Customer Reviews

Unholy Fire

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I've always admired Whitley Streiber's talent with words, and he succeeds in creating an atmosphere of evil in this novel, but the plot just doesn't hang together. I found the character Maria puzzling and wondered if we'd learn more about why she seduces priests, but unless I missed something, we never do. The action moves on to the three priests and the two detectives and we never find out what Maria did with that leather cape, or why she screwed the young priest but loved the old priest.

Then there's the matter of the horrible acts, the cruel burning of the victims. Are we to assume that the seduction had something to do with invoking the evil presence responsible for these acts, or was Maria, like Mary, pure and good?

I got to the end of the book and felt unsatisfied. I realized I had no idea why any of the evil deeds happened. The tidbits thrown in about the Inquisition and the obsession with fire were interesting, and we even get a priest who was abused (by a bishop!) as a child, but there seemed to be no concept behind the story. What is the lesson we are suposed to get from reading this? Or were we just supposed to enjoy the terror?

I've read all of Streiber's alien contact books which are compelling and beautifully-written, but after reading this novel I see why some people think he is simply a nut case.

A couple of detectives have a very difficult and horrifying puzzle to
solve. They have to work out which of several bodies a demon is
inhabiting. First, you have to work out how to tell, and then how to
prove it. Not to mention what do you actually do it about it when you
find it.

Lots of corruption of priests abounds here, fairly amusing some of it.

Considering its subject matter (sexual tempting of priests and hypocrisy in the Church) Whitley Strieber's Unholy Fire seems ripe for republication, and even riper for serious rereading. Those familiar with the genre will easily see who the possessed party is, but it's the necessity (and abuse) of faith rather than the standard horror elements that really drive the plot. Recommended.

Don't waste your time. This books starts out bad and gets worse. I'd recommend Screw Tape Letters as an alternative.

Pure S&M porn, leaving no doubt that Strieber is a card-carrying mental case. He obviously revelled in spewing out this garbage.