Book Review: "Death Spell" by David Sodergren

Again, I'm reading David Sodergren novels and honestly, I wish I could get enough of these but I can't. After reading books like The Forgotten Island and The Haar which were both brilliant, I moved on to several other texts in the man's bibliography. A severely underrated writer, I have yet to read a book by him that I consider to be 'bad'. In this book about a Faustian pact and some sociopathic behaviour, there is no reason why Death Spell shouldn't be up there as another one of his great books. I mean just check out what this book has to say and then read it for yourself...

Ron Jarvis, a ruthless billionaire media mogul, reflects on the deal he made 25 years ago with a shaman in the jungles of Thailand. That dark ritual gave him the power, wealth, and influence he still wields. From the outset, we can tell this will be a strange, creeping take on the Faustian story. Sodergren does a brilliant job at establishing a sense of dread almost immediately. Though he buried the memory deep, subtle reminders of the bargain gnaw at him, including unexplained deaths. The cost, he suspects, was not fully paid.

His daughter Vivienne, pampered and emotionally fragile, spirals after her actor boyfriend Nick Pulaski dumps her. Of course, we can see where this is going and yet, that doesn't make the intensity of the story disappear. In fact, as we know the turns of the text, it makes the reader anticipate them even more. She threatens self-destruction, rages at her father, and demands he “fix it” with his wealth and connections. Vivienne is clearly a woman who initially, you can't see why Nick dumped her...until you can. You really can.

Jarvis, desperate to keep her stable and bound to him, decides that conventional means won’t work; what she wants is impossible, unless he reopens the door to his old supernatural debt. Of course, because of the recurring nightmares, he doesn't want to do that and yet, he wants to keep his daughter happy. This internal conflict gives us an intense internal conflict, something better than the regular run-of-the-mill gory horror novel.

Jarvis assembles a small "entourage": his loyal but conflicted head of security, and Vivienne herself, before flying to Thailand under the pretence of a luxury trip. In reality, he is retracing the steps of his youth, seeking the same shaman who once altered his fate. I was literally rubbing my hands together at this part, you know shit is about to go down. It reads almost cinematically. David Sodergren proves he can really write in this book and well, I was really still surprised it was so good. I read the whole thing in one sitting and couldn't put it down.

When they finally locate the shaman, now older and frailer but still commanding dark respect, he is reluctant to help. He warns Jarvis that meddling again with such forces will not heal Vivienne’s obsession but instead magnify it, twisting her desires into destructive hunger. Jarvis, arrogant and unwilling to accept limits, insists, offering obscene sums of money. The shaman relents, agreeing to conduct a spell, but under ominous conditions. This definitely feels Faustian, but also feels dangerous and conditional. I love the fact that we know what is going on - he is warned against it but knows he has to do it anyway to appease his terrible daughter and her wants.

In a scene drenched in gore and heavy symbolic mysticism, the shaman leads them in a ritual involving bloodletting, chanting, and grotesque sacrifices. Vivienne, both terrified and exhilarated, submits herself to the process, desperate to have Nick back. The ritual culminates in a hallucinatory frenzy: snakes writhing through the jungle floor, flames dancing without fuel, and Vivienne convulsing as if possessed. Jarvis convinces himself this is success. Now we all know that I love folk horror and ritual stuff, but this takes it to a whole new level. I was really into the whole gore, well-written, folkish atmosphere alongside the possession, the symbolism, the whole chaos of the situation.

At first, the results seem miraculous: Vivienne becomes calm, her rage subsides, and she seems lighter. She insists she can feel Nick’s love “returning.” But the tranquility doesn’t last. Soon she develops violent cravings, speaking in languages she never knew, laughing in voices not her own. Nick Pulaski, miles away in Hollywood, begins to experience terrifying hallucinations and violent impulses, bound unwillingly to the curse Vivienne now carries. I won't say very much more about the storyline but shit goes completely crazy in classic David Sodergren style. We have spells, corruption, we have extreme levels of body horror whilst also maintaining this storyline of internal conflict and wanting to do what is right for someone else.

All in all, I thought this was another fantastic book by David Sodergren. But yet, no two of his books are the same. I felt that even though this one was definitely gory, it was also deeply introspective on the same level as The Haar and had the same exploration of family and friendship dynamics of that text too. However, it worked more on symbolism, old-style supernatural, possession and folk horror than the earlier novels I have read.