Book Review: HELL SPAWN by Declan Finn

Saint Tommy, NYPD book 1

For the last couple of years, anyone who’s been in Declan Finn’s social media orbit has definitely seen his promo posts about his Saint Tommy NYPD series. At last count he’s up to about a dozen volumes featuring an NYPD homicide detective who handles everything from ancient superweapons to Vatican ninjas to human trafficking. Along the way, he gets some help from On High as he battles the forces of darkness in the Big Apple.

Between the motif, the titles, and the subject matter, I always summed up Declan’s series as “Catholic Dresden Files.” Now that I’ve finally gotten around to reading the first entry, I can confidently say that description fits.

Granted, there are some exceptions: Saint Tommy is a very streamlined series that doesn’t spend too much time staring at the scenery, while the last few Dresden Files books have reeeeeeally taken their time to get where they’re going.

There’s also the minor distinction where every woman in Harry Dresden’s world is a hot sexual libertine with giant boobs who aggressively tries to get him in the sack, only for him to (usually) reject their advances. Thomas Nolan is a married and devoted man who doesn’t have time for that thot behavior.

But let’s handle the basics first:

The Story

An evil spirit is hopping around and inhabiting different hosts in Queens, New York. Whoever has this spirit inside them is incredibly strong, vicious, violent, and kills people. Tommy Nolan encounters this spirit without first knowing what it is, but as he interacts with it, certain new abilities manifest within him that help him meet the threat.

That sounds simple and straightforward, but the road to victory is twisty and full of potholes. Before he gets to the end, his wife and son face mortal danger, his house is haunted, and bodies start piling up. We’ve seen this kind of “body-hopper” ghost before, but Finn’s unique take is on how it carries out its killings. Once Tommy recognizes the killer’s M.O. matches that of an Old Testament demon, things get very hairy.

Why? Because even if Tommy Nolan is a fictional character, this murder method isn’t, and killers inflict it on their victims every day IRL. This wasn’t “Dresden, but he’s Catholic and has rosary beads instead of a staff.” This quickly became a story that showed evil demons doing evil demon things, and when they pull the mask off, you see that it’s something happening around us with shocking regularity.

We throw around “LOL” a little too casually. You aren’t actually “laughing out loud” when you LOL. Me? I was listening to this at work last week and when that plot development dropped, I did an actual “Oh damn!” out loud. No spoilers. Let it hit you like it hit me.

Declan Finn definitely goes there, and he goes at it full speed, showing the work of demons in the real world and putting it into his story.

The Characters

Saint Tommy is an action hero that Christianity in general—and Catholicism in particular—can really sink its teeth into. I myself am a different flavor of Jesus Follower than the main character or the author, but I still saw something I could admire in Detective Nolan’s ironclad adherence to his faith, and the role it plays in saving his family from evil, even to the point of calling on God for a miracle.

I also liked that this was an overlap between the mundane and the divine where Saint Tommy didn’t have to hide what he was or what was happening to him. He’s still feeling out his new “powers” and the rules that come with them, but unlike Generic Superhero Trope Stories, he doesn’t try to hide it from his loved ones or his superiors. When he uses them at work he kind of has to dance around it with Internal Affairs, but there’s a reason for it. Other than that, he’s got a supporting roster of characters he can trust. It’s another element that adds to the streamlined nature of the story.

The World

Definitely ours, with spiritual explanations for much of what happens around us. Also, I don’t know if Declan Finn or someone close to him is a police officer, but he is really sharp with the details here. Maybe he’s making it all up (I doubt it), but the day-to-day machinery of New York policework plays a present role in the narrative. Saint Tommy gets into crime stats, the rules cops have to follow, the procedures after various levels of interaction with the criminal element, and more. It feels authentic.

The Politics

At times the “politics” are painfully authentic too. Saint Tommy deals with a media storm once the press realizes that a Catholic cop is on the hunt for what amounts to an Evil Scientist with institutional support. The government and the media go scorched-earth to destroy him in a way that practically Tweets itself at you. In one particularly harrowing scene, Saint Tommy begs God to save his wife Mariel from a mortal wound, and when she recovers from severe blood loss, the papers accuse Tommy of lying about the degree of peril she was in. Public sentiment trusts the papers, and that’s that. It’s enough to make you scream because you see it all the time.

Even so, the book is more “right or wrong” than it is “right or left.”

Content Warning

Horror elements, blood and combat, a pair of F-bombs a few other instances of profanity, but not overly present.

Who’s it for?

Again, Catholics specifically, Christians generally, and in all honesty, fans of urban fantasy or police procedurals.

If you liked the Netflix Daredevil run, this is up your alley.

Why read it?

Because it’s really damn good and it’ll make you want to get into book 2.

Good news, there are 12 of them out…so far. So go buy the first one and start catching up.