To the Devil, a Daughter

Black Magic, Book 4

By: Dennis Wheatley

Narrated by: Gareth Thomas

'One of the most popular storytellers of the century.'—The Telegraph

A businessman makes a deal with a satanic clergymen, and has his daughter baptised into Satan's church. Twenty-one years later, provided she is still a virgin, she is destined to be the centrepiece of a hideous satanic ritual.

Molly Fountain, a tough-minded Englishwoman who worked for the British Intelligence during the war, has retreated to her French cottage to write. Next door she finds a new, mysterious neighbour, an intriguing young girl named Christina.

Why did the solitary girl leave her rented house only for short walks at night? Why was she so frightened? Why did animals shrink away from her? Molly and her son are determined to save Christina from the clutches of what promises to be a fate worse than death.

©1953 Wheatley Books Ltd. and International Literary Properties UK Ltd (P)2024 Royal Wave Media, Inc.

A true potboiler

I must admit that this book was a disappointment for me. I had been looking forward to reading this entry into the 'Black Magic' series, but it didn't deliver. This book is more of a potboiler than a horror novel. It lacks any tension in the writing or sense of danger, it also hasn't aged well. The book is a0 good read and a true page turner but that is not enough to save the run of the mill story and flat characters. That's a shame because this book showed so much promise.

Enjoyable horror, but oh, that narrator!

If you ignore Wheatley's predictable rants about socialism yada yada, this is not a bad tale. But the narrator's dreadful habit of droppin' the "g"s from every freakin' gerund he encounters becomes intolerable very quickly. Extremely annoyin'!