Diavolino [Paperback]

When I look for excuses to read rather than work, the book must be a page-turner. Such was the case with Diavolino. Was it a good idea for the Catholic Church to exile their murderer and rapist priests to an island where there might be a latent supernatural phenomenon? When Tom Lubton and his family arrives on Diavolino, they find out that, not only are the locals from Polvese dead set against development of the island, but, there is also something strange and threatening on Diavolino itself. Soon they are in for a hair-raising adventure filled with the stuff of their worst nightmares.

This extremely well-researched and suspense laden book kept me spellbound for hours. Filled with action from the word go, the story builds to a mighty climax in the second half of the book. The author took the time to wind the story down in a satisfactory way with some of the questions unanswered - something that I like in a book.

The characters are truly realistically and skillfully crafted. From Sir Roger, the typical old English gentleman, to the numerous Italian locals on Polvese, they are all so absolutely unique and vivid that I could visualize them throughout the story. Some of the bad guys actually have second thoughts when they realize how destructive their mission is, and what is an almost five-hundred-year old priest and his doctor, who is a transplant specialist, doing in the Vatican?

The author uses multiple points of view to tell the story and this serves to crank the suspense up to almost unbearable at times. During the main crisis of the book, he adds what is being broadcast on the media to the rapidly switching points of view thus emphasizing the sense of disaster. This book contains some of the best descriptions of pure evil that I have ever read. His use of the mythical Stymphalian birds gives a nicely inventive twist to the events.

For an edge-of-your-chair reading experience I highly recommend Diavolino, a truly five star read by an author who clearly put in a great deal of effort to create a highly exciting and informative book. (Ellen Fritz)

I really totally enjoyed this book, despite the fact that I was up all night because I absolutely HAD to know what happened next!
Diavolino is just one of those books that you are engrossed in from the moment you start reading it, it's impossible to not make the world disappear as you immerse yourself into the book.

It was my first exposure to this author, and it's an exposure I definitely am looking forward to continuing. Everything about this book was vivid and juicy, from the descriptions of the weather to the dank and disgusting tunnels. The characters are fully fleshed (unless they are not blessed with flesh, but that would be a spoiler, now wouldn't it?)

While I can see where many people would see it as a story of good versus evil, to me, it was more primal than that even, almost back to the dawn of man and the eternal struggle between darkness and light. The story horrified me, made me smile, made me laugh, made me cringe in fear...the full range of emotions got a workout as I read this story. Steve Emmett is an author to watch, and I can see what he drags up from the bowels of the earth next to force us to take a look at the nature of man and his place in the cosmos.

Definitely get this book, but don't start reading it on Sunday night or you'll hate yourself on a Monday morning, because you won't be able to put it down.

Tom Lupton is hired by an old friend, Sir Roger, who happens to be a billionaire businessman, to build a house on an island Sir Roger has purchased in Italy. Tom's wife and young daughter go along and they see the weeks they will spend there as a grand adventure, a once-in-a-lifetime experience. The island Roger purchased, however, has been vacant for centuries after atrocities were committed there and the towns people shut it off to civilization. It only takes a few days for the adventure to turn sour. Tom's assistant disappears, then mysteriously reappears a day later in a coma. The Lupton's daughter sees a pig-faced creature watching her from the trees and later believes it was in their home. The incidents are all being orchestrated by an old priest named Clavelli who wants to claim the island as his own to reanimate an ancient evil that he has lived for his whole life.

Diavolino was a very entertaining book. Emmett's writing flows smoothly and gives you clearly delineated characters to root for and against. I found them all to be real people as well, no stereotypes or cardboard cut-outs. He does especially well with some gruesome descriptive passages that really allow you to feel and smell the scenery. Diavolino is an excellent horror story.