A review by evannhannon
Dark Debts by Karen Hall

4.0

So Dark Debts was first released in 1996 and it's being re-released this year (March 15th) with a new ending. Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for allowing me to read Dark Debts, in exchange for an honest review. I didn't know it existed until it was up as a giveaway last month but the cover and description got me interested. All southern and creepy, it's like True Detective meets Gillian Flynn (the not Gone Girl stuff), so yeah I was into it.

Dark Debts is split into three sections. The first section feels like it's going to turn into one of those kind of romantic but also totally freak nasty erotica's but disappointingly it doesn't. The love stuff just feels weird, the whole time. The second bit, on the other hand, totally enthralled me. It was all about God vs evil, demon fighting business. I found myself really enjoying all the catholic talk. A lot of the questions and issues that people have with the catholic church were brought up, while also still being pro God, if that makes sense. I am not anywhere close to being Catholic but I didn't find it preachy at all. The third and last part of the story is where the first two stories and characters meet up and finish the job. Straight up exorcist shit. Most of the questions were answered. It wrapped up pretty quickly. Hi demon, bye demon. But I was super into it until the very last page. Love. Gross. I am very curious about the original ending. I'll have to look into it.

Overall I really enjoyed Dark Debts. It is exactly what I am into. A bit more God-y than I am normally interested in and I think that's what made it fun. The author's feelings about religion were obvious but in a way I can respect. Warning: it is very male-centric (tying into catholicism I suppose)