Demon Dagger

James (Lambs Among Wolves) makes a familiar trope fresh in this gripping horror novel. In 1995, 13-year-old Drew Price is taken to a psychiatrist by his mother, who’s concerned by her son’s descriptions of the monsters he sees among crowds of ordinary people. The doctor surprises Drew by validating the visions and introducing him to a demon hunter named Lincoln, who explains that Drew has been seeing people possessed by demons, and that possession happens to those who bargain away their souls to have their greatest desire met. Lincoln trains Drew to master his special ability, but the mentorship ends tragically when Drew discovers Lincoln’s butchered body, ripped apart by something with more than human strength. Twenty-five years later, Drew, now a husband and father, works as an L.A. County deputy sheriff. He finally gets a chance for answers when the man who falsely confessed to killing Lincoln admits that someone else was responsible. But Drew’s pursuit of the real killer, using the eponymous weapon he’d retrieved from Lincoln’s home, jeopardizes his family as a wrathful demon targets his son. It’s standard genre fare, but by giving Drew emotional depth and such a robust backstory, James elevates this above similar efforts. The result is a thrilling game of supernatural cat and mouse. (Aug.)