Hell's Beginning by John T.M. Herres; Bloody, Graphic, Paranoiac Horror/Thriller About a Unique Killer

 Hell's Beginning by John T.M. Herres; Bloody, Graphic, Paranoiac Horror/Thriller About a Unique Killer

By Julie Sara Porter 

Bookworm Reviews 

Spoilers: I will have to reveal a very important plot twist so I will reiterate that this review has VERY IMPORTANT MAJOR HEAVY DUTY SPOILERS!!!!

 What can be worse than facing a creature that defies human explanation, has superhuman abilities, has origins that date back to ancient times, has no compassion, empathy, or human emotions, and is seemingly unstoppable? How about one who is all of that and one that you can't see and could potentially be anyone around you?

That is the concept surrounding John T.M. Herres’ Hell's Beginning, a graphic, bloody, paranoiac Supernatural Horror about a hunt for a creature just like that.

In the beginning of the book, we receive a first person narration from a very creepy character who is planning to rape and abduct Sharon, a woman whom they see in a bar. After that happens, they pursue a group of young people at a make out session. When one of the kids at the session, Tammy, is reported missing, the search is on for her and Sharon's kidnapper and potential murderer.

Okay, not bad, not good but familiar. It’s from the point of view of a serial kidnapper, possibly killer, a human serial kidnapper and their victims. We’ve read that before. 

The book alternates perspectives. The Abductor gives theirs as they psyche themselves up before they put their awful thoughts into action and the victims give theirs as they struggle to survive and fight this terrifying ordeal.

The book is very tense and there is definitely a sense that The Abductor is driven by uncontrollable obsessions and compulsions. “It's just a Psychological Thriller,” we might be heard to say, “Just a very real frightening human Psychological Thriller.”

Then something happens that completely changes how we see The Abductor and the society in which they live. When The Abductor is murdered in retaliation by Mike, one of Tammy's friends, a blue mist emerges and enters inside Mike. Suddenly, Mike has a different voice and outlook and is also compelled by a desire to claim and destroy everything around him.

Hell's Beginning shifts from a Psychological Thriller to a Supernatural Horror. What was once human now is something demonic. It was someone with a form, a shape, and a body.

There may have been a reason, an actual origin for their hatred and what they did. While it's hard to get into the minds of a serial killer, at least you know what might happen when you're in there. At least a human psychotic can be stopped by a bullet, their own hand, or a prison cell. We know what the characters are getting into when they confront them. It may not end up well for everyone but at least they can be defeated.

Now what we read about is something completely different. A human killer is replaced by a demonic force that enters a human body and forces it to commit violence. The human host has completely mentally disappeared leaving the parasite demon in its place. 

This exchange with Mike isn't the first and only time that The Demon has done this. It's done this before and since several times throughout the book, hopping from body to body and controlling one mind after another.

Just think about it. This Demon can't be killed because it goes from the victim to the murderer. It takes a different form and voice and is smart enough to access its new host’s memories and experiences to imitate them flawlessly and gain access to their stuff. Its pursuers don't know who it is inside next. 

It could be in anyone and anywhere. A bystander, a witness, a family member, even their own spouse or partner. The paranoia is justifiably thick as characters have to face an enemy that is potentially all around them.

There is an interesting subtext concerning the Demon. It slips between human forms when the human kills the previous body. Perhaps The Demon is a metaphor for violence itself. Jumping from body to body suggests that we all have the capacity to commit violence. 

That urge lays dormant inside us and is just waiting for an outlet to bring it forward. Whether because of hatred, vengeance, self-defense, or commitment to patriotism and justice, sometimes we want to hurt others. This demon is just a manifestation of our worst desires to do so.

It's easy to defeat a monster that exists outside of oneself. It's a Hell of a lot harder to fight the one within.