The Devil inside

Personal Demons
a novel by Greg Lamberson

Publisher: Broken Umbrella Press
Pub. Date: October 2004
ISBN: 0975468014
Format: Paperback
Website: www.slimeguy.com

After seeing Slime City , which was written and directed by Gregory Lamberson [reviewed in BOFFM #1 ], I had certain preconceived notions about what his first novel Personal Demons would be like. I thought is might be like his movie: campy with over-the-top gore. But even though it has enough gore to satisfy most horror fans, Personal Demons is a sharp, sophisticated novel that merges several genres with a fast-paced plot. While the novel is foremost in the horror genre, it manages to incorporate science fiction, mystery, and Biblical thriller elements into its story.

The title, Personal Demons , works on several levels. The novel opens with a serial killer called “The Cipher” who seems to have many personal demons of his own. The victim of an abusive childhood, he now expertly slashes the throats of his victims but before he kills them, he takes a snapshot of them in terror so he can have the image tattooed on his flesh later. But this is the lesser of his oddities. He also is able to steal their souls in the moment of death.

Hunting the Cipher is the novel's protagonist, Jake Helman (a name with resonances as well), whose many inner demons are soon to be far exceeded by real walking, talking demons. Jake is a bent cop whose addictions and corruptions are catching up with him. After shooting a pair of armed robbers, Jake must leave the force because even though the shooting is righteous, the cocaine in his system would be revealed in the required drug test. When his wife learns of this, it looks as if he may lose her as well as his job. But the shooting and his hunt for the Cipher have caught the attention of Nicholas Tower , a Howard Hughes type of reclusive billionaire whose corporation leads the world's genetic engineering. Tower, known as Old Nick (a folk name for Satan, a nice touch), needs a new Chief of Security to protect his empire from its many enemies, and he offers the job to Jake. This high paying and highly respected position could offer redemption to Jake and perhaps get him his wife back. As a flawed hero, Jake is sometime hard to like, but he is somewhat redeemed by his vast, if not always fidelitous, love for his wife.

As Jake becomes more familiar with the mysterious Tower corporation and the futuristic work it is doing, he finds his redemption may come not in working for Old Nick, but in stopping him. The genetic work done at Tower includes the creation of monstrous creatures for military applications. Jack begins investigating the firm itself and the trail leads him to shadowy religious protesters, man-eating creatures, demonic visitations, and eventually back to the Cipher and his role in a battle between good and evil.

What is most startling is that this never becomes ponderous but instead is built up step by step in a fast moving story. So it makes sense that the novel won the inaugural Anubis Award for Horror in 2004, conducted by Broken Umbrellas Press. Although this is Lamberson's first published novel, he is an experienced writer. His film scripts include the aforementioned Slime City , New York Vampire and Naked Fear . He also writes a column, “The Big Scream,” for Post Mortem magazine, and has published work in many other horror magazines. So Lamberson is likely to be an author to keep watching.

by Nemo Swift
reprinted from BOFFM #2