The Unholy: A Supernatural Tale of the Dark Side of Religion by Paul DeBlassie III – Review by Roxsanne Lesieur.

The UnholyThe Unholy by Paul DeBlassie III
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

In Aztlan, a country known for its superstitions, the Ecclesia Dei are a religious order overseen by a Patriarch and his right hand man the Archbishop William Anarch, he has a religious fervour like no other and preaches his gospel to the thousands who attend his services. This group also run a number of charitable organisations of which a hospital and also the work place of Claire Sanchez. Claire Sanchez is a young woman with a past wrought with trauma and grief, however, the things she has learned from the women around her as she grew up have put her in good stead for the challenges she faces in adulthood.

Claire is the daughter of a medicine woman and so is a medicine woman herself, she has learned how to tune into the environment in which she lives, as well as the emotions of those around her and she uses these innate skills to heal those in need through the art of curanderismo. She lives alone, but has people who she shares her life and love with surrounding her, that is until she comes head to head with the Archbishop of a religious order and strange things start to happen around her. As she investigates these incidents and digs into the past and the present, she uncovers things which people have worked hard to keep hidden and those associated with those secrets will do whatever is necessary to prevent them being shared with the world.

Claire soon realises that she will have to use all she has learnt to fight off this dark religious fanatic and the unholy manner in which he works to gain all the power he can, but can Claire use the mysticism, native folk lore and traditions which surround her to defeat this evil power, or will she fall victim to the dark mysticism surrounding her? This is a gothic horror with elements of the supernatural wound within an exploration of rigidly institutional and more fluid religions and how they can be both dark and light depending on how they are used by those wielding them.

Reviewed by @roxsannel

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