Review: Hell Spawn by Declan Finn
Detective Tommy Nolan, NYPD is a badass living saint.
Just don’t tell him that.
THIS BOOK IS PERMANENTLY $0.99.
The story
Detective Tommy Nolan is having an interesting day. He starts by taking down a purse snatcher…by seeming to teleport in front of him. While at the local precinct shortly after, he sees what looks like a normal junkie getting booked. Things get strange though when the addict sees Nolan and loses it, attacking Tommy with animal-like ferocity and displaying superhuman strength before finally being put down.
It only gets worse as he and his partner, the decidedly rumpled Alan Packard get called to a murder scene. The murder is ritualistic, and before long it’s clear they are dealing with a serial killer, one with a fetish for killing people close to Tommy and doing so in a brutal, gruesome way that is also strikingly familiar.
Before long, they realize they are not dealing with an ordinary serial killer but one who has abilities that no human should have. Tommy, develops a few of his down, putting him on a more level playing field. Throughout the course of Hell Spawn, the detective learns he can bi-locate, smell the presence of evil and more besides.
If this sounds like a superhero origin story, it is in a way. Though again, you would never want to tell Tommy that. His ability to do all of these things is tied directly to his prayer life and he’s careful to correct anyone who even hints that the abilities he shows actually come from him.
The characters
Thomas Nolan fancies himself an ordinary cop. He has a wife and a young son. He volunteers at his local parish as much as he can and generally lives his life in the best way he knows how. He not only doesn’t think of himself as a living saint, but rather as a sinner who needs help with his anger problem. Yet, he doesn’t come off as a holy card come to life. He really does just seem like an ordinary guy. At least until he has to take down an MS-13 gang that tries to kill him. Then he basically turns into someone that might scare Rambo.
His partner is Alex Packard, who is a little more worldly than Detective Nolan. Rough around the edges and little jaded after all that he’s seen, Packard makes an excellent foil for Tommy, ribbing him about his newfound abilities and his confusion about having them in a way that only a close friend can.
There are plenty of supporting characters as well, particularly Tommy’s wife Mariel who is a perfect match for him, humble and tough in all the right ways. And there is of course the ‘not-quite-a-gangster’ known as ‘D’. The large black man operates on the fringes of the law and has maintained a friendly relationship with Detective Nolan for years, and becomes an important part not only of this book but the entire series.
The world
The world of Hell Spawn is our world. There are no laws of physics that particular characters have the ability to break. Every ability Tommy has are clearly a divine gift and the supernatural aspects of the primary villain are of demonic origin. Given that Finn bases all of these off actual accounts, we really are operating in the real world. Normally, all the good detective has to concern himself with are gangs and random purse snatchers. Demonic serial killers feel as out of place as they should in what is otherwise an everyday world with everyday concerns.
The politics
Finn makes no secret in the book of his disdain for the political left. Nolan goes up against MS-13 and others that are at or near protected class status by the left. Not that Finn ever indulges in preaching, he simply states the facts as they are and then St. Tommy lays down the law. No one is safe either, not politicians, defenders of brutal gangs, or the obvious Planned Parenthood analog.
Content warning
This is not for the faint of heart or the young ones. The violence is graphic as is the description of the bodies left by the serial killer. There is also a scene at the end that involves a young child and his mother being physically threatened.
Who is it for?
This is definitely for anyone teen and above, but especially young men who need an example of someone who is both pious and an ass-kicker to help jumpstart their own male protective instincts. This book is part Exorcist, part Seven, and part Lethal Weapon.
Why read it?
St. Tommy is one of my favorite characters this millennium.
I’ve read Hell Spawn and all of the subsequent books as well and Declan Finn never struggles to give his readers an action packed story in which evil is punished and the good guy never stops to wonder if he really is the good guy. He might wonder if he could have done things better, if he might have punched a demon in the face harder than he needed to, but there is never any doubt as to who the good guy is.
That alone is refreshing in time when most franchises have become brooding, moribund, navel-gazing drek.