Review: The Devil in Gray

The Devil in Gray by Graham Masterton
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Review: THE DEVIL IN GRAY by Graham Masterton

The reader's hook commencing this novel is explosive: the first chapter is gory, violent, and the horror is unexpected and oh so implacable. That implacability stays the course throughout this very suspenseful horror novel. I've long been a fan of this author, but I think THE DEVIL IN GRAY must be one of his best. Set in contemporary Richmond, Virginia, the background locale is vividly detailed. Along with the plot (which does rest on suspension of disbelief), the author generously develops character and emotion, and orchestrates evolution for several of his characters, particularly protagonist Lieutenant Dexter Martin of the Richmond Metro Police Department, and his new partner, Detective Tim Hicks, but also for secondary characters as well. Dexter undergoes a full-fledged change of perspective and really, evolves into an entirely new individual.

Mr. Masterton weaves in some of the rich historical background of the locale, specifically the tragic loss of life at the Battle of the Wilderness in May, 1864, and also some of the ugly historic underbelly such as the Ku Klux Klan. Into this tapestry he also weaves a theme of Santeria, the syncretistic spirituality formed from the Yoruba religion of West Africa imported to the New World with slavery, over which the saints of Roman Catholicism were added to disguise the true beliefs and practices from inquisitive or overbearing slaveholders. The result is a deeply satisfying horror novel.

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