The Demon Queen
by Richard Lewis

    THE DEMON QUEEN by Richard Lewis
    Category:  Horror
    Age Recommendation:  Grades 9+
    Release Date:  6/17/08
    Publisher:  Simon & Schuster
    Reviewed by:  Cat
    Rating:  4 Stars


    Jesse has spent the last fourteen years hiding in corners and rightfully so, having grown up in the foster care system
    of L.A. County, shuffled from one home to another. The recent discovery that there is no record of his birth in the
    United States has Homeland Security targeting him as a potential terrorist and under constant threats of deportation
    to Cambodia. Jesse is determined to stay out of trouble and maintain a low profile with his new family, the Mindells.

    The rolling cornfields of the Midwest prove no sanctuary, though, once Honor Clarke comes to town. Returning to
    her birthplace after years spent in Bali with her anthropologist mother, Honor is full of gruesome stories: from the
    accidental beheading of her father to her current explorations of black magic. Jesse knows Honor's just messing with
    his head; after all, things like voodoo death curses and Balinese demon queens don't really exist.

    The turbulent storms threatening to break across the horizon, a recent spate of bird massacres, Jesse's visions of a
    tobacco-smoking bald man, and one drunk college janitor claiming a smilodon skeleton came to life are just
    coincidences. Jesse can't possibly be the world's last defense against the primal force of evil Honor plans to
    unleash...can he?

    Richard Lewis' novel THE DEMON QUEEN is a  complex mixture of fantasy, horror, and mystery grounded in the
    very real paranoia of post-9/11 life. What I love about this book is the credit Lewis gives his readers by confronting
    difficult situations head on; nor does he provide pat, easy answers. In Jesse, Lewis has created an intellectual hero,
    one who is reluctant to take up arms even when he suspects wrongdoing. Like many teens, he simply wants the
    freedom to go about living his life, without being hassled, and it's only when he sees no other option does he resort
    to a warrior mentality.

    THE DEMON QUEEN is a page-turning, thought-provoking read that will stay with the reader long after they are
    finished.