WeaveReads

“I think Davey is the killer,” I said about ten pages in, and honestly, I wasn’t far off to suspect him right from the beginning. From the start, Davey just gives off that energy. He’s timid, indecisive, and almost painfully passive; not exactly the sort of guy who makes you feel confident in his ability to handle a conspiracy or even a simple argument.

Most of the characters got on my nerves at one point or another. Davey’s parents literally bought them a house, and she wants to move? I’d need at least three serial killers and a demonic cult active in the neighborhood before I’d even consider giving up a free house. Davey’s father isn’t helping though; the man’s a complete jerk. There is not a single branch on this family tree that doesn’t reek of dysfunction.

At first, I wasn’t sure what was real and what was completely fabricated by Davey — the whole “Hellfire Club” thing felt as if it might have been made up, and Nora’s narration doesn’t help — she’s unreliable, inconsistent, and constantly brushing off her husband’s exaggerations. When Dick Dart suddenly kidnaps her from a police station FULL of cops, I had to put the book down. There’s suspension of disbelief, and then there’s that.

That said, something about the story kept pulling me back. Maybe it was the lingering question of whether Nora or Davey were actually behind everything. There’s a chaotic charm in wanting to see just how bad things could get, and there were a few genuine twists that I didn’t see coming. By the end, I was begrudgingly impressed that the story stuck the landing, even considering the parts that dragged on longer than necessary.

Still, my biggest issue is Nora’s seemingly blind trust in Davey. We barely get any sense of their relationship before the chaos starts, so her loyalty feels forced and unrealistic. Combine that with the sometimes sluggish pacing, and “The Hellfire Club” ends up being a mixed bag: a few clever surprises buried under too many unlikeable characters and implausible moments.

It’s not bad, just not great — it’s the kind of story you NEED to finish just to confirm your earlier suspicions were correct.