Synopsis:
Sweet evil, come deliver us.
Gabriel has spent the last decade trying to forget their best friend, the first boy they ever loved: Jacob. Ripped away from each other in the midst of a family tragedy, Gabriel grieved for Jacob alone, surviving in their small, religious town before finally breaking free to attend college, where they found new friends and relationships to pursue. To Gabriel, Jacob became a distant memory.
Until one fateful Halloween night, when the two are reunited, and Gabriel couldn’t be happier. Now, as adults, they can find the comfort and love that they desired in their adolescence. However, it doesn’t take long for Gabriel to realize that time apart has changed Jacob. The once confident and assured boy has grown into an isolated and obsessive adult. And the more Gabriel discovers about the man they love, the clearer the danger becomes.
When Jacob reveals to Gabriel his life’s work, his studies into the occult, demonic practices, and his ultimate desire to summon and communicate with Paimon, a King of Hell; Gabriel finds themself dragged into a world that they never asked to be a part of. But the further Gabriel goes, the more they realize that the demonic king is not the true threat, and that evil has been beside them all along…
Review:
Horror is not a genre I’d associate with Mason Deaver so I was very intrigued by this audiobook. I do think they’ve got a skill for writing horror as those parts of the book were the best, but this audiobook did miss the mark slightly.
I’m not a huge fan of the narrator for this book. They did a decent job but a lot of their delivery was stilted – they’re a voice actor so I’m definitely holding them to a higher standard. What also didn’t help was the fact that a lot of the book has an audio track running underneath which was very distracting. This music was really cool but it often overshadowed what was going on, something other neurodivergent people may find if they check this out.
I absolutely hated Jacob from the get-go. The speed at which he propositioned Gabriel and accelerated their relationship made me very uncomfortable. The fact they had an intimate relationship when they were teens didn’t make up for how much of a controlling creep he was.
Gabriel’s struggle with gender and body image did link well with Paimon though. I thought this was such a clever idea. Unfortunately this is all you know about him in the end. I can appreciate a good novella but more time should have been spent learning about the other characters and not just explaining yet again why Jacob is studying demonology.
One of the biggest mistakes I made with Another Name For the Devil was listening to the entire book in one sitting. I left myself no time to really take the story in.
However, one thing I did really love how the story came full circle. The opening section was confusing at first but it all makes sense by the end of the book and it’s very chilling. Another Name For the Devil often had me feeling on edge but in the best way possible.
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