Book Review - Pandemonium

Title: Pandemonium
Author: Daryl Gregory
Publisher: Del Ray
ISBN: 978-0-345-50116-5
283 pages

I'd classify this book as an alternate reality/science fiction mash up, to be honest.

In a world like our own, demons have been possessing people since the 1950's and now people have just learned to accept it, wait it out and move on when the demon leaves.

Del Pierce is one of these people. Possessed as a child by a demon called the Hellion, a Denise the Menace type demon whose trouble making can be deadly, it took his family a long time and a lot of work to get Del back. Though, years later, it would seem that the Hellion never left.

For a first time novel, this one reads really well. I liked how there were 'intermission' type chapters that gave a glimpse into the different demons and what sort of situations they tended to appear in. As the story progressed, I realized those little vingettes were there for a reason.

The concept is certainly interesting and I think Gregory did a pretty good job of putting together a decent tale with an ending that, although open ended, worked well enough that I wasn't frustrated with a lack of closure.

I'll certainly pick up more of Daryl Gregory's works.