Book Review: Out of Body: Master of the Archons
Hands down, Mr. Chater has made me enjoy reading again, and I'm here for it.
Synopsis
Harley Baker sold his soul to the devil. The hellish fate meant he had to ghost the girl he loved and bail on his best friend. Signing with Satan also turned his body into an Airbnb for every demon in the underworld. Its latest tenant is Yaldabaoth, false god, self-proclaimed creator of the material world, total douche. While out of body, Harley’s forced to watch the imposter squat in his old apartment in Washington DC, weasel its way into his friend’s lives, and schmooze with technology elites. Yaldabaoth’s goal has always been to keep souls trapped in the material world. Now the evil archon thinks it may have found a twenty-first century solution in an immersive platform called Pleromaverse. Luckily for Harley, being damned to hell comes with its privileges. He can possess the bodies of sinners. So, to protect his friends and save souls from a simulated prison, he’s got around an hour in the meatsuits of a porn-addicted priest, a teenaged serial killer, and a billionaire occultist.
My Review
I. Love. This. Book.
If you've followed my reviews for any length of time, then you know I'm difficult to please, but pleased I am by this supernatural offering from Christopher John Chater.
While the latest in this series, this book stands on its own well enough. (Though I'm totally going to read his entire back catalog.)
Everything in this story is a win. Characters, plot, pacing, dialogue... all of it.
I love the characters. The opening is a great hook, starting with a well-written possession! With his friends Darren and Stephanie, our unlikely protagonist Harley leads us through this supernatural thriller with unexpected twists and turns along the way. Even the minor characters feel fleshed out and plausible.
The plot is layered well, building a realistic world that feels like it could happen in ours. Fast-paced, I devoured the entire plot line in less than two hours. Mainly because I couldn't put it down.
I even interrupted my husband several times to read snippets that made me so happy. And he listened, since he knows how picky I am about what I read.
The dialogue moved the story along, as it should. Not once was I jarred out of the story by anything cringy or unrealistic. The entire cast talked like real people caught in a weird supernatural predicament.
I loved the supernatural elements. As a writer of paranormal thrillers, I appreciate the way the supernatural parts were woven into the storyline, making it much more urban fantasy akin to Dresden or Anita Blake than horror.
Don't get me wrong. There is some spectacularly detailed death scenes, but they work without turning the story into a slasher piece.
The twists and turns were plentiful, and despite how fast I tore through this book, I was invested in the characters and gasped in my dismay over some of the things that happened.
Dark, broody, and marvelous. If you want a quality read from a quality author, you should pick up this series from Mr. Chater. Then we can all ask him when the next one is coming out!
Bravo, sir. BRAVO.