Going Down, Party Time. My Friends Are Gonna Be There Too: Michael Laimo, Rock Stars, and a Highway to Hell

by Tony Fonseca

06/26/2005

Laimo, Michael. The Demonologist. New York: Leisure, 2005. 369 p.

I am not much a fan of Edward Lee, so you can imagine my reaction to Michael Laimo's latest novel, The Demonologist, which has shades of Lee's hellish imagery throughout (particularly in dream sequences) and graphic gore galore. Despite my negative reaction to Laimo's visceral description, however, I found myself being drawn into the story of a forty-two year-old rocker, Bevant Mathers.

The novel begins with Mathers in his safe place, on stage in front of a screaming audience. He suffers the first of many "attacks" while performing, where he becomes disoriented and feels claws "scratching at his brain." We then learn that Bev, as he is called, lost his wife in a car crash (and still carries some guilt since he was the driver when it occurred), and has raised his daughter single-handedly. The two have a good relationship, until he begins touring to promote his newest hits. In the midst of a long tour, he begins feeling the claws, becoming disoriented, and starts to hear voices.  

His doctor is of little help, but a smallish, dark-skinned man who follows him around seems to understand what Bev is going through. Suffice it to say, without giving away too much of the novel of course, that there is some demon worship involved, and the possible resurrection of the demon Belial. As it turns out, Bev's late wife was already involved in the resurrection plot, and now he is needed as her stand in. Enter a mysterious priest / archaeologist, and you have the makings of a modernized Exorcist.

What makes The Demonologist work is that Bev, although an American Idol, is a likable character. He is a bit obtuse, which may grate on some nerves. He waits an entire day to open an envelope given him by the mysterious man, when any normal person would have opened it immediately. He strikes up a relationship with a new woman, a music columnist who reminds him of his late wife, sleeps with her, finds himself awakened by one of his mysterious, vivid dreams featuring demons and sexual perversion, and instead of telling his newfound romance that he is having problems, kisses her on the cheek and says "I'll call you" as he is rushing to leave the room (Ouch). He takes an entire day to check up on his daughter when she doesn't answer her cell phone after repeated calls. You almost want to cheer on the demon that is attempting to possess his body. After all, no demon could possibly be as obtuse as our hero, and the possession would be an improvement in that area.

But these quibbles aside, the novel succeeds as your old fashioned good versus evil, demons attempting to destroy the world fare. As such, it is a welcome change from so much of the pseudo-intellectual horror that has been flooding our bookshelves as of late.

Eventually we learn that demons and possession are real in Laimo’s fictional universe, not some metaphoric representation of a troubled mind. Bev is indeed headed for a showdown with the evil bad guys. Unfortunately, as in most horror, the final confrontation turns out to be cliché, to the point where it seems nonchalant. There are some interesting twists as to who ultimately fights on the sides of good and evil, but these only make the ending thoughtful—not really interesting though. I've often held that the central problem in horror is that an author has to create a monster that is truly menacing to humanity, one that cannot be stopped by any conventional means, and then must, in the next breath, come up with a way for humans to defeat that monster. This can often lead to trite endings where characters have to have an orgy in a cave, or worse yet, "sing" at the creature to send it back whence it came. So it is difficult to fault Laimo too much for that shortcoming, as it is shared by so many.

Needless to say, The Demonologist is not destined to be a classic. But it is not the worst novel you will pick up—unless you are really squeamish about sexuality and / or hate gory scenes. I found it to be a relatively fast, light read, packed with enough cliffhangers to keep me wanting to turn to the next chapter. The mystery unfolds nicely, even though some of the elements of demonic possession here are rather formulaic. But then again this is one of those Leisure, the "Harlequin of Horror," first run titles.