The Devil All The Time by Donald Ray Pollock – Reviewed by Guy Portman
Willard’s wife has cancer, so he turns to God for help. As her condition worsens, his invocations become increasingly extreme. There are all night prayer vigils, blood sacrifices and hanging rotting animals from crucifixes. This bizarre behaviour is disturbing for his young son, the soon-to-be orphaned Arvin.
The story includes other aberrant characters. Carl and Sandy are married serial killers. Periodically, the pair go hunting for hitchhikers to photograph and kill. Roy and his crippled companion are deviant preachers on the run from the law.
Set in rural Ohio and West Virginia, this gothicesque, loosely assembled novel is replete with reprehensible rednecks, depraved content and frequent shifts in points of view. This reader was enthralled by its dark themes and engrossing narrative. The Devil All The Time will appeal to all fans of Transgressive Fiction.
