All Purpose Exorcism: Ignatius's Territory by Ashlei Hawley is a perfect example of why I love long books. If you start this book, give it time. The world Mrs. Hawley creates is quite unique. This post-apocalyptic Fantasy Fiction will delight you if you allow yourself to be immersed in this surprisingly well-constructed world where the "other side" is threatening to take over the living world.
Before I do the summary, I want to get the biggest critique out of the way. If Mrs. Hawley reads this: Kill about 98% of your hyphens! They are extremely distracting to the story, and used far too often. They break up the flow, and I found myself needing to re-read several parts just to understand what in the world was actually happening. Start a new sentence. Use more commas. Even parentheses would be better than the hyphens. The ones used to join words were okay, but the conjoining of thoughts by use of hyphens is a rare beast. It shouldn't happen more than a couple of times in a novel.
Okay, I'll get off my soapbox now.
Cameron, our young heroine, is a diminutive, but powerful, exorcist. Some hundred years ago, a cataclysm all but destroyed the veil between the living world and the world of the dead. Ghosts, wraiths, spirits, and all manner of apparitions become common-place. The human race is diminished by these other-worldly beings to the point of extinction. In balance to this horrible destruction, exorcists born with innate powers over the dead, come into existence. Cameron is the most powerful among them, and at only 4'10"! (I absolutely love that little quirk in the story. My oldest sister is 5' and a police officer. I couldn't help but picture her as Cam through the whole story. She's a little spit-fire; always trying to prove that she is as tough as the male officers, and she pushes herself harder than anyone I know to prove her mettle. It made the young exorcist all the more endearing to me.)
All of the myths, legends, or scary stories you've ever heard turn out to be real, and with the torn veil, everyone is able to see these horrible entities. Vampires see that their food supply is being destroyed, so they become the ruling powers of the world to keep the straggly few humans left alive.
Now, I know what you're thinking, "Ugh, another vampire book!" Whoa there reader. This is not something you've read before. There are no glittery vampires, nor are there monsters from Bram Stoker's Dracula. (except an occasional feral vampire which is little more than a deranged animal.) Instead, the vampires in Mrs. Hawley's novel are surprisingly human. The cops act like cops. It gives the story a completely different feel than any I've read. Do not be turned off by the vampires. I'm sure we've all had about all the vampires we could take recently, but this story is oh so different.
So, the vampires set up the All Purpose Exorcism or A.P.E. (I had to laugh at that) organization to fight the invading dark forces. Right from the start you get into the flow of how the exorcists (exors) operate. Towns are set up, and each house has a psychokinetic barrier erected around around it to protect the residence from the spirits at night. Nobody goes out at night except the exors and vampires because the spirits rule the night. However, the spirits sometimes attach themselves to the living to feed off their souls, or there are good spirits who are simply lost and need help to cross over, so the exors are called in to help the good or banish the bad.
There is a religious group which embraces the spirits because they believe that we are all meant for darkness. Their leader, Skylark, is a powerful spirit which bounces from body to body, leading the zealous group. Our story starts with one of this groups members who contacts the A.P.E. for help (something which is simply not done).
Cam meets with a woman from the group, but doesn't get details of the problem because she feels she is being watched and is in danger. Sadly, she was right because they find her body not long after. Something is going on beyond the usual problems of living among the spirits of the dead.
As Cam's nights wear on, things get stranger and stranger. Things which should not be happening, are happening all at once. The world of the dead seems to be restless. Cam's overseers know what is happening, and send a vampire to protect her in the night; something with which she is very displeased.
The world is facing another catastrophe, and Cam may be the only one with the power to stop it.
This is not a book I would normally pick up off of the shelf. Most paranormal books are so hokey that I can't stand to read them. I'm so glad I got to read this book, though. I would have missed out had I not given it a chance. The paranormal activity is written as matter-of-factly as possible, and you can't help but just accept it as part of the world Mrs. Hawley creates. As I said in the beginning, the length of the novel is wonderful because you can really get into the futuristic world of the dead among the living.
Aside from the hyphen thing, the only other criticism I would give the book would be the language. As a general rule, I don't like vulgar language in literature. A wise man once said, "Profanity is the effort of a feeble brain to express itself forcibly." Following this notion, I only except profanity in literature if it is used to denote a simple mind of a brute; usually the villain. A lot of detective books have it because cops work with the underbelly of society, and often take on some of their idioms. But, most of the time it demeans what could otherwise be a brilliant piece of literature. Cam swears a lot, either out-loud, or in her head. It made her seem less intelligent than she was. And the narrator should never swear... ever... for any reason. I could almost let it slide because the exors are a kind of "cop", but the profanity took a lot away from the story instead of adding to it.
The story, from start to finish, is interesting. You won't regret picking up this novel.
With a few minor tweaks I'd give this book 5 stars, but because of the aforementioned issues I give it
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