Books › The devil all the time
The devil all the time
261 pages
A pitch-black, blood-soaked descent into the darkest corners of rural America, where faith and violence are inextricably entwined.
What it feels like
Reading this book feels like driving down a pitch-black country road with the headlights off, waiting for an inevitable, violent collision. It is a masterclass in dread, steeping the reader in an oppressive, sweat-slicked atmosphere of rural desperation and twisted faith. The narrative moves with a propulsive, grim momentum as a cast of deeply damaged, morally bankrupt characters hurtle toward one another. The prose is stark and muscular, delivering unspeakable horrors with a chilling, matter-of-fact cadence that refuses to look away. It is not a story for the faint of heart, offering little in the way of redemption or light. Instead, it delights fans of unflinching grit lit and Southern Gothic nightmares who crave a visceral, unapologetically brutal exploration of generational trauma and the inescapable gravity of violence.
- Mood
- dread-soaked
- oppressive
- macabre
- claustrophobic
- Tone
- unflinching
- bleak
- gritty
- cynical
- Pace
- propulsive
- Themes
- religious fanaticism · generational trauma · inescapable violence · rural desperation · corruption of faith
- The writing
- Stark, muscular, and unsparingly visceral, delivering horrors with a chillingly matter-of-fact Midwestern cadence.
- The arc
- A relentless descent into a grim, blood-soaked world where moments of brutal justice offer the only fleeting catharsis.
- Who it's for
- Readers who crave pitch-black Southern Gothic tales, unflinching grit lit, and stories of morally compromised characters colliding in unforgiving landscapes.
Content notes
- graphic violence
- animal cruelty
- sexual assault
- religious abuse
- gore
About the book
"Set in rural southern Ohio and West Virginia, The Devil All the Time follows a cast of compelling and bizarre characters from the end of World War II to the 1960s. There{u2019}s Willard Russell, tormented veteran of the carnage in the South Pacific, who can{u2019}t save his beautiful wife, Charlotte, from an agonizing death by cancer no matter how much sacrifi{u00AD}cial blood he pours on his prayer log. There{u2019}s Carl and Sandy Henderson, a husband-and-wife team of serial killers, who troll America{u2019}s highways searching for suitable models to photograph and exterminate. There{u2019}s the spider-handling preacher Roy and his crippled virtuoso-guitar-playing sidekick, Theodore, running from the law. And caught in the middle of all this is Arvin Eugene Russell, Willard and Charlotte{u2019}s orphaned son, who grows up to be a good but also violent man in his own right"--Jacket.
Description from Open Library.
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