Evil in Me

Huge thanks to NetGalley, Tor Nightfire, and Macmillan Audio for the ARC. Stephanie Németh-Parker and Shahjehan Khan both do a fantastic job delivering their character work.

Ruby Tucker has run into some problems, and while she usually lets her anger out, rather than bottling it up, she’s just trying to course correct so she can move on. After her court mandated volunteering, she makes a bit of money on the side helping her disabled and eccentric neighbor. But while cleaning up and organizing his collection of religious relics, Ruby comes into contact with a possessed, demonic ring. Attaching itself to her finger, there’s little she can do to get it off. I enjoyed the use of Jewish mythology for the story, especially as it’s not something I’ve experienced before.

I’ve seen a lot of things label this as fantasy, and I have to say the mythology parts certainly had a fantasy otherworldly feel to them, but if anything it’s definitely urban fantasy/mythology based in horror.

While most of this read as kind of an unserious novel, the author actually does a pretty solid job combining a large number of elements. Personal and familial drama, possession and demonic influence, a rogue serial killer, and a time in which rock-n-roll was fueling the news and nation into a Satanic panic.

Not only is the ring vying for control of Ruby’s mind, but there is an actual entity bodily inhabiting her. Sent by the demon controller of the ring, his momentary freedom allows for him to try to steer Ruby to freedom as well. While the first attempts release demon spawn, at the very least one of them can play the drums. These kind of silly things kept me engaged with the plot line that was a bit more far out, and it did build into a nice emotional connection with the otherworldly characters.

The ending for me wasn’t entirely a win, it didn’t stick the landing. It certainly does subvert expectations, but it just seemed too much like giving up…spend the entire novel fighting it and looking for a way out and then you just give in? I won’t say more as I want to avoid spoilers, but that’s my gripe with this one. There is also an original song that plays throughout the novel, representing the song that Ruby must get people to sing to build the magic that will save her. Definitely not my cup of tea, I found it kind of corny, although it was for sure stuck in my head by the end. Regardless, this is one I will be thinking over for a while for sure.

Brom is one of my favorite horror authors, in part because his stories are just that good, but also because I love that he writes horror with heart. Evil in Me is no different, and it’s also an exploration of emotional turmoil.

Even before her possession, Ruby felt out of control of her own life. Beel, the demon possessing Ruby, is only doing so because he’s controlled by a more powerful demon. Control is an extremely prevalent theme as even side characters have suffered due to circumstances beyond their control, or circumstances they believe to be beyond their control. It’s easy to relate to Ruby as she struggles not just in the fight for her soul, but the fight for her power, the control she lost long before the ring found its way into her life.

As always, Brom created a fun cast of characters for Evil in Me. I loved Vutto, as I expect most people will (I’m serious – I expect you to like him and if you don’t, we can’t be friends), and everyone needs a friend like Tina. The book has major “roadtrip with a punk rock band of weirdos” vibes, which makes it really fun for a horror novel. There were high stakes, but aside from one scene, I didn’t feel particularly tense. This one definitely had more of a fun, lighthearted feel.

The narration of the audiobook was honestly amazing. Stephanie Németh-Parker voiced most of it and I loved how she laughed, scoffed, sang, etc. along with Ruby, instead of just telling us Ruby was doing it. I’ve never listened to an audiobook with a narrator that consistently added those types of emotions into their narration. Shahjehan Khan also did a great job with Richard’s narration. You can really hear Richard’s confidence in the beginning and how the events of the book affect him in his voice. But the narration itself isn’t the only thing to rave about because there is MUSIC. Ruby has to write a song and when she performs it, an actual band, The Maxines, performs it on the audiobook. It is the bee’s knees, as Richard would say. I love audiobooks that include more than just a simple reading of the book, so this one really checked off a lot of boxes for me.

The print version of Evil in Me has nearly two dozen illustrations and I’ve seen enough of of them (and Brom’s art in general) to know they are not to be missed, so I recommend listening while reading if possible for an immersive experience with both music and illustrations. Best of both worlds!

Thanks very much to both NetGalley and Macmillan Audio, from whom I received an ALC of Evil in Me.