Unholy Fire

by Whitley Strieber

Of all the predators that have stalked Strieber's bestselling horror (Billy, Communion etc.), none match for sheer exuberant evil the dark star of this resonant novel--a rip-roaring, fire- snorting demon infesting the soul of a Greenwich Village priest. But which priest harbors the demon? Kindly old John Rafferty, beloved pastor of Mary & Joseph church? His young assistant, Frank Bayley? Or ancient Tom Zimmer, mute for five years? A routine question, that, to drive the fast-moving plot, but one fueled by issues of faith & corruption--beginning with the enthralling opening chapters, which find Father John's vow of celibacy teetering under the seductive push of lovely young parishioner Maria Julien. Succumbing to Maria's kisses, John goes to her apartment...& the story leaps hours ahead, with Maria crowing `The cherry is pitted' to--Fr Frank. He too, it seems, is under Maria's spell--& that of her leathers & whips. But that night, a vile, capering, nonsense-spewing entity--seen here, as throughout, in artful halflight--strangles Maria in the church. Over the next days, several more die gruesome deaths--two burned alive--even as the media uncover John's affection for Maria, & as the Holy See, shuddering at the scandal, puts Frank in John's place as pastor. In the meantime, a winsome female cop investigates the killings--& is attacked by the demon in her apartment--while old Fr Tom shambles about in the wee hours. One priest is roasted, a 2nd is unmasked, and a 3rd must pit his shaky faith against the gibbering demon in an extended showdown that jumps & gyrates with evil energy. Any novel of demonic possession must bear comparison to The Exorcist--& Strieber's holds its own, with brilliantly realized characters, fascinating Church intrigue, & plenty of prose-dazzle, if not quite the shock & slam that made Blatty unforgettable.--Kirkus (edited)

Genres: Horror, Fiction, Paranormal, Horror Thriller, Literature

414 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

American writer best known for his novels The Wolfen,The Hunger and Warday and for Communion, a non-fiction description of his experiences with apparent alien contact. He has recently made significant advances in understanding this phenomenon, and has published his new discoveries in Solving the Communion Enigma.

Strieber also co-authored The Coming Global Superstorm with Art Bell, which inspired the blockbuster film about sudden climate change, The Day After Tomorrow.

His book The Afterlife Revolution written with his deceased wife Anne, is a record of what is considered to be one of the most powerful instances of afterlife communication ever recorded.

Reviews

[Olethros · Rating 3 out of 5]

-Técnica por encima de la trama.-

Género. Narrativa fantástica.

Lo que nos cuenta. El libro Sacrilegio (publicación original: Unholy Fire, 1992) muestra como la muerte de Maria Julien, atractiva millonaria neoyorquina aficionada a las orgías decadentes y oscuras pero también filántropa que inyecta cantidades importantes de dinero a la iglesia, lleva las sospechas hasta la parroquia de María y José, en Greenwich Village. Y es que en la vida de la mujer, en la más íntima, han parecido estar varios de los sacerdotes de esa parroquia. La investigación de la detective Kitty Pearson, y la aparición de nuevos cadáveres, desvelará mucho sobre algunos de los religiosos pero se irá volviendo más y más sobrenatural.

¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:

http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com/...

[Elentarri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unholy Fire is a fairly entertaining and suspenseful novel featuring a church with the associated priests, and what is apparently a demonic pyromaniac. Will Father John Rafferty figure out what is going on or will his church and career go up in flames? The novel starts slowly, but the pace picks up and most of the interesting action happens in the last third of the book.

[Ignacio Senao f · Rating 3 out of 5]

Previsible historia de alguien que va quemando a personas. Mientras que un pobre cura es culpado y cesado por darse la casualidad de estar relacionado con las personas torradas.

Cierta copia a “It” vi, pues el quemador repite continuamente al actuar, cierta frase sin sentido y pegadiza.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Father John Rafferty is a dedicated priest, yet he also struggles mightily against the temptation presented to him by one of his beautiful young parishioners - a seductive young woman whom he regularly counsels. Despite faltering in his faith, he nevertheless takes the tenants of his vocation very seriously, and so Fr. Rafferty ministers to those among his parishioners who desperately need his help. As he continues to counsel this troubled young woman, he has no idea how much his faith will ultimately be tested by his confrontation with true evil.

After he discovers the woman's horribly mutilated body in front of the altar of his own church, Fr. Rafferty quickly becomes the prime suspect in her murder. However, as the death toll rises, he begins to suspect that someone close to him - someone with a very obvious and deep-seated hatred of the church is targeting his parishioners in their malevolent killing spree. Yet as each murder increases in brutality, Fr. Rafferty slowly begins to realize that he is battling against something truly diabolical.

As homicide detectives Kitty Pearson and Sam Dowd investigate the case, they struggle to reconcile the evidence that they find with the range of potential suspects. Although all the evidence that the detectives uncover seems to point toward a psychotic murderer, their primary suspect appears to be a dedicated, holy man - a man who seems utterly incapable of inflicting such severe brutality. Sometimes, though, such appearances can be deceiving...

First of all, let me say that this type of story always intrigues me. I'm not sure what it is exactly; maybe it's the supernatural style of the horror, the mysteriousness of the plot, or maybe even the involvement of the Catholic Church, but I thoroughly enjoyed this story. I'm delighted to say that the story itself held my attention all the way through in an unexpected way. I would definitely give Unholy Fire by Whitley Strieber an A!

[Sally · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Basics

Father John Rafferty finds himself as one of the lead suspects when a young woman he was close to, Maria, is killed. His church comes under scrutiny as does his personal character, but there may be something much more sinister at work beneath the surface. Something demonic.

My Thoughts

Here’s the thing about Whitley Strieber. His writing can be very stream of consciousness, and you have to strap in for that. He’s like a less disciplined Peter Straub, just as dreamlike but more likely to lose you if you aren’t paying attention. One thing that suffers greatly because of this is his characters. It’s not that he’s failing to put us in their heads, but his dialogue doesn’t ring true. Meaning if you tried to imagine someone talking like that, you might struggle.

But if you can weather a little strangeness in the presentation, his writing is beautiful. It says exactly what it needs to, but it’s speaking to a more primal part of us, an emotional core, that is more in tune with feelings and less with reason. In that way, this story followed exactly the sort of roller coaster you could expect from prose like that. And also in that way, it was a very compelling read.

I’m a fan of genre fiction that incorporates the Catholic church. Everyone has their buzzwords that make them want a book in their grubby hands in under two minutes flat, and mine are “priest” or “father”. It’s just a fascination I have. I always appreciate that, if someone is going to write such a book, it be accurate. This one was. Rafferty’s passion for his work and the church was palpable. The spiritual crises many of the characters go through were eloquently portrayed.

I will say that I knew who the killer was from a couple chapters in. It didn’t surprise me at all. I wish there had been more ambiguity about whether there was a demon presence as well. These are quibbles, because at the end of the day, I really enjoyed this read.

Final Rating

4/5

[Elisa M. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kitty Pearson was the hidden gem of this book. Before she appeared, there wasn't a single member of the cast I liked, save for Father Tom (and I was expecting to find out he was the Big Bad, so I didn't get too attached). Maria was quickly offed, and good riddance - I couldn't stand her.
Enters Kitty, and the story begins to run. I appreciated her humanity, her efforts, her frustration for not being able to catch the killer and her relationship with her cop partner.
Special mention goes to Father Tom and his total badassery: he talks once in the whole story, and it's an exorcism! How cool is that guy?

[Marsten · Rating 2 out of 5]

Me ha parecido regular.

El tema está bien, una historia de posesiones demoníacas en una iglesia con una serie de asesinatos macabras por medio. Para quienes les gusten las escenas macabras los asesinatos narrados no les defraudarán. La intriga por saber quién o que los ejecuta también tensiona el libro. A pesar que el asesino aparece como primera persona la incógnita se mantiene hasta el final. Los delirios de este crean una atmosfera surrealista de confusión y misterio.
El inició del libro es prometedor pero la trama para mi gusto se estanca y al tiempo se vuelve monótona. En las últimas páginas la historia gana emoción, la acción y la tensión van “in crescendo”. Pero el desenlace me ha defraudado bastante. Esperaba un final más original y menos previsible...

El libro se lee bien y rápido. Ambienta bien las escenas y los ambientes, los diálogos no son forzados, la historia está bien narrada. Pero con todo, para mi gusto, el libro no llega a sobresalir ; distrae sin llega a ser un gran libro.

Una versión más religiosa del Exorcista sin llegar al nivel de excelencia, brillantez ni a la perfección argumental ni narrativa de ese clásico.

[Althea Ann · Rating 2 out of 5]

As I'm a big fan of the genre known (to me) as "Movies-With-Satan," I thought I'd try out this book in the same genre, even though I haven't been overly delighted with Strieber's writing in the past. ('The Hunger' is one of those rare instances where the movie is better than the book, and the sequel to 'The Hunger' was just awful.)

'Unholy Fire' starts out promisingly trashy, with a rich club kid (or is she an angel?) (or is she a prostitute/dominatrix?) named Maria, who has a thing for seducing priests.
However, after the first chapter, Maria gets offed, and the entire rest of the book is a mystery regarding which of the three main priests (kindly, elderly Father John? young, conservative Frank Bayley? mute, possibly crazy Tom Zimmer?) may be Satanically possessed (or just crazy), and committing terrible crimes....

The novel never delves deeply into anyone's motivations. We never find out the truth behind all the questions that are raised regarding Maria, and we never even discover WHY the killer has become so twisted in the ways that he has....

[Andy Nieradko · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I think it takes the idea of priests and exorcisms into new places. The characters were really well developed. The plot was engaging, and kept me guessing. The prose was beautiful without being too heavy handed, making the faith of the characters seem believable, and reasonable. I'm not a believer, or a Catholic, but I still felt fully invested in the story. The plot line was made all the more interesting by the inclusion of certain parallels with the Inquisition. There are several moments of pure horror here. Even if you're one that doesn't scare easy, I recommend it.

[Richard Marteeny · Rating 3 out of 5]

It has been awhile since I read this author, and given his reputation and the reviews I had some concerns, but it works. The plot is thick with the moral decline of the aging Church, its priests and society as a whole. At points you are left questioning the essence of evil. The story drags at points and just about the time you are ready to put it down the author throws you a left. Readers need to make it to the end to truly enjoy this book. Good Read

[Chrissy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not sure where I picked this book up, probably a yard sale. Just started it and haven't read Strieber before do the poetic paragraphs are turning me off. I will stick with it for awhile and see if I get into it.
Finally finished. Hated it.

[Erik Graff · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not as good as Warday, Wolfen or The Hunger. Just another horror-with-priests novel written by a Catholic. I read it up in Michigan and it didn't touch me at all.

[Marni · Rating 1 out of 5]

Too weird to continue after about 80 pages.

[Brett Milam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Macabrely poetic and unsettling in the way only books of the divine and the demonic can truly obtain (for me at least), Whitley Strieber’s 1992 book, Unholy Fire, is a book quite literally about the sins of the Fathers and an all-too human evil besieging a holy place.

God is not the Church, or the church, or the accouterments therein. God is the people. So thinks Father John Rafferty, a rather progressive priest, which draws the ire of the more conservative wing of the Church. They’re ready to oust him for helping the homeless, those with drug addictions, and homosexuals suffering from AIDS. After a murder of a young woman takes place at his Mary and Joseph Church in New York City, it’s not so much the murder itself that provides the impetus, but that Father John was allegedly close with the victim, so much so, that at her funeral, he said, “The priest is weak.” In other words, breaking a vow of celibacy was worse for the public image of the Church than a grisly murder taking place within the holy walls of one of its churches.

Admittedly, Strieber’s book had a peculiar beginning. I felt as if I’d been dropped into the middle of a book or a sequel. I was lost at first. He opens the book with Father John being seduced by Maria Julie (interesting that she has the same initials as the church; I’m sensing a metaphor!) into some sort of sexual liaison. That serves to infuriate Father John’s curate, fellow priest Father Frank, who is also sleeping with Maria. The reason I was befuddled is I didn’t yet have enough knowledge or understanding of why Father John would give into Maria’s temptations, especially after being a man of the cloth for more than 30 years. Nonetheless, shortly thereafter, Maria is bludgeoned to death in Mary and Joseph. New York City police detectives Kitty and Sam are on the case and they almost immediately turn their focus to the priests, Father John, Father Frank, and an old infirm priest, Father Tom. Partly because they quickly learn of Father John’s relationship with Maria, but also partly because they can’t imagine how someone else could have gotten into the church at that hour.

Frank seemed like the likeliest suspect, of the priests, because of Father John also sleeping with Maria (motive: jealousy) and because he was the youngest and most physically capable of the priests. That said, I was initially eyeballing George, who was the leader of the ultraconservative Christos sect of the parish, as the suspect. Then George is killed, too, so there went that theory! But what I really appreciated about Strieber’s book is that detectives Kitty and Sam were competent. They just couldn’t compete against Father Frank, or rather, an inside job, as it were. Yes, Father Frank was the killer, and as the book indicates, his serial killer signature was fire. Depending on how you interpret it, Father Frank had either a violent version of dissociative identity disorder — the kindly gentle giant of a priest as one personality and the murderous personality that believed itself a devil sent to purify the Church with fire — or he was genuinely possessed by Satan himself. Regardless, Frank, the man, was abused as a young child by a venerated priest in the family, his uncle. To Tom’s credit before he was murdered by Father Frank, he figured out Frank’s murderous ways before anyone else and attempted an exorcism of his own. Unfortunately, he was too feeble at that point to perform it. Father John is also of the belief that Father Frank is possessed by a demon and despite nearly being killed in an initial climactic scene with Frank, tries to exorcize him at the end of the book. I’d argue he did so to mixed results. Much of Mary and Joseph burns down in the ensuing confrontation. That’s when Father John, who was ousted in favor of Father Frank, realizes the Church is the people and the hearts seeking refuge and salvation rather than the physical trappings of the church itself.

After a somewhat slow, confusing opening, Strieber’s book kicked into high gear the rest of the way until its fiery end, as I said, often with poetic flourishes and an unsettling antagonist on the prowl in the holiest of places in the holiest of garbs.

[Shannon Stoner · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was very good since I managed to read about 200 pages in one day. It obviously kept my attention. I really enjoyed the eloquent language and managed to dismiss just a couple redundant phrases such as lethal murder. When is murder not lethal? Anyway, the characters were given great depth. The perp was blatantly obvious after page 100, but I stuck with it anyway wanting to know how they deduced it.
I enjoyed the themes of religion and the priests' struggle with their own beliefs throughout the novel. John, the old priest, appears to represent the church trying to remain true to its foundations, but also trying to adapt to modern society. Father John believes in ministering to gays, women who had abortions, and ministering to the homeless all the while honoring the ancient traditions of the Catholic church. Father Tom, the oldest of the priests, has taken a vow of silence and barely speaks. He is very emotional and sensitive when it comes to the scandals of the church. Father Frank is young and ambitious which becomes his downfall.
What I also appreciate is that these priests are flawed characters. They are not knights in shining armor. They are flawed. They indulge in pleasures of the flesh, drink, cry, worry, and engage in some very brief self-love scenes. They are human....real people who have their own desires and give in to sin. Some people may think this is irreverent, but priests are human and all humans have needs. Through their 'sin' we see how this moment of weakness shakes them to their core and it forces them to take a good hard look at themselves, their beliefs, and the love they have for their congregation.

[Horror Guy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sometime in the early 1990s, Whitley Streiber, fresh off his several 'kidnapped by aliens' books, decided I'd be a good idea to slink back into the already dying horror book market where he got his start to try and pump out a few titles (4 of them in published in as many years, with Billy, The Wild, Unholy Fire, and finally the Forbidden Zone).

Sometime during that time period, I think Whitley either finally got around to either watching or reading the Exorcist, or somebody suggested to him the idea of writing an exorcism novel. And so, a year or so later, this book came out. Apparently from the blurbs, enough reviewers cared or were paid off by Strieber's agent to give it some positive reviews.

It certainly doesn't deserve them. In short, it's just an uninspired thriller that happens to have horror elements, perfect for a boring page-flipping beach read, forgotten as soon as you've left on the plane home. There's nothing special, nothing interesting, gory or anything worth reading here. It's frustrating because Strieber can be a very good writer when he cares enough to try, like with The Wolfen. Even Forbidden Zone is more readable than this with its out-there LSD-inspired lovecraftian stuff.

[Mark Dubovec · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this because George Romero was attached back in the 90s to make this into a movie. The book reads cinematically; one can see its potential as a film, but given its presentation of Catholic priests as flawed, complicated figures full of doubts, shames, and pride, and the Church itself is presented in something of a critical light, perhaps it's not surprising the studio got cold feet.

The book is a supernatural thriller, reminiscent of "The Exorcist" with elements of a police procedural worked in. It is a quick read, has its share of shocking moments, and raises questions about the role of the Church in the modern world and the nature of evil.

[C.M. Hindmarsh · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one's a bit of a stinker. While I've enjoyed many of his other works, there's not much left to salvage after the fire's been quenched.
The first chapter is so unappealing, I put the book away for a few months. I decided to give it another chance but in the end, 2 stars is a gift.
For me, the characters just weren't there with the exception of Kitty and even she was 2 dimensional. I had no empathy for anyone. The plot plods along and when we finally get to a climax - it's luke warm.
Give it a pass.

[Ken · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good, eventually. There's a fine line between slowly building tension, and the need to get along with the story. This book struggled with that. And nothing that happened came as much of a surprise...

[Bob Box · Rating 3 out of 5]

Viewed in 1992. An apolcalyptic tale of the eternal struggle between religion and all-consuming evil.

[Adam Martin]

DNF so I am not rating it. I found the writing to be poor and the characters terrible. The fact people kept saying “Do wop!” as if it was an expression was irritating.

[Kyara Taís · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sumamente aburrido, largo y muchas descripciones innecesarias. El tema está bueno, pero me aburrió un montón.

[Lynnette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unusual book. Been a long time since I read Streiber. Glad I started again. This book is amazing. It is definitely about good & evil plus the fine line between. Father John, Father Frank & a policewoman Kitty. Amazing interaction between them. Without spoiling it, it is a horror story & the monster is real. Is it a weakness of man or is it really Satan living among us?

[Susun · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book. Didn't know Strieber had it. I've only read a few of his sci fi and abduction books. A good read for recovering Catholics. Strieber really caught the conflict between man's inherent good and evil and how it can be perverted, both the good and the evil.

[Mitzi Szereto · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing. Much of it didn't make sense. Things weren't explained, too many loose ends, etc. I'd read another of this author's works and was very impressed. This one has put me off reading any more. I don't like giving negative reviews, but...

[bluetyson]

isbn,original

[Connie Becerra · Rating 3 out of 5]

A dark and violent read. Some of it was good, some of it was disturbing so I wouldn't recommend it to anyone that doesn't like a lot of violence. The twist was was good though.

[Rebecca Lowrance · Rating 1 out of 5]

Worst book I ever read. ZERO STARS.