Review by Booklist Review
Demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren have a message they want to share--"that there is a demonic underworld and that on some occasions it can be a terrifying problem for people." And with the help of writer Robert David Chase, they discuss some of their most baffling, hair- and question-raising psychic investigations. In 15 chapters (called "case files," some of which are interviews with the Warrens, others, re-creations of events), the authors tell of exorcisms that didn't take, of finding and losing mental contact with Bigfoot, and, in a chapter entitled "Jane Seymour" (which is almost laughably devoid of Jane Seymour) of a ghost who didn't want to leave a Malibu mansion. The Warrens seem to be sincere and likable people, and their adventures are extraordinary; the chapters end quickly, however, often with one-sentence summations that leave the reader wanting more. These down-to-earth and otherworldly snippets of "demonic infestation" will interest ghost watchers everywhere. A selection of the Literary Guild/Doubleday Book Club. --Eloise Kinney
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Amazing how those pesky demons get into everything. And when you find your home, town, or teen-ager infested by the little dickens, who you gonna call? Why the demon-busting Warrens of course--just like the harried souls chronicled in this puffball of a memoir. Not all the people highlighted here tangled with demons, however. The chapter entitled ""Case File: Jane Seymour,"" for example, tells how Lorraine Warren once met Seymour in Hollywood, then ran into her years later at Heathrow Airport; but the ""disturbed"" house the chapter deals with has nothing to do with Seymour. Not to worry, though; a bit later, the authors discuss ""The case of The Devil in Connecticut""--which, they claim, ""dominated worldwide headlines for several months."" Like the book's 16 other cases--all prefaced by Ed Warren, wife Lorraine, or coauthor Chase; half sketchily told in Q&A format, half in straight narrative--this one, that of a boy killer who claimed demonic possession as his defense, is presented with zero documentation or corroboration, and astounding naivet‚--or cynicism: ""Q: Then nobody really escapes possession completely? Ed: Oh, no. (Sighs) It changes your life in ways most people can't imagine."" But imagine this: Lorraine--who claims psychic powers--tapping into the mind of a Bigfoot; Lorraine reliving two murders, helping cops to solve the crimes; Ed and Lorraine confronting a lost soul who's not only a necrophiliac, but who watches dirty movies (""Sometimes when we commit a sin that's particularly bad, we invite demons into our lives,"" Ed tells him); Ed and Lorraine waxing sentimentally spooky about a ghost town in Conn.: just a bit of the nasty fluff stuffed within these dull, sorry pages. Hocus-pocus hokum, pawned off with neither style nor credibility. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
