Devil's Toll

By Malachi Stone

DEVIL’S TOLL asks: what happens to our consciousness when we die? Despite the current appetite for supernatural suspense fiction, no other novel to date has dared to explore the concept of the Aerial Toll Houses, a time-honored religious belief that at the moment of death, our souls must encounter supernatural toll houses guarded by demons seeking their last chance to snatch us away to eternal damnation. The existence of the Aerial Toll Houses is an ancient doctrine in the Eastern Orthodox Church—a doctrine that persists to this day.

DEVIL’S TOLL, written in a deceptively light-hearted tone, leads the reader on a death walk with a modern woman through her mysterious premature demise and the harrowing of her soul by malevolent unearthly beings masquerading as humans.

Over three hundred years ago poet John Milton wrote:
"Millions of spiritual Creatures walk the Earth
Unseen, both when we wake, and when we sleep."
Do YOU believe?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Malachi Stone
• Release date: Nov 22, 2015
• ISBN: 9781310635625

Malachi Stone

Marlon Brando on Larry King Live quoted an unknown Louisiana woman who said, "Anybody who shows his face in public is an ass." (1) Mindful of those wise words, I created the pseudonym Malachi Stone to author my novels and short stories because, as a practicing attorney in a conservative community, my natural inclination was and still is to avoid notoriety and controversy wherever and whenever possible. That being said, my secret identity affords me a perverse Zorro-like gratification. I've been writing for more than twenty years. For a three-year period I was represented by a fine literary agent (2) in Manhattan, who tried valiantly but without success to place my novels in traditional publishing. Allegedly, objections were raised to negative protagonists and explicit sex. While I am convinced those objections are groundless, I am weary of arguing the point. I'll simply let you, the readers, decide for yourselves. I have garnered many good reviews over the years. See, for example, Elizabeth White (3). Interviews of me may be found on the web, for instance, Steve Weddle, Fiona "McDroll" Johnson, Paul D. Brazill and Ian Ayres (4-7). Please feel free to post reviews of my work, good, bad, or indifferent. Only be sure to remember that most of my books, especially the later ones, are self-published without the dubious benefit of copyediting, content editing or censorship of any kind. So if you post reviews carping about bad language or finding flaws in punctuation, paragraphing or font, I frankly don't care. I'm putting these books out there for the sole reason I wrote them in the first place - to be enjoyed by readers. As my law practice has become more active recently, I have taken a sabbatical from writing but hope to resume soon. My personal and private email is: [e-mail]. I'd be delighted to hear from you!1. http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0308/02/lklw.00.html2. http://variety.com/exec/stacia-decker/3. http://www.elizabethawhite.com/tag/malachi-stone/4. http://www.spinetinglermag.com/2011/04/20/conversations-with-the-bookless-malachi-stone/5. http://imeanttoreadthat.blogspot.com/2012/01/american-banshee-by-malachi-stone.html#!/2012/01/american-banshee-by-malachi-stone.html6. https://pauldbrazill.com/2012/01/19/short-sharp-interview-malachi-stone/7. http://nigelpbird.blogspot.com/2010/09/dancing-with-myself-malachi-stone.html