[Archive] LITERAL ADDICTION's Review of Smite the Damned

Zack Kullis works for a Federal law enforcement agency and the work he does is highly sensitive.  He never writes anything work related, but writing Dark Paranormal, Urban Fantasy and Horror are allowed. 

In his spare time Zack’s a diver, a lover of literature and a traveler when the opportunity arises. He has seen some amazing things in his travels - some good, some dark and malevolent.

Smite the Damned

Author:  Zack Kullis

Synopsis:  When Keith Da Silva finally confronts the dark circumstances surrounding his mother’s death, his eyes are opened to the darkness that is waging an ancient war against humanity. Keith is violently confronted by demonic forces, shattering his view of reality, and fights for his life with beings of unspeakable evil.

In Smite the Damned, legions of spirits and demons fight alongside an ancient evil, the Nephilim, that have been hiding among their human prey. Keith is asked to help keep the dark forces at bay, and becomes a hunter of the damned. But, his role as a hunter soon brings pain and death to his family and friends. With only a few people to help, Keith takes the battle to the forces of the Dark Lord, and ultimately, is pulled into a fight within a grand demon’s personal realm.

Our Review [by LITERAL ADDICTION’s Pack Alpha – Michelle L Olson]: 
When Zack asked if I would read and review this book, one quick preview of the synopsis let me know that the answer would be “yes”.  Little did I know that after just the first few pages, I would audibly be saying “whoa”.  J 

This book is darkly creepy, psychologically unnerving, scientifically intriguing, and philosophically thrilling…and all in the best possible way!

I was trying to come up with a combination of authors to peg Zack and Smite the Damned, and while I couldn’t do it well because both Zack’s writing style and the book itself are its own beautiful creatures, the closest I could come was John Saul meets Dean Koontz’s Frankenstein, meets early Stephen King. 

Smite the Damned has a loveable main hero with a tragic past, incredibly complex supporting characters, villains that are so despicable that you feel them in the pit of your gut, and a storyline that just doesn’t stop.

The descriptives are deep and incredibly vivid without being smothering, and the scene transitions and character play are smooth and combustible.  Zack’s dialogue is well written and truly believable, the action scenes are intense and emotionally charged, and the suspense is well placed and called for.

While my adjectives above pretty much sum up how I felt about the book, I’d like to add that I am constantly on the hunt for a book, movie, etc that sufficiently creep me out and have always struggled finding it.  While  a lot of material pushes one of my buttons, be it psychologically thrilling, surprising in ways that make me jump every now and then, mentally challenging, etc, there had yet to be a combination of everything that actually had me saying “wow, this is really creepy… and I love it!”, until this book that is.  J

Three cheers for Zack Kullis and Smite the Damned and I want to thank him for letting me take a walk through his dark and twisted imagination!

LITERAL ADDICTION Paranormal Book Club gives Smite the Damned 4 ½ Skulls. 

I definitely recommend it for ALL horror fans who like deep, dark, twisted psychological thrillers with philosophical roots and scientific overtones.  This book is not for the faint of heart, and if you don’t like your thrillers overly dark, it may disturb you.  If you’re like me, and are always on the hunt for “darker is better”, then you need to read this book!

Smite the Damned: