is now available on Amazon.

"Tell Me You Love Me" is now available. Jason's break from dark fiction. A story of love and a journey of self-discovery.

His short story "Street Walking" is featured in "Deadline: An Anthology of Horror and Dark Fiction".

Reviews

[Cuddle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Talbot McCreary used to be ranked among the world's most powerful wizards. That is, until he killed his daughter in a battle against Winston Philips, who disappeared shortly after. Following the tragedy of murdering Vanessa, Talbot goes into a deep dark depression, living on the streets, and becoming addicted to heroin. All of this leads to the loss of his magical powers. Talbot is taken against his will by the local mafia boss who wants him to kill the head of the werewolf pack and the vampire clan. If he completes this task then his daughter's soul, which was taken by a Soul Harvester named Jacob Lawrence, will be released in exchange for his own soul. All of these events lead up to Talbot's transformation and the slow return of his powers. Only, it is a darker kind of power. Talbot ends up partnering with his ex-wife: Tessa, her new lover: Jerry, head of the werewolf pack: Paul, and one of the mafia boss' employees: Ricky, to save his daughter's soul and to rid the world of evil. That is if he can stop from becoming evil himself...

Demon Inside and Out sounded like an interesting tale before I actually had a chance to dive in. I liked the idea of following a man slowly turn into a demon. His inner struggle and his family and friend's reactions to his return and eventual change. But the story fell short for me. It read more like an instruction manual on becoming a demon and battling evil. I feel the main reason for this is because the characters were hard to connect with, which shouldn't be the case when they are dealing with something as harsh as the loss of their daughter, drug abuse, and evil monsters. The lack of development on the secondary characters left me feeling empty and like I hadn't gotten to really know them at all. I feel like Demon Inside and Out could have been really exciting, but wasn't executed as well as it could have been. Book two in the series is in the works, so hopefully Jason Jeffery can pull off a good sophomore book with Demon Lord in April 2009.

[Cheryl Landmark · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a dark fantasy indeed. Mr. Jeffrey does a good job of showing us Talbot McCreary's inner anguish and torment as he struggles with the death of his daughter and his own responsibility in it. Despite turning into a being with darker powers than he possessed before, he chooses to battle against an evil even greater than what he fears in himself. For all lovers of demons and vampires and dark magic, this book is sure to appeal to you.