This excellently written, compelling, Dark Horror comes with a full complement of Content Warnings....applicable, as it is very Grimdark. Despite that, I couldn't stop; I had to find out "what happens next?" THE COVENANT SACRIFICE confidently provides its readers with multiple villains [wolves in sheep's clothing and in wolves'], so beware: insisting one is of the Light doesn't prove that. There are outright practioners of the Dark Arts, and those who claim goodness but embrace evil. Thankfully, there are also those who are servants of the Light, and those who just hope to live their lives as they see fit, with love of family, friends, and others.
The plot and premise are exceptionally intriguing, and I admire the author's approach to characterization. We really get to know and understand those who populate this novel [even those we wish would just vanish]. There's generational legacy among both the Light and the Dark, so one suspects that rather like Appalachia, whatever the original ancestors have embraced, whether evangelical Christianity, or Dark Arts, or Spiritualism, carries on down through generations.
Content: Rampant Homophobia. Religious fanaticism and persecution. Animal Sacrifice. Human Sacrifice. Human/Insect Metamorphosis. Rape. Physical Abuse. Emotional Abuse. Bullying. Dark Arts.
