The Devil Aspect

A Novel

By: Craig Russell

Narrated by: Julian Rhind-Tutt

A USA Today Best Mystery of All Time • Steeped in the folklore of Eastern Europe, and set in the shadow of Nazi darkness erupting just beyond the Czech border, this bone-chilling, richly imagined novel is propulsively entertaining, and impossible to put down.

"A wildly entertaining story...Russell has created a truly frightening story." —The New York Times Book Review

Czechoslovakia, 1935: Viktor Kosárek, a newly trained psychiatrist who studied under Carl Jung, arrives at the infamous Hrad Orlu Asylum for the Criminally Insane. The facility is located in a medieval mountaintop castle surrounded by forests, on a site that is well known for concealing dark secrets going back many centuries. The asylum houses six inmates--the country's most treacherous killers--known to the terrified public as the Devil's Six. Viktor intends to use a new medical technique to prove that these patients share a common archetype of evil, a phenomenon he calls The Devil Aspect. Yet as he begins to learn the stunning secrets of these patients, he must face the unnerving possibility that these six may share a darker truth.

Meanwhile, in Prague, fear grips the city as a phantom serial killer emerges in the dark alleys. Police investigator Lukas Smolak, desperate to locate the culprit (a copycat of Jack the Ripper), turns to Viktor and the doctors at Hrad Orlu for their expertise with the psychotic criminal mind. And Viktor finds himself wrapped up in a case more terrifying than he could have ever imagined.

Skilled storytelling

Very well done, thank you. Blah blah blah, good writing, blah blah, suspense, etc etc etc

Excellent performance

The narrator is very good and I really enjoyed his characters. My only complaint is that sometimes the voice was too low.
The story was great too. It got a little tiresome with the “evil” interviews but the twist caught me and I love the ending.

Excellent if you skip the Epilogue

Truly intelligent thriller. A Deeply woven story of horror. One doesn’t usual find horror written so well. The author took his time painting an excellent picture of the time period (just prior to WWII). The book is written similarly to the Exorcist. Blatty and Russel took the time to develop fiction that feels like reality. Creates confusion in the readers mind as to the possibility true evil. By demising a fanatical story in which a reader easily dismiss as nonsense. The author develops a world in which the devil exists. Russel brings these characters to life. You feel their terror. However the Epilogue diminishes the reality. It turns the book into a screen play . I wish I had skipped the epilogue. It would have left me with the foreboding of evil to be unleashed during WWII.

The best book I've listened to in a long time!

Wow! This is a very creepy, very well written suspenseful historical fiction/thriller full of twists. No book has kept my interest and attention throughout its entirety in a LONG time until this one. The plot was well developed with a little bit of pre-war Czech history. There are disturbing and gory parts so it's not for the faint of heart. However, the disturbing and gory parts were not just unnecessarily thrown in for the sake of gore. They are relevant and help make this book so thrilling and captivating. The writing is superb and the narration is excellent. Definitely a breath of fresh air from your usual run of the mill, poorly written domestic thrillers.

Surprise

It kept its secrets hidden till the very end. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes mysteries.