Demon: A Memoir

Written by Tosca Lee

Narrated by Joe Hempel

From the author of the New York Times bestselling Iscariot comes an award-winning novel that poses the question: if a demon came up to you and offered to tell his story, would you listen?

Clay's life has reached a standstill. Recently divorced, he spends his days drifting from his drab apartment to his equally lackluster job as an editor for a small Boston press and back again. His dreary routine has left him mired in a seemingly meaningless existence, until the night he meets Lucian-a demon-and everything changes. With the simple words, "I'm going to tell you my story, and you're going to write it down and publish it," Lucian catapults Clay's mundane life into turmoil.

What begins as an intriguing mystery soon spirals into a chaotic obsession as Clay struggles to piece together Lucian's dark tale of love, ambition, and grace-only to discover the demon's story is strikingly similar to his own. And the only thing that matters now is finding out how the story ends . . .

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Release date: Dec 3, 2019
• ISBN: 9781515942481

Tosca Lee

Tosca Lee is the award-winning New York Times bestselling author of The Progeny, Firstborn, Iscariot, The Legend of Sheba, Demon: A Memoir, Havah: The Story of Eve, and the Books of Mortals series with New York Times bestseller Ted Dekker. She received her BA in English and International Relations from Smith College. A lifelong adventure traveler, Tosca makes her home in the Midwest with her husband and children.

Reviews for Demon

[ShariMcGriff · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book reminded me of CS Lewis’ The Screwtape Letters, and inspired me when I wrote my first supernatural thriller.

[Rueben Canales · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I could have appreciated the story more if I did not have a chip on my shoulder about Christianity. That said, the story had a lot of build up and mostly consistent a build up.

[Jasmine Lopez · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

So my mom introduced me to Toca Lee this was 1st book since then I've been hook I've listened to Demon 7 times can't get enough this book is amazing

[skybalon · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Well written piece of theology disguised as fiction. While some of the theology is perhaps a little questionable, most is more in the realm of "could be" and makes some sense. The story itself is relatively compelling and is certainly better than a lot of Christian fiction. Well worth the read.

[justablondemoment · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I just couldn't get into this book. There were a few parts that interested me but mostly I was feeling lost.I've read another by this author I got the same kind of "I'm sinking...throw me a lifeline " feeling as well. My hopes were that this book would be different but sadly........no

[9sunny9 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Not badly written. But for some reason, it just rubbed me the wrong way. Not from the start, but just as it went on...it became a tad interminable. Go listen to the demon's story. Write it down. Wait anxiously for his next appearance. Become a bit more of a mess. Repeat. I came to seriously dislike the main character, Clay. Just...he was awfully whiny. Not that he had no reason to be, not that I wouldn't feel like whining were I him; but just try reading that.

I can't even attribute my extreme ambivalence--though perhaps not ambivalence so much as mildly annoyed dislike--to my views on religion, or Christianity in particular. In the past, that would have been a clear reason, and I may have given it another star, figuring that some of my disappointment might stem from not from the book's own merits, but from my preconceptions. But, honestly, I feel like I take a wider view of religion now, and even what I don't agree with, I can respect--so long as its proponents seem to have given a great deal of thought and tried a variety of perspectives.

I mean...if the author wants to be profound, then he needs to do it--don't just be saying, oh wow I never saw things that way, therefore this is amazing, eye-opening, which it might be for the character, but not for anyone who's looking for something to really chew on. I went into this thinking, huh, get a demon's perspective on it all, some insight...yeah, sounds intriguing. I think my main source of disappointment here is--I did not find it intriguing. Maybe, if I were to read it with definite assumptions as the main character did--where he just knew that Satan, demons, etc. did bad stuff, not only never thought of a why but never seemed to realize there could be a 'why'...then the sudden appearance of another perspective would be food for thought. Could the problem be that, in reading, I am too accepting of this world I am given to watch and to walk through; that I see nothing wrong with disregard for the laws of nature, of society, of language, of even my own beliefs (such as they are) if the world I find is consistent to itself, and in its own way, complete?

Or maybe it is the book's--to my mind--awful ending, which I'll not elaborate on, to avoid spoilers; and it's not a sense of incompleteness here that troubles me, so much as an unnecessary finality. The story might have been better had it continued; or had it started at some other point in the sequence of events; or--maybe--had it ended sooner. Maybe it's the sense I get of complete dismissal--well, there's that story done. Not that there was exactly a piece of the story missing there... It seemed to me that the story just stopped with the closing of the book, ended at the last word, loose ends but nothing to extrapolate from or really think on.

I think I'm just disappointed: this book, really, could have been much more than it was.

[beccajcampbell · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

If you've ever wondered why the devil and his demons are evil and why they go to all the trouble to wreak havoc in the world, Tosca explores this very concept in an imaginative and terrifying way.



Clay, an unpublished writer, is stalked by a demon named Lucian who wants to tell his story - you know, the one that started before time began. Before long, Clay is hooked, wanting with every encounter to get to the crux of the matter and find out why Lucian is so determined to get his point accross.



By the end of the book, the tension peaks as Clay must discover how the demon's story is connected to his own life.



Demon is a thrilling tale that will leave you, the reader, with a search of your own.

[jacobsbeloved · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book is creepy, intriguing, and haunting from beginning to end. I am not a fan of horror per say, but this book was absolutely fantastic in a horrific kind of way. I have read Tosca Lee's other book, Havah, and I was just as impressed by Lee's style of writing in this book. Her descriptions are vivid and incredible. I can easily discern that the work she puts into the background information is both from intense study as well as a wonderful imagination.I have read lots of fantasy, including some with the occasional "demon," but no demon has come close to the terror that Lucian evokes - both the fanatical hatred and disgust for mankind that is slowly revealed throughout the plot and the way that he takes any form, any body, to appear to Clay, the main character. At the same time, Lucian is as fascinating as any dictator, terrorist, or serial killer can be, and I am as morbidly curious with his obsession with telling Clay his story as Clay himself is. While I personally believe that Lee's portrayal of the demon is in reality not very accurate - he is too much like a human for starters, the character in the book is still the most unique "demon" that I have ever read in fiction.Lee does an excellent job of keeping the story of Creation as close to the Biblical text as possible, while filling it with all the imagery of first-hand experience. As many times as I have read the Biblical account, Lucian's retelling of it, interspersed with Clay's false memories, made the story come alive for me in a whole new way. Lee covers topics using this story-telling that have often sparked my curiosity when reading the scriptures, such as the angels being with God before the creation of man or even the existence of time, exactly what triggered the fall, or even what it was like to do nothing but the purpose the angels were created for. I often had to put the book down just to contemplate some of these things that she addresses with the plot.Even though there were no loose ends to speak of, I was still a bit disappointed when the book ended. I wanted Lee to draw out Clay's fate and describe it in all its excruciating detail to the very end, instead of the implications of what happens to him with Lucian's parting words and the letter in the epilogue. But the message I gathered from this ending is like a warning to the reader - to beware that Clay's fate is not the same as that of the reader's.

[angelabreidenbach · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I loved Demon: A Memoir because it made me really think about my life purpose. I loved the ending that showed me if I didn't choose, someone else would choose for me. Reading this book inspired me to live my goals and dreams daily. Clay, the main character, was an incredible example that spurs me on to continue to make better choices, to live the calling Christ placed on my life, to choose to challenge myself daily. One of my all time favorite books.

[jenniferbogart · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Demon’s-eye-view novels aren’t entirely uncommon in the world of Christian fiction. Tosca Lee however has a knack for adding something special to even stories that seem old, which seem ‘done’, like a cliché. Her rich prose strikes the perfect balance between lyricism and clarity bringing rich word images to life on the printed page. She makes me think, every time, and Demon: A Memoir is no exception.Clay is an editor and published author whose works never succeeded commercially. A recent divorcee, he finds himself mired in a life that lacks direction, purpose, or color. When a mysterious creature named Lucian enters his life and begins telling him a story that burns to be told, Clay finds himself writing with renewed fervor as the early days of creator are laid out for him from a demon’s-eye-view.What makes Lucian’s revelations so unique isn’t their point of view (which I’ve read before), but rather the conclusions that are formed out of that point of view. Conclusions that contrast man with the angels, which compare God’s treatment of the two creatures when they respectively fall, and contrast His ultimate plans for both of them.This is the main aspect that makes Demon such a worthwhile read. Compelling prose aside, these breathtaking insights into God’s love from the viewpoint of the fallen enemy are utterly spellbinding.As a brief warning – readers looking for a decisive, definitive ending may be disappointed with Demon’s conclusion, but Lee is asking readers to make their own choice, to write the end of their own story, just as Clay must do. Those open to pondering for themselves, open to living in the question will enjoy this absorbing novel and the skill with which Lee draws out the question itself.Reviewed at quiverfullfamily.com

[michellesutton · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

One of the best books I've read...ever!

[capetowncanada · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Really enjoyed 3/4 of this book but not caring for the ending so much. The author does a great job of giving you an image of the people and places the story takes place in. You can really image these things happing.The book is about a demon who contacts a man and wishes to tell him his story of his and Lucifer's fall from grace and the resulting creation of the earth and the human race, and how much he hates them all.

[thatpalechick · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Clay is a divorced and depressed editor drifting through life, wishing something exciting would happen to him. And then it does. Clay is contacted by a man calling himself Lucian, who wants Clay to write his memoirs for him. The catch? Lucian is a demon. As Lucian tells his side of the story, describing his fall from Heaven and his part in the course of history, Clay finds himself sinking into insanity, obsessed with learning how the story ends. Tosca Lee has created a masterpiece of religious fiction, expertly weaving the grit of reality with the beauty of the ethereal, creating a story of life, death, love, and sorrow that the devout and non-believers alike can enjoy.