I am not new to the idea of possession being misdiagnosed as D.I.D. I spoke with Paula Fenn at a seminar last year who works in this field. She’s a highly trained psychotherapist who deals with spirit release. In that way she’s a few steps ahead of the characters in “Father of Lies” who take some time to even consider what might be happening has its roots in the supernatural.
Father of Lies is a good story and well researched. It’s exciting and dark. We learn about a strange and remote village full of Satanic practitioners and their violent resistance to outsiders. The story centres around a group of mental health workers who are treating two adults who lived in this village. After an attempt at hypnotherapy things start to go badly wrong and those who believe insanity can be treated medically lose their grasp on what is real and what is not.
There are a couple of issues with the book. The characters are not as well developed as I would have liked and some of them feel interchangeable at times. The formatting of the interior leaves a lot to be desired, but I doubt that would spoil the ebook version. It does, however, cheapen the look of the paperback copy I purchased. It is the first book in a trilogy and the story is not resolved at the end of part one, yet I am not sure the questions remaining are compelling enough to drive me to buy the next instalment. That said it is a good read. It reminds me of 70’s and 80’s Satanic Panic films. I am certainly considering trying one of England’s stand alone supernatural thrillers.
