The Devil All the Time by Donald Ray Pollock

The Devil All the Time

by Donald Ray Pollock

"Set in rural southern Ohio and West Virginia, The Devil All the Time follows a cast of compelling and bizarre characters from the end of World War II to the 1960s. There{u2019}s Willard Russell, tormented veteran of the carnage in the South Pacific, who can{u2019}t save his beautiful wife, Charlotte, from an agonizing death by cancer no matter how much sacrifi{u00AD}cial blood he pours on his prayer log. There{u2019}s Carl and Sandy Henderson, a husband-and-wife team of serial killers, who troll America{u2019}s highways searching for suitable models to photograph and exterminate. There{u2019}s the spider-handling preacher Roy and his crippled virtuoso-guitar-playing sidekick, Theodore, running from the law. And caught in the middle of all this is Arvin Eugene Russell, Willard and Charlotte{u2019}s orphaned son, who grows up to be a good but also violent man in his own right"--Jacket.

Reviewed by Michael @ Knowledge Lost on

4 of 5 stars

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I have to admit I struggled to get into this book a little; but I don’t think that was the books fault, I’m just easily distracted. The Devil all the Time is a dark southern gothic novel follows the story of some weird characters in southern Ohio and West Virginia over a few decades. The gritty gothic/noir story plays out expertly and every character is flawed and deeply troubled. The book in parts is disturbing; with a lot of sex and violence but all the stories interlink so well to pull together an expertly written book. While I would like to give this book 5 stars, I have to give it 4 because of my struggle with this book; I’d like to revisit this book again one day and see if my opinion has changed.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 28 October, 2016: Finished reading
  • 28 October, 2016: Reviewed
  • Started reading
  • Finished reading
  • 28 October, 2016: Reviewed