Bentley Little crammed so much Greek mythology into this book without making it feel like a course study. That alone is a huge feat. There are constant nods to the Old Gods and the unfortunates that served them.

This is nowhere near my favorite Little book, but it's still damn good. Little seems to be the only author of dark fantasy that strays this far from reality and still entertains me. Clive Barker can't do it. Edward Lee is always a miss for me. Hell, even I tried it with my second novel and screwed it up. But something about Little's characters gel with me. Probably because you never know who the fuck to cheer for.

The ending to this diabolical orgy is sad in the way raping a rapist is gleefully depressing. You've stooped to their level, and that's a tragedy, but another part of you feels like justice has been done. My apologies. You have to read this book to truly understand the previous sentence.

If sex and violence make you squeamish, you might wanna skip this one. There's copulation and death on almost every page, and most of the time in the same sentence as one another. Expect to pummeled over the head with images of people being fucked in two, semen and blood raining down over everything, nuns who like cock, and a scrotum being torn off as if it were an apple being plucked from a tree. This is Little's most sexually charged book, but not in a sexy, erotica way. Think Caligula, then times that by ten. This is a Cannibal Corpse covering a Barry White song.

In comparison to other Bentley Little books (THE IGNORED, THE WALKING, THE RETURNED) this book is a solid three. When compared to other books in the same genre, this book is a five. So I'm going with right in the middle. Four stars. ( )

I really enjoy Little's novels, but this one didn't do anything for me. A total departure for him, which I respect, but just meh...

Two teenagers, Dion and Penelope, have just met, but were destined to be together and bring back the old gods (not Cthulu, but mythological gods). ( )

I love Bentley Little but I have to say this was not his best writing. ( )

When Dion Semele moves to Napa, all he wants is to fit in. But his new life soon becomes a twisted nightmare, as mysterious townspeople claim he is the vessel for the resurrection of the god, Dionysus. Soon Dion and his girlfriend Penelope are caught in a battle for control of their souls and their town as malignant forces plunge Napa into an abyss of debauchery and blood. ( )

As usual with this author, I was pulled in and found this book hard to put down. A bit more sexual than some of the other novels I’ve read by Bentley, but an interesting story. The ending let me down a bit as it seemed it just didn’t wrap up as well as I had hoped. One issue I did have with this book was a publisher problem where about 30 pages towards the end of the book were miscut and I was missing a paragraph or two of each of those pages. I’m sure I missed some critical stuff as it was in a bit of the climax so that cut the enjoyment down a bit. ( )