This book had so much potential and then it threw it all away. Why? Because the writer tried to turn this into the start of a series - the downfall of modern story tellers.
Let me explain.
The story starts wonderfully. Children playing in the woods and coming across a thing that is rigidly bound by rules and rituals. An immature god. We then fast forward to modern day and that god is tied with a murderer. A detective must then put the pieces of the past together and solve the mystery behind the murderer and why, after the murderer is captured, the murders don't stop.
Okay, so... that's enough of that, before I go on SPOILERS
So the story starts with the detective being like the reader - trying to solve the mystery behind the series of murders that have plagued the town. There are also comments about how St. Ferdinand continues to attract weirdos. However, turns out the detective knew everything all along and he made a deal with the guy at the circus and the groups of weirdos that do shit in the town... honestly, their names don't matter. They are just placeholders for scattered plot. In short, there was a group of people that knew about the god and that it was evil, they kept it locked up. A person got greedy and wanted to make a deal with it. This other lady that painted paintings so real that they turn... alive, was going to make a painting to trap the god forever and this was prevented. To keep the god in place, someone had to be staring at it at all times. The St Ferdinand killer was cutting people's eyes out to keep the god at bay. When's captured and they remove all the eyes, it gets out and gets stuck in a shed because a little girl with hippy parents has a web cam in there. Then other people are murdered to attract the god and it can't get out. Then we find out the detective had another son and a wife. Oh, and the wife was part of this. Oh, and she was psychic. Oh, and they aren't REALLY dead, she ran off with the one son and OH he's back and OH the hippy kid? Yeah, they are really part of the family aspect. Also there is a magical circus that shows up. Also everything is fortold by a fortuneteller. Oh and she is the hippy kids grandmother. Oh and there is no free will. Oh and the detective always knew, he was just asking "what is the deal with the eyes in st ferdinand" for... us, i guess? The chracter and his knowledge are inconsistent through the story. Oh and the son that returns, he captures the demon. Also there is a girl ghost with steel steak eyes which prevent it from being absorbed by the god.
i could go on.
Basically, it felt like the author had a great idea of a demon/god that exists in the rural town. If the story would have focused on just the girl being tormented and tempted by the god, it would have been a good horror story. Instead the author drank the koolaid and started including a bunch of nonsensicle backstory and super people and secret organizations to set a "world" up so he could serialize the story. Honestly, i feel the fingers of the publishers, editors, and others that said, "hey, why not be like marvel and just keep telling a story that never ends, that's how you make money" and he went for it.
The story does not end satisfactorilly. Nothing is resolved and since everything is destined (according to the fortuneteller) then everything everyone did never really mattered. In the end, everyone's sacrifice and struggle is for naught as the detective astranged son takes the god with him.
It's sad to see a story with so much potential to be a good, self contained tale turned into the shallow hull.
Really enjoying the read - just curious how Amazon can sell me a book that has a bright red banner across the top that says "ADVANCE READER'S EDITION - NOT FOR SALE"
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