The Devouring #2: Soulstice

Being the sequel to The Devouring, I thought the book was perfect. It lived up to its expectations and provided me with an entertaining, thrilling read. Im usually dubious about sequels, as they tend to focus more on character development and thus either end up being dry or being stuck in a rut when it comes to plot. Soulstice however has no problem carrying on the story and the plot flowed easily. It was clear and to the point. There was substantial character development just about every character evolved differently (either for good or for worse).

As the story was interesting, this was an easy flowing read for me and like The Devouring, it got me from the start. Its the type of book you have to read either through one sitting, or drop all the other books youre reading to finish this one. Its definitely an attention grabber. The book had all the makings of a horror movie, but by reading it, it makes it much more thrilling and more scary as it leaves it up to the reader to imagine the sights, the smells, and the sounds. I love the dream sequences the most. Thats where you can look into the authors imagination and really appreciate it. Besides the horror aspect of the novel, theres also a bit of comic relief (however not so much as the previous book). It makes the story take a break from the horror  and although die hard horror fanatics might think its unnecessary I thought it was well done and placed in strategic points of the book where it fits just fine.

As for the storys predictability, well I sort of figured out what Quinn was up to. However I dont consider that to be a negative point in the book. I dont see anything that needs improvement. The cliffhanger ending made me nearly want to pull my hair out though, and Im really eager to read the third book; Fearscape (due out in October of 2010).

Overall perfectly written sequel, cliffhanger ending. What more could you want in a horror?

(reprinted from my own book blog)