First of all a big thank you to the author, Netgalley and the publisher for sending me a copy of this book to read and review.

"Violent delights and violent ends, is that what you mean?"

This was dark, intense and very gritty. This is full of murder, satanic rituals, assault and the devil. Erin Sloane is a journalist who finally gets the story that will make her career. Only problem? She knows these people. This town.

This was a little difficult to get into however I wanted to see how the twists and turns would unravel.

Title: I Shot the Devil
Author: Ruth McIver
Pub: Tinder Press
Pages: 352
Rating: 3/5

A huge thank you to the author, Tinder Press and Random Things Tours for allowing me to be part of the blog tour!

Synopsis:

Journalist Erin Salone has been commissioned to dig into the murders of 2 young boys that took place 20 years ago when the Devil visited the woods around Southport. A local youth was charged and the case was closed but Erin has been challenged to unearth the truth, using notes from someone long forgotten to help her. However, Erin may not be able to trust what she unearths and unravelling the past may result in her own secrets being brought to the surface.
Review:
Most of us readers know we shouldn’t judge a book by the cover, but I can’t not comment on the eye-catching front cover of this book, it instantly caught my eye. The description also sounded very intriguing and hinted this would be the kind of thriller that is right up my street. A quick glimpse at the reviews also hinted this would be a tense thriller so I was hoping that it would make me feel this way too.
As dark as this sounds, the first thing that drew me in with this book and which I really enjoyed was the satanic elements. I always find a book instantly intriguing when this subject is covered. As a result of this, this story could get quite dark in places, but again this is something I am all for!
The chapters weren’t overly long and they kept the story moving which I appreciate as sometimes I find myself getting lost in long chapters. As for the characters however, I’m not quite sure how I felt about these. Erin was definitely flawed and needed to make peace with her past. Erin, along with the other characters were not overly likeable in my opinion, they were complex but one thing I will say about them is that they were all rather interesting and I liked how the author delved into their past so we could really get to know them and some of their motives.
I Shot the Devil definitely has a lot going on, these are lots of secrets to uncover and we are hit with revelation after revelation, especially towards the end. The finale was actually a lot bigger than what I expected and there is plenty of action in the last few chapters. The story did build up anticipation levels and was quite intense at times. This book was a twisty thriller with lots of elements such as murder, violence, abuse and satanic worshipping. Sometimes I did find myself getting a little overwhelmed at times with that was going on, but this aside, it was one of those books you can’t put down because you need to know what happens.

An utterly compelling mystery/thriller that has managed to linger in my mind. After-all, unlike many of the contributions to the genre, Ruth McIver's I Shot the Devil is an wholly original, action-packed punch to a sometimes listless fare.

I adore this cover I have to say. I know that has no bearing on what I thought of the book but I love it. The dark background with the striking accents in the leaves and flowers and the simple block capitals. But what really drew my eye is that ring. Whose ring is it? Is it a clue?

So, the story. I’ll admit I struggled a little to start with to get into the story (possibly more me than the story with work and stuff) but I am so glad I persevered. What McIver delivers is a dark tense trip down memory lane for Erin, our protagonist. A trip to a time I think she’d rather forget. We all have moments from our teen years that we’d sooner forget but do those moments include murder?

Erin’s return to the house she grew up in and the town she spent her more formative years isn’t easy. But she’s there in a mission – to find out who battered Andre to death and who pulled the trigger on Ricky. And her questioning ruffles feathers – are those feathers guilty or just unhappy that the past is being dredged up and not left alone?!

McIver’s debut delivers by the bucket load. She throws in so much intrigue and reasons to suspect everyone I didn’t know who to had killed Andre or Ricky. My internal suspect radar was going mad as every chapter went by. This is definitely a dark crime thriller, the atmosphere, the deaths, Erin’s mood and demeanour. The only time I felt the literary warmth of the sun radiate from my kindle was when Erin headed to the Sunshine State but I won’t say anymore about that trip! 2021 has delivered me some banging debuts and I Shot The Devil is definitely one of them!

I really enjoyed reading this thriller, it was twisty, turny and unpredictable. I could not put it down

I’ve heard some really promising things about I Shot The Devil so I was really looking forward to reading it, and I’m pleased to say it was as fantastic as I’d hoped. The story follows Erin Sloane, a journalist asked to write a story about the infamous Southport Three. Twenty years previously, high school student Andre Villiers was murdered by a group of his friends led by the good looking and darkly intense Ricky Hell. This incident ended with only three of the five youths who went into the woods on that fateful night making it out again – dubbed the ‘Southport Three’. Erin, now a damaged and troubled woman, is connected to the case she begins to investigate. She was in fact romantically attached to more than one of the crime’s perpetrators and as she throws herself into an examination of her dark past and the people that reside there, she finds herself in a dangerous and shocking situation.

Firstly, I have to say, I Shot The Devil has got to be one of the most overwhelmingly atmospheric books I’ve read this year. The entire book, from start to finish, just has this oppressively sinister feeling of darkness to it. Everything about this story has a running undercurrent of almost otherworldly evil. It is part of what makes it such a remarkably impressive debut novel. The story of the famous 1990s murder that I Shot The Devil revolves around is mired in rumours and allusions to satanic rituals and the occult but all of that smoke and mirrors is nothing compared to the dark things human beings are capable of doing to each other. The real monsters are very much NOT the supernatural ones. They are the ones who use violence, fear and manipulation to cause as much trauma as possible. Trauma is, largely, what this book is really all about. It concerns itself with both those who suffer trauma and those who inflict it, and sometimes those who do both. I Shot The Devil is truly an intelligent, gritty, sharply edged and almost unbearably tense thriller which I would recommend to anyone who loves the genre. Brilliant.

I Shot the Devil is not quite the twisting thriller I was expecting. There's a lot to unpick, and the focus seemed to shift without always seeming to understand why.
The main thread of the story focuses on an investigation into a decades-old murder. We know that two boys were killed, a local boy - thought to have links with Satanism - was charged with the murders and that the rumours of these murders being linked to other cases of children in the area disappearing seem to have been unfounded. Journalist Erin Sloane (whose father was one of the police officers investigating the original crime) was part of the group of teenagers caught up in this...and she is not wholly convinced that things are as clear-cut as they were led to believe.
We follow Erin as she finds herself trying to catch up with some of the key players from that era. Not everyone is honest - that would make things too easy - and it quickly becomes apparent that more than one person close to Erin has something to gain from keeping the truth hidden.
The actual murders are referenced, but don't really seem to serve much purpose in this. Erin's family situation is certainly of interest but this was often glossed over at the point that I found myself wanting to know more.
There's a number of characters that learn the hard way their crimes will not go undiscovered, but we never actually learn the answers to some of the questions we have.
Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read this before publication.

I Shot the Devil is a compelling coming of age crime thriller with a moving and emotionally resonant centre ripe with sinister undertones and inspired by a ‘black widow murder’ the author came across as a child in the US. It features bent cops, abusive boyfriends and a bunch of metal misfits who we learn the true nature of through the steady drip-feeding of tantalising clues. Twenty years ago in the town of Southport in Long Island, New York, the devil visited the dense local woodland and horrifically claimed the lives of two young teen boys each with so much opportunity to thrive ahead of them. They went out to the woods to have fun. And then didn't return with their group of friends. Whispers spread around the town of ritual satanic sacrifices and this captures the imaginations of the small, tight-knit, affluent community of townsfolk. No one really knows fully what exactly happened that night but a local youth was charged with murder and the case was effectively solved and closed according to police. Fast forward to 2010 and young journalist Erin Sloane is revisiting a traumatic part of her life as she has been commissioned to dig deeper into the story for an article she's been convinced by her editor to write.

The details surrounding this dark part of her life when, as a teenager, she was in the fold with wayward friends in a fug of drugs, bad sex and heavy metal - ended in a climactic murder that scandalised the nation. The media at the time spun stories of evil forces, however, this mystery thriller is an unsettling journey towards knowing what really happened that night. But can she trust what she unearths? And how can she unravel what happened when she has her own secrets to hide? This is a compelling and engrossing thriller with a long-held mystery at its heart and an attempt to get to the bottom of what happened all those years prior. It's a dark, sinister and memorable debut literary noir complete with an utterly chilling atmosphere. Rich with the sense of a community imploding, buried secrets, corruption and racism, this is a captivating portrayal of teenage hysteria and sexuality. A slow-burner with a series of devilish twists and a deep sense of menace and unease, the story scratches the surface of a dormant crime and exposes the deep trauma and lies that run beneath. A recommended read.

A twisty, well written thriller with shades of Tana French & Gillian Flynn. Although this type of novel has been done before don't be put off - the writing is quite pared back & poetic & the MC flawed but relatable. I think she captures the hysteria & claustrophobia of a small community particularly well & I raced through it. Recommended!

I very much enjoyed this book. It has a good story and excellent main characters. I would definately recommend this book.

I shot the devil what an amazing book.

The theme centres around Erin who is now a journalist and finds herself reliving her past when she is asked to look into the Southport three. On Halloween in 1994 5 friends walk into their local woods and only three leave. Two dead bodies, satinist teens, metal heads, mind altering uttering drugs and nothing seems to meet the eye. The thing is Erin was part of this circle of friends but had been sent away so wasn't there on that fateful night. Her investigation takes her all over the place revisiting some people from her past she would rather forget.

The story is told through Erin who is a pill popping drunk with some clear psychiatric issues. As a lead I don't hate her, I feel like as a reader we are brought to understand why she is the way she is with abuse neglect domestic violence I'm honestly surprised she made it this far in life. What I love about the story being told by Erin is that we as a reader have a tinted view on where the investigation will lead with her preconceptions going in.
Her story with Danny her ex is an interesting one and really explores what abuse can do to the abused and the abuser. Even with Danny being painted as the bad guy (which he is) i found it interesting to find out how he became such a troubled teen himself.
Alot of Erin's issues are centred around her father, a father who isn't actually present without majority of the text. This is found interesting but again as we are going through this journey with Erin it seems understandable why the writer choose to do it like this.

For such a small town there appears to be a disproportionate amount of children who have been abused or neglected but I can see why for the story this was important.

I must admit I did find it a slow starter, but once it heated up it just went crazy! The description in the book is ever so well written and I actually felt a bit nauseous at points 😅, which is quite unlike me.

Its hard to really go into detail without giving out spoilers in the review. I found all the characters well written and researched , well except Denise but I suppose the story needed one sane person.

The way the suspense it built throughout the book is down extremely we with Erin recieving extracts from one of the Southport three's memoir throughout which we hope will eventually tell us what happened.
As the book is set in the present with flashbacks throughout we can jump timeliness within a sentence. But I didn't hate that. It was done really well and cleverly to the point I wanted to be in both timelines throughout.

I shot the devil really does cover s ride range of subjects whilst maintaining suspense throughout. Its a great psychological thriller that I will happily recommend. Some will love the main character others will hate her but whatever your views on Erin the journey she takes throughout is intense and crazy you won't want to put it down. This book is one of my favourite books so far of 2020 and I'm so glad I've read it. I must admit the ending has left me needing a part two ss there is one very large unanswered question for me. I didn't guess who the killer was nor did I guess why either which surprised me as I'm usually really good at that. Once its reveal it just makes perfect sense.
Only thing I will say is there are alot of names thrown about in the book which had me needing a diagram of who was who and who they were related to. Ha. But ob the whole I kept up well.
A we deserved 5 stars.

Thank you netgalley, headline and Ruth Mclver for allowing me to read this amazing advanced copy in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Thanks to Headline and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

What constitutes a great read is inherently subjective. Nevertheless, I was more than a little surprised by some of the negative reviews of ‘I Shot the Devil’. For me, it ticked all the boxes and then some. Ruth McIver is one of the most gifted authors I have encountered during the innumerable hours I have spent reading literary fiction. I stress ‘literary fiction’ because this novel is more than a thriller, although it has all the elements of this broad ranging genre. ‘I Shot the Devil’ is nothing short of stunning. Utterly absorbing, a literal page-turner and written with an uncanny emotional intelligence that few authors possess. It is a coming of age story, yes, but it is a coming of age story set amongst a backdrop of murder, police corruption, drugs, sexual and domestic abuse. This should be too many thematic strands to make a coherent narrative, but McIver seamlessly assimilates these narratival threads into an engrossing tale of flaws humanity in small town America. The theme of Satanism maybe a sop to the reader looking for more overt thrills, but it sells short the nuances of the human condition that McIver deftly explores. The moral ambiguity of some of the main protagonists may not appeal to the reader that likes to deal with certainties - the perennial binary of good and evil, but the haze that exists in the ‘in-between’ is what makes this book a tour de force. One of my reads of 2020.

I Shot the Devil follows Erin, a true-crime writer for a magazine with a dark, twisted past, as she tries to find out the truth about the supposed satanic murder in her hometown. She ends up more intertwined in the story than she originally thought. Can you find the truth? Can you answer the questions that have been haunting her since childhood?

A wild, twisty investigation. The process of reading Erin connecting her memories of the past with this new information she finds was interesting. It pushed her to do things that were potentially dangerous, had her confronting her own demons as well as those of others. I liked her voice, honesty with her emotions, and the struggles of her youth. Ruth McIver's writing in this sense was incredibly on point.

I enjoyed the plot structure - the red herrings and the surprising twist of who was really responsible. I was surprised by some of the true culprits which is a sign of good twists, and subtle foreshadowing.

An enjoyable twisty read about small-town mysteries and the truth.

A great, atmospheric thriller, with lots of twists and turns. The main character, Erin, is fascinating and compelling. Such a complex and multi faceted character, I just loved following this story with her. This didn't blow my mind with how it all unfolded, but it was on the whole a great read.

This was interesting at the start but i found the more that i got into this i fell out of love with this. I liked the premise overall but this just missed the mark. The different parts were interesting but they did not gel togehter for me.

A dark and twisty thriller set in a small American town setting, centred around teenage violence and satanic rituals. I shot the Devil was steeped in atmosphere, filled with teenage angst and murder. It was a good read.

I liked the writing and characterisation – I thought the messed up, damaged characters made for compulsive reading, but the plot was a bit slow and the first half of the book’s pacing was a tad sluggish. However, I couldn’t look away from the car wreck of a journey that Erin found herself on.

Erin was a rather unreliable and raw, she was a mess of a character. I liked her. I liked her a lot. Erin has been through and witnessed a lot of violence in her life and she still tacked the world head-on – I admired her courage even if I would never have acted like her.

Compulsive. Gripping. And all the other buzz words I can’t quite think of right now.

Dark. Edgy. Twisty. Twisted.

I received a copy of the book for review from the publisher, via NetGalley – Thank you! I shot the Devil by Ruth McIver is scheduled to be published by Headline on the 9th of July 2020.

I can see I shot the devil doing well. And I will be watching out for whatever Ruth McIver writes next.

Journalist Erin Sloane is asked to unearth more information for a story on the Southport Three murder that happened 20 years ago. On Halloween, a group of five metal head friends entered the woods and only three came out. With talks of satanic worship and drug use, the book centres around trying to unravel what really happened to Ricky Hell and Andre Villiers.

I Shot The Devil is sold as a dark twisty thriller set in a small town, centring around teenage violence, compared to The Secret History, The Girls and Into The Woods. Sadly I was really disappointed in the way this story unfolded.

I found this a hard going read. It was information heavy from the start with little development. At points it dragged so hard I felt like I was stuck in mud and other parts were so rushed that the reveals and ultimately the conclusion to this book left me confused.

I don’t think I Shot The Devil was for me, although Ruth McIver has produced a decent debut novel that I think some people out there that will enjoy!

Thanks Netgalley & Tinder Press for my copy.

* Thank you to NetGalley and Tinder Press for the eArc to review*

Unfortunately this just didn't work for me.

A mystery where a journalist has been told to drag up the past in order to produce an anniversary story unearths some information regarding an incident that has long been buried.

For me, this was too slow. There was no sense of urgency, and I honestly just didn't care about the characters at all. Even when the action was supposed to be taking place, this just didn't hit the mark for me at all.

I found it very predictable, right up until the very last page.

I Shot the Devil

Well that’s a hell of a beginning! That’s one way to get a readers attention!

Erin grew up in Southport, a small town haunted by its 90s satanist murder and disappearances that follow. Now a journalist she’s asked to return by her editor to write a story on the murder. What will Erin find?

I love the late eighties / early nineties obsession with devil worship. I’ve read another thriller a couple of years ago also set around this subject (I Shot the Devil is the better book!) and spent long researching the subject. Rock n Roll ain’t that scary, grandma. ;)

The writing style reminds me of Gillian Flynn. Just great writing, moving the story along with no bullshit. Perfect! So so gripping! There’s lots of layers to this book, when they come together it’s explosive!

Happy that I had no idea where the story was going, the last few stories I’ve read were predictable but I Shot the Devil kept me guessing to the end. One thing I didn’t enjoy was how Erin thought she was invincible.

Overall this is a strong 4/5.

This book was good! I have never read a book featuring Satanists before, and I definitely thought that aspect was interesting and original. However, the climax of this book, what we had been building up to the entire time we followed Erin and her past and present, fell flat for me. While there was a grand finale, for me it didn't feel satisfying or very thrilling to be honest. I did like Erin as a character as she was flawed and honest and messy, but this book didn't quite do it for me. So, while i thought it was good, it could have been great, and unfortunately, for me, it wasn't.