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Summary: Self rules!
Review: A couple of friends of mine recommended this book to me (along with Hexes) and I'm so glad they did. This is a top-notch horror novel. It's the secoond one I'd read by Piccirilli, and certainly not the last! There are some serious chills in here, but there's a playful air about a lot of the story as well, as in all his work. Weird, funny characters stuck in strange situations. An odd mixture of thrills, chills, and tongue in cheek satire. Self rules! Also recommended: Hexes, The Night Class, and The Deceased
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Summary: Wonderful occult horror
Review: A LOWER DEEP is a wonderful occult horror novel where research into mythology, religion, the black arts and history has paid off in a fine way. This book reads with a particular sense of realism no matter how bizarre the situation. We follow a nameless man known only as the Necromancer as he and his demonic and sarcastic companion "Self" travel across the world battling evil abroad and the evil within themselves. From an unholy mansion where a witches' coven attempts the premature resurrection of the messiah, to a haunted monestary where insane monks roam, to the city of Jerusalem itself where the protagonist must fight the ghosts of his past as Armageddon approaches. This is top-notch horror fantasy that brings the concepts of belief, sacrifice, faith and antiquity to a unique life. Highly recommended.
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Summary: A blazing dark fantasy
Review: A Lower Deep is one of the best and different horror novels I've read. Terrifying, intense and spooky. This is one of the most disturbing, suspenseful and action packed novels I've ever read.
You can't lose with this one.
Rating: 
Summary: Second Rate Pablum
Review: A Lower Deep simply was not scary. The fundamental problem with this novel was the author's approach. Rather than gradually build suspense with omens and revelations, he has people getting eviscerated on page 12. The story was completely over the top from the beginning. Having been introduced to demonic familiars, necromancers, and the undead from the begninning of the story, I failed to find them either fascinating or scary. Perhaps a more skilled writer could have pulled this off, but in Piccarrilli's hands, it just came off as the UPN horror movie of the week.
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Summary: YES!
Review: A Lower Deep? YES! My favorite book of 2002 along with 'Night of the Beast' by harry shannon. Tom Piccirille has an amazing imagination and a cool and dark sense of what is funny and or ironic and makes up real and deep people.
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Summary: total creep-fest fantasy
Review: A narrator known only as the Necromancer and his demonic sidekick, "Self," wander through the book all across America and eventually to the Middle East, where they attempt to stop a misled coven in Jerusalem. The Necromancer struggles with the ghosts of his dead comrades and battles the leader of his former coven, Jebediah DeLancre, who is intending to resurrect Christ before God wills it so. This novel is heavy with a crackling atmosphere and filled with an amalgam of Judeo-Christian history, other myths, and well-researched facts about the Old City of Jerusalem and other Biblical settings. This is a powerful tale told by an ingenious writer.
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Summary: An occult masterpiece
Review: A terrific novel of magic and the supernatural where a modern day warlock battles his former coven and tries to stop the end of the world. Piccirilli's research makes this one of the most interesting books I've ever read in my life. He brings to life history, mythology, and folklore in ways I've never seen before. A masterpiece!
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Summary: Unique and fiery fantasy
Review: A wonderfully literate tale of demons, a haunted monastary, and the struggle of one modern-day weaver of magic in the face of Armageddon. The nameless Necromancer has a history of tragedy and horror in his past, and for his sins he's hooked up with a demonic "Self" that is the dark side of his personality. Self is a blood-hungry, sex-crazed being always tempting our hero to let loose with all his ugliest desires. A struggling anti-hero, the Necromancer does what he can to stop his former coven leader from taking over the world by resurrecting Christ Himself before God wills it. This is an ambitious, thoughtful, penetrating tale that attacks convention at every turn. Definitely try it out.
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Summary: Finally, a "Self" novel!
Review: For years Tom Piccirilli has been publishing short stories featuring an unnamed "Necromancer" and his demonic familiar "Self," who wander America and find supernatural evils just about wherever they go. Their history is long, complex, and entwined--the Necromancer tries to overcome his more impulsive "Self" and fight for the side of good, although, as we learn, sometimes Heaven is just as fouled up as Hell. Now Piccirilli's brought us the first novel featuring this duo and it's been well-worth the wait. In A LOWER DEEP the two are forced to confront their old coven leader, Jebediah DeLancre, who wishes to force the premature return of Christ. Though the Necromancer is opposed to this, Jebediah dangles an offer that can't be refused: the resurrection of the Necromancer's one true love, Danielle. The original coven was destroyed during a horrifying ritual gone wrong, and now the ghosts of those members plus new witches from a second order either aid or attack the Necromancer along his path. Eventually he finds himself at Mount Armon, a monestary where even more creepy events occur, as a little boy harbors occult forces and an infant may be sacrificed to bring life to a Nephilim, an abominable creature devoid of soul that is half angel and half human. The abbot and monks of Armon must take sides as unfolding circumstance seem to signal Armageddon. This leaves the Necromancer and Self no choice but to head to Jerusalem, where they attempt to fight against the end of the world. But is "Self" actually there to help or is he truly in league with Hell? Piccirilli keeps us guessing as he unveils a well-researched and sprawling tapestry of black rituals, mythology, paganism, witchcraft, Judeo-Christian beliefs, and a multitude of characters who are confused, terrified, and trapped by their own intentions as the apocalypse approaches. Piccirilli writes with a fluid, punchy, gripping narrative voice, but despite all the horrific events occurring there's often an edge of humor as "Self" sarcastically quips along. Highly recommended.
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Summary: An occult masterpiece
Review: I first read Piccirrilli's "Self" stories back when they appeared in small press magazines in the horror genre. I was always enthralled with how he managed to blend so many elements together and yet still offer up a remarkably smooth story. In A Lower Deep, the author takes three novellas with one overall arcing story line and gives a rip-snorting dark fantasy tale of a modern day warlock driven by a vague morality to try to save the world. The warlock (or "Necromancer", as he's known here) is trapped between a world of black magic, his own demonic "Self's" constant urgings for him to give in to lust and murder, his love for his dead girlfriend, and his struggle with understanding God's greater plan. A wonderfully ambitious, unsettling, and moving book.
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