The Devil Aspect

The Devil Aspect by Craig Russell

      Well, talk about reading something out of your comfort zone. You need a strong stomach and a good bright light to read this book. And maybe a little time off between reading sessions, just to think about things.

      The author puts forth through his character Viktor Kosarek, a bright young Jungian psychiatrist, that there is in all of us the propensity for both good and evil. The difference is in what we choose. He declares his intention to prove his theory by obtaining a position in the asylum for the criminally insane, Hrad Orlu Asylum, outside Prague. The year is 1935 and Carl Jung, along with Freud, offer new ways of thinking of psychoanalysis.

      Dr. Kosarek believes the aspect of the devil is ever present and we choose to listen to or ignore the presence. If we listen, if we give ourselves over then evil is manifest in the worst ways imaginable.

      While Dr. Kosarek is getting acquainted with the Devil’s Six, the six and only inmates at Hrad Orlu, people he believes chose to listen to the evil, Inspector Lukas Smolak is in Prague trying to track down a sadistic killer who is known as Leather Apron because of the similarities to Jack the Ripper. There are too many similarities to the tortured victims of the Devil’s Six and he asks for help from the doctor. Again, more gore.

      The timeline and location of the story puts us in the sights of 1935 Nazi Germany taking over Czechoslovakia and while the author is trying to explain how evil manifests itself to us we all know how that plays out.

      This is where I throw to the reader the spoiler alert. The author holds nothing back. I imagined him at times trying to outdo himself in presenting evil and gore on the page. But keep reading. I’m glad I did because while this may not be a tea and crumpet style book for discussion, the premise is certainly worthy of discussion. And here it is, a week after finishing it and I’m still mulling it over.