Customer Reviews

The Curse of Mesphisto's Seed: Book One: The Day of the Awakening

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Disconcerting and jarring, The Curse of Mesphisto's Seed by William P. Haynes is a masterful story. The characters of good and evil play a game of cat and mouse as redemption is found, then is lost again. The Curse of Mesphisto's Seed draws you into a complex world that twists and turns and compels the reader to remember your religious dogma taught at every Sunday school class.

The story is written from a detatched point of view which I found unsettling. Several times, I had to let previous chapters digest before reading more about the Devil, Mesphisto, his spawn Elliott Stevens, and God and His angel representative, Mark Talbot. I found it disturbing and profound, but maddening to read.

I rate The Curse of Mesphisto's Seed 3 stars for William P. Haynes efforts. This is a book to be read with one hand on the Bible, reading Revelations and the other hand, caressing a religious symbol of faith.

The Curse of Mesphisto's Seed is no less than a masterpeice of genious at work. Fully believable characters and beautiful plot twists insure any reader will be terrified out of their minds. It is easy to get sucked into this suspensful tale of the battle between "good" and evil. This book is worth every penny and more.

There's nothing quite like a good apocalyptic thriller - angels of the light and the dark battling it out, dark excursions into hell, the devil's minions wreaking havoc on earth, etc. The Curse of Mesphisto's Seed: Book One: The Day of Awakening promised a dark taste of such action, but I have to admit it did not completely meet my expectations. Certainly, the idea of the book (and series) is a good one. You have a small child named Elliott who becomes the instrument of Mesphisto's vengeance on earth, and you have a couple of normal human beings who come to stand between him and his dark designs - in not one but two different encounters separated by over twenty years. As the story progressed, though, I found myself bogged down somewhat, confused by the true relationship between Elliott and Mesphisto, sometimes a little bit lost in terms of chronology, and stymied to some degree by the writing style. Eventually, the showdown between good and evil comes, but only after Elliott all but disappears from the narrative while the main heroes banter and bicker among themselves.

I found the writing somewhat discordant. Basically, I longed for more detail about Elliott's dark nature, especially in terms of the power struggle of sorts between him and Mephisto; I wanted to know more about the extraordinary powers one of the heroes acquires following a confrontation with the dark side; and I grew somewhat tired of the dialogue between the good guys in the book's later chapters, as they are apt to fly off the handle for the least little thing. There are a lot of errors and some inconsistencies in the writing, as well as abrupt transitions, all of which kept me from fully connecting with the story. The biggest problem I had with the writing, however, was the fact that it continually shifted between past and present tense, oftentimes in the same sentence - I found that very disconcerting.

Sheriff Joshua Riley and his deputy Mark Talbot are political foes who come together to hold off the first wave of hellish danger posed by young Elliott. The initial confrontation gives Mark supernatural powers, which he uses to transport himself, Joshua, and an ally of the cloth to the very depths of hell itself in order to save a loved one Elliott has kidnapped. Mark does not return from that battle, but Elliott's threat seems to have been eliminated. Then, twenty-two years later, Mark suddenly turns up, not having aged at all. In the midst of Mark's adjustment to the loss of twenty-two years on earth and the beginnings of a relationship with the spunky daughter of the woman he once loved, Elliott turns up again - this time as an evangelical preacher. Thus is the stage set for a second confrontation between good and evil.

The Curse of Mesphisto's Seed got off to a good start, detailing the strange nature of this small child Elliott, his evil excursions in the night with a hellish wolf familiar at his side, and the fear his presence evoked in the eyes of his own mother. I fully expected Elliott to take central stage in the novel, but he virtually disappeared in the middle chapters - and I never really had a sense that I understood very much about him. Mesphisto's means and motives were an even greater mystery to me. Of course, this is only the first book in a series, to some degree setting the stage for what is to come, so I would fully expect the scope of the story to expand in future installments. I'm fairly torn over this novel. I think the writing clearly reveals some weaknesses, yet I have to say I quite enjoyed the story nonetheless, and I plan on following the remaining books in the series.

Elliott Stephens was born in 1950 a miracle child to a couple who were told could never give birth. His father died one year later so he has been raised by his cold single mother, Gloria who blames her child for the death of her spouse. Elliot has no friends and is considered a troublemaker at school. When Elliott loses control he thinks of bad things happening to others; however his fantasies turn real with accidents happening consistently and one student even died. His mom fears him although he is only seven.

Mesphisto has observed Elliott in action selects a mentor to help the lad focus his power. He sends a wolf to guide the lad, but the subservent asks his master to wait until Elliot is an adult to better use him as a pawn of hell. The devil agrees to wait until the kid is stronger, but kills the wolf for disobedience. Though things around Elliot have quieted down, the day of the awakening is coming with hell on earth; God has selected his acolytes to battle the devil's spawn.

William P. Haynes has provided a tense modern day biblical thriller that will grip readers from start to finish. Elliot is fabulous protagonist as he seems like an innocent lab, but instead is a ferocious wolf. His selected opponents do not seem near his equal, but that seems apropos when one considers the selection of Moses as a spokesperson. Fans of angel-devil warfare on earth will want to read the exciting first book of THE CURSE OF MESPHISTO'S SEED though be warned that the font seems small.

Harriet Klausner