The chance to build a dream home on a private island in Italy’s most beautiful lake offers architect Tom Lupton the fresh start he’s been yearning for. But when he arrives with his family on Diavolino, he finds the terrified locals dead set against his arrival. The island, whose very existence has been shrouded in secrecy for half a millennium, has a dark history that no one cares to remember, and as their opposition to Tom grows, so grows a brooding evil that will lead them to the very doors of hell…
Diavolino, a debut novel by Steve Emmett, is in the supernatural thriller category. This well-crafted book includes terrifying scenes, vivid monsters, and three-dimensional characters. The exquisite setting in Trasimeno, Italy, provides an intriguing contrast between intense beauty and horrifying occurrences.
Architects Tom and Elspeth Lupton, accompanied by their young daughter, Alice, travel to Italy at the request of an affable but unconventional client, Roger Ashby. It seems as though they have an enviable assignment to build a house on a previously unknown island that Ashby purchased. But the island has an occult history involving human torture and sacrifice.
Sima, Tom's assistant, accompanies the Luptons. Her ties with the supernatural provide the spark that ignites a shocking sequence of events, which a powerful sinister character orchestrates. His malicious intentions pose a global threat. Tom's race to save his family provides the reader with unrelenting suspense.
Excerpt
Before long, they were all back in the car with Paolo, hurtling down the serpentine road from Cortona to the main route that led back to the lake. Poggio del Lago rose in front of them; the sun glanced off the surrounding water and animated the pale stone walls of the old fortress.
A motor launch waited for them at the jetty. Paolo took the wheel and started up the engine. The diesel motor chugged away, and the vessel edged forward in a cloud of blue-gray smoke, forcing ripples across the otherwise still water.
“Are there any monsters in the lake?” asked Alice, peering intently over the edge of the boat.
“No, darling,” said Tom, “there are no monsters. Only fish.”
“And not too many of those, I gather,” said Roger. “The water is shallow, about seven meters at the most, and centuries of overfishing have done nothing for the stocks, so they say.”
Tom stood in the stern and looked back. Poggio del Lago was the highest point for many miles, surrounded by agricultural lowland. The slopes below the old walls were thick with ancient olive trees that once must have reached almost to the shoreline. At some time, they’d been cleared to make way for the scattering of buildings that scarred a landscape otherwise unchanged for generations.
As they approached Diavolino, Roger pointed out the temporary landing. Paolo slowed the engine and brought the vessel alongside, leaping onto the pontoon with the agility of an athlete, securing the boat fore and aft.
“Where did you learn to tie knots like that?” asked Tom, climbing onto the pontoon.
“My father. He was a fisherman. When I was little, I used to help him.”
“You should have a talk with Alice. She’s something of a knot expert,” said Elspeth. Alice ignored her and marched on, eyes fixed firmly on the ground.
“I thought you said something about temporary accommodation being nearly ready,” said Tom, his mind distracted by Alice’s uncharacteristic temper. He reached out to her. “Alice, please don’t—”
“Everything we do here must be within the woods.” Roger was not to be diverted. “It has to make as little visual impact as possible. Follow me.”
Tom hesitated, distracted by Paolo, who was settling himself on an upturned log with a pack of Winston One and his mobile phone.
“I’ll be here if you need me,” said Paolo with a smile.
Tom ran to catch up with Alice and took her hand. Dark veins laced the sand-rich earth. A fleshy, leafless weed formed a patchy covering over the surface. Tom had never seen such strange vegetation. The shadow of the towering canopy cast a darkness as they entered the wood, and Tom felt something astringent on the back of his neck, a creeping chill, like frozen pinpoints marching across his skin...
Professional Reviews
Patricia La Barbera
Steve Emmett's mastery of prose was evident to me when I received the manuscript of Diavolino. I enjoyed editing the riveting supernatural thriller. He effectively weaves in the details of the various settings with knowledge gleaned from personal experience. Steve transports the reader to the enchanting Lake Trasimeno area in Italy. However, he masterfully glazes the area with a layer of evil. Characters that are very well developed and engaging help to immerse the reader in the action. Anyone who reads Diavolino will anticipate the sequel from this talented writer.
Susan Roebuck
If you’re a fan of Dan Brown and Stephen King, look no further. I have just read a novel that will keep fans of both thrilled – a kind of DB and SK one-stop book. How it could be overlooked by large publishing houses is beyond me, but maybe it’s the sign of the times, I don’t know.
I’m not usually a fan of paranormal and horror but this new story grabbed me from the very first page to such an extent that I had to email the author and say, Wow! And I was only on chapter three. By the end I was breathless, so wrung out I couldn’t touch a keyboard until now.
You waiting for the title? Hang on.
The scene is set in Italy, there’s Vatican involvement (we believe), and a puzzle to solve that leads back to ancient icons and history, not forgetting a simmering fight between Good and Evil that threatens to boil over.
Sounds like Dan Brown? Maybe, but this is so much better.
In this novel the reader is able to smell, taste, feel and see the countryside of Umbria, the author really knows his stuff about this area. But, don’t worry, it doesn’t overwhelm the plot or the reader at all.
It starts out in the Papal States, circa 1545. In true Stephen King fashion the reader gets an immediate foretaste of the horror to come. And what a horror - the author is a master at conjuring up the worst images and situations. I wiped my brow and breathed a sigh of relief when I was next taken to recent London and characters as normal as you or I (!) Fully rounded characters, I might add – none of your two dimensionals à la D.B. – with believable dialogue and quirks.
It’s not my place here to give the plot away, suffice to say that my relief was short-lived as I was then transported off to modern-day Italy – back to that place in Umbria which had me reeling in the beginning. The suspense builds. If the horror at the beginning was bad, you won’t believe what comes up later.
The author is exceedingly clever: he’s done a lot of research into his subject and releases it at just the right pace. He knows how to tease, to thrill and to leave almost every scene on a cliff-hanger that has the reader begging for more. It is a heart-racing thriller with twists that take you on a roller-coaster which will have you clinging to the sides of your chair. But it’s a fun ride that builds to a horrifying climax having reduced Italy to a boiling cauldron (Italians watch out!).
All I can say is, put this at the top of your reading pile and be prepared to sweat (or glow, in my case).
Shall I put you out of your misery? OK.
DIAVOLINO by Steve Emmett should be the book of the year. Read it and see if you agree.
Lally
If you're a fan of suspense and thriller fiction, you'll certainly enjoy this story in which the past comes back to haunt the present.
After a prologue and opening chapter set five hundred years before the present day, in which a secretive order of monks enact scenes of horrific debauchery, the action moves to 21st century London, where Englishman Tom Lupton is thinking it's time for a change of lifestyle. Tom is tired of the London rat race. When he gets the chance to build his dream house on a pretty Italian island, he hesitates for just long enough for the reader to tell him to stay in London. But soon enough he can't wait to go.
Then, with the Luptons' boats and bridges well and truly burned, things starts to go badly wrong. The island of Diavolino is a place of secrets, and the local people don't want anything to do with it. Many years ago, very bad things happened there, and there's still an aura of evil about the place. The Luptons have a small child, Alice, and being parents makes them especially vulnerable. Like most parents confronted by a five-year-old's fears of something being badly wrong, they try to explain these fears away. But of course Alice is right, and the Luptons soon begin to wish they'd never heard of Diavolino.
The villain Clavelli is a splendid creation, a really frightening presence who made me shiver with dread, not least because he is so physically repulsive, with his shards of decaying skin that fell onto his soutane like turgid dandruff.
By the half way stage of the story, Tom is seriously doubting his own sanity. All his most basic opinions and beliefs are challenged:
"Do you believe in God, Mr. Lupton?"
Tom snapped. "No, as a matter of fact I don't."
"Well, maybe it's time you started."
This is a horrific story, but it's enlivened by many flashes of humour, such as:
"What the hell is that?" Annamaria shielded Alice's eyes.
"God only knows," said Tom.
"Yes, he probably does," said Paolo.
The writing style is fluent and accessible, the setting is very well realised, and the creeping horror gradually enfolds the reader, making this a novel you really ought to read with the lights on and someone else in the house. A modern tribute to Dennis Wheatley, this is a deliciously terrifying first novel which will appeal to fans of English thriller maestros David Gibbins, Paul Sussman and - dare I say it - the American Dan Brown.
Pray for the light. Pray that you last that long. The Long Hour Before Light is a classic collection of Horror tales, re-mastered by Champagne Book Group
Did you ever wonder what happened after the Archangel Michael through the demons out of heaven? Let one of them guide you through the origin of evil in the world.
