I was and am disgusted. [The Cult of Eden by Bill Halpin]

"Newlywed Will Battese finds himself homesick and overwhelmed after following his ambitious wife, Shannon, to New York City. When a surprise pregnancy shreds their already meager budget, Will drops out of college and settles for work at a low-end diner. There, a small act of kindness draws the attention of Victor Degas, a man with an unsettling presence and deformed eyes. Unbeknownst to Will, Degas belongs to an ancient, sophisticated cult known as the Edens and believes Will to be the key to gaining otherworldly power. As the sun sets on Good Friday, Degas orchestrates a home invasion in which Will and his baby boy, Gideon, are kidnapped, leaving Shannon to join forces with an unreliable agent from the Roman Catholic Church. While Will struggles to save other innocents from the Eden parish below the city, Shannon discovers that the cult plans to use her family for an unimaginable demonic ritual, and that the Vatican may let it happen. With no one to trust but themselves, Shannon and Will must fight not only to survive, but to keep their humanity intact."

If I look at this book as a horror novel, it deserves a really high rating. The Cult of Eden by Bill Halpin promises a story around a religious cult, a story rife with Catholic lore, and a showdown between good and evil. It wasn't until I started reading the third tenth of the book that the novel picked up for me. Before that it was slow going and my interest and drive to continue with the story was near non-existent. With my eBook copy expiring and trying to read as many books before the month ends, a second wave of inspiration and gusto to finish with the book once and for all took hold.

The first 70 or so pages are pretty tame and bland and it's not until we're introduced to other, more relateable characters that I was invested in the story. Their introduction marks the beginning of ramp-up of the story. A ramp-up that is mostly revolting horror, the best selling point for this book. As I said, if I was told this was a horror story and had been packaged as a horror story, a tale of a family's kidnapping by a crazed religious cult and their harrowing journey and attempts of escape, I might have given this four stars, maybe even five. That aspect of the story was done really well. At the same time because it was done so well I don't want to recommended it. It was done well enough to the point of disgust. So maybe it's better suited to a movie adaptation than a read, the horror story that is. But I can't ignore the entirety of the book.

This is a book about the Catholic faith. A Christian myself, of the Protestant persuasion, I'm not too familiar with Catholic lore or practice so there were a lot of things that were new to me, words, terminologies and traditions that I had to look up. I appreciate learning anytime. I didn't appreciate the plotline in Brazil. I had very mixed, but mostly negative thoughts about the point it served in the novel. Character actions in this subplot were highly distasteful and the whole side story felt very "western missionary" if that makes any sense. Nonsensical character actions were a point of annoyance throughout the novel, but also another reminded of why this would be such a good horror movie.

As a horror novel, I give The Cult of Eden 4-stars. As a religious thriller I give it 2-stars. Once it got going I really enjoyed the writing style. However I'm not sure if we following a biblical chapter:verse naming scheme for book chapters why we had the division of the book into acts like a play. Overall I think I'm going to stick with a 2-star rating. Outside of the horror story the religious slice-of-life story was bland. Overall it was okay. But part of me also would read the sequel and be half-excited to see where it goes. So, 2-stars but I'd read the sequel.

And I was not reading this book and keeping in mind that is the first book of a planned series but the plans for a series are well-laid out. A gruff, reluctant character lends significant aid only to leave with hopeful promises and high stakes mystery surrounding them, conveniently leaving open the path to sequels where conspiracies and cabals are hunted and exposed. The antagonist is unscathed, powered up, and out for revenge. The protagonists are downtrodden, guilt-ridden, and also out for revenge. I think the Catholic lore aspect would play out differently in a sequel, so I might read that whenever it comes out.