Linda Rios Brook
The King
Reluctant Demon Diaries, Book #3
Review brought to you by OBS staff member Annabell Cadiz
Synopsis:
The mysterious Won Eman has disappeared. Fearing the remaining scrolls may be lost forever, Samantha is determined to find him. Her search leads her to an old church where she finds Wonk and convinces him that he must overcome his fear and allow her to examine the remaining scrolls.
This new volume of writings begins with the time of the judges over Israel as the nameless angel continues to watch and report to Satan on the progress of humanity as God leads them forward through the reign of King David.
Review:
In the third installment in the Reluctant Demon Diaries features Samantha Yale translating a new set of scrolls from the erratic Wonk Eman. He warns Samantha that no one must find out she has the scrolls or what they are about. There are forces searching for Wonk Eman and the scrolls, and they are closer than he realizes. The new set of scrolls ventures into the stories of Saul and David from the Old Testament. The unnamed and abused angel continues to narrate the novel. He is building a case to present before God as to why he should be allowed back into Heaven. He is using the way God interacts with humans to build his evidence and gain a better understanding of how God works. The unnamed angel wants to leave the slavery he is bound to with Satan and he is hoping through his getting closer to the humans he will find a better way to get closer to God.
The King is by far, my most favorite one out of the series so far. I have always loved the story of David from the Bible. It was a lot of fun how he took down Goliath, the way he behaved with Saul even though Saul was always trying to kill him, and is relationship with God. David was kind, humble, true, and an amazing war strategist but he was also impulsive, naive, and prideful. I liked how the book explores all sides of the characters and Biblical stories. The unnamed angel is still adding his two cents as to what God should have really done and still attempting to steer the humans he watches over in the right direction—even though technically he is a demon and isn’t supposed to be helping them, plus, they can’t hear him.
Some of the dialogue was still crude and didn’t fit in well with the time or other dialogue present in some scenes but that can be overlooked because of the good storytelling by the author. So much of the story deals with questions many people have about God and how he works. God is shown as a father who cares and therefore he disciplines out of love like any other parent. There is also really good suspense building up. There are two new characters introduced outside of the scrolls that are attempting to get to Wonk and Samantha. The ending was great! Completely confused me and is a total cliffhanger but I liked it because it was very surprising!
Author Linda Rios Brook has done a marvelous job of bringing Biblical scripture to a much wider audience without making the story feel overly religious or preachy. I think the novel will appeal to both adult and young adult audiences.
If you have yet to read any of the books from the Reluctant Demon Diaries, you should give them a chance, you may end up being wonderfully surprised *wink*
