Taking a break from Women in Horror Month today to join Blackthorn Book Tours blog review tour of The Unholy by Paul DeBlassie III.
About the Book
The Unholy is a dramatic story of Claire Sanchez, a young medicine woman, intent on discovering the closely-guarded secrets of her past. Forced into a life-and-death battle against an evil Archbishop, William Anarch, she confronts the dark side of religion and the horror of one man’s will to power.
Set in the mystic land of Aztlan, The Unholy is a supernatural tale of destiny as healer and slayer.
Native lore of dreams and visions, shape changing, and natural magic work to spin a neo-gothic web in which sadness and mystery lure the unsuspecting into a twilight realm of discovery and decision.
My Review
An evil, racist, psychopathic, devil worshipping Archbishop hunts Claire, the last of the medicine women, in this battle for her life and the lives of the people she loves.
As a child, Claire witnessed her mother murdered by a terrifying shadow with shining blue eyes. Now an adult, working in the medical field, she is the same age as her mother when she was killed. Denying her roots as a medicine woman, and the powers inherent in her lineage, because she is afraid she will be murdered too, she keeps her head down in a world controlled by the church of the Ecclesia Dei.
Unfortunately, the Ecclesia Dei, in the form of Archbishop Anarch, has Claire in its sights. Thus begins a spiritual battle for not only Claire’s life, but her soul.
It is refreshing to read a book that includes the spiritual side to life, and in this aspect, The Unholy, excels. From Claire’s sensitivity as a medicine woman, to Archbishop Anarch’s powers, stolen by the use of black magic, the perception of what lies beyond the physical realm is ever present and well described. Details such as the smell of decay permeating the church, and the use of illusion to hide ritual sites, add depth to the book’s paranormal world.
Unfortunately, there is not much else I can say in praise of this book. The writing focused on physical description to the detriment of character development and story telling. I was hoping for nuance and shades of grey in the depiction of belief systems, but instead got a trite black and white, all Catholics evil, all non Catholics good narrative that was unoriginal and boring. The climax of the book is so rushed as to be almost nonsensical, and then it ends abruptly.
I award The Unholy…
The Unholy is available for $2.83 ebook and $11.95 print book on Amazon.
About the Author
Paula DeBlassie III, Ph.D., is a psychologist and writer living in his native New Mexico.
Memberships include the Depth Psychology Alliance, International Association for Relational Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy, Author’s Guild, and the Visionary Fiction Alliance. He has for over thirty years treated patients in spiritual and emotional crises as well as writing and publishing visionary thrillers and essays in depth psychology.
https://www.pauldeblassieiii.com/
https://www.facebook.com/theunholy.deblassie/
Iseult Murphy 
The reviews on this book are all over the place. I guess it’s only the right book for a very specific kind of reader.
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I noticed that. It certainly seems to have found its audience with some people.
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Ahh, this must have been a disappointment. Luckily, one star (or one dog) books are rare. It seems like we are the same, when it comes to nuances. I find it hard to cope with black / white characters or prejudices that all people in a certain group are the same. It just seems unrealistic and it doesn’t make for interesting reading.
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It was disappointing, and yes, rare. Yes, that’s it exactly. Totally agree.
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