In which I review a book about a demon-possessed rock band

Voice by Joseph Garraty is a difficult book to rank. It's good, let's get that out of the way right now. But even a few days after finishing it, I'm unable to decide whether its high points (which are VERY high) make up for its low points (which are rather meh) enough to give it the highest ranking.

John Tsiboukas is the lead singer and clear weak link in his band Ragman after he convinces the cynical sexpot Stephanie Case to join as lead guitarist. Seeing the talent around him, and feeling his dream of pulling himself out of poverty via rockstardom fading away, John makes a deal with a demon who manifests as Johnny Tango, John's stage personality who wears leather jackets and has a killer voice. Johnny Tango takes over more and more of John's actions, and Ragman's shows begin converting more and more people into Johnny's 'disciples', violent, zombie like people who are insanely devoted to Johnny.

The strengths of Voice are apparent. The opening chapter is one of the creepiest, most gripping openings to a book I've ever read, regardless of genre, publisher, or format. The characters of John/Johnny and Case are as real as can be, and the scenes with the band performing are so well done you can almost hear the music. The top-tier antagonist, referred to as the man in the black suit (explicitly NOT the devil) is deliciously creepy and very well written for the brief time he appears. His right-hand-man, Douglas, takes a larger role and is quite fun to dislike.

But the weaknesses are what make me conflicted. All but one of the secondary characters (Erin, the band's manager being the exception) are largely one-dimensional. This includes the band's bassists, which is a problem due to how central they are to the overall conflict. Additionally, Johnny's motives are never explained; it seems his goals are simply to create disciples in order to spread violence, which seems shallow. This makes the disciples behavior somewhat confusing. I felt that Garraty may have tried to explain their behavior in a dream sequence, but the allusions and metaphors eluded me; this may be my own failing rather than the author's.

Overall I would recommend Voice to anyone. It's not quite horror, it's not quite fantasy; it has the same plain yet otherworldly feeling that some of Stephen King's books have, without the fart jokes. The writing is crisp enough that you don't notice it, and the highs are high enough to keep you engaged through till the end.

4/5 stars