The follow-up to [b:Perron Manor|55446843|Perron Manor (Haunted #1)|Lee Mountford|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1600985305l/55446843.SY75.jpg|86464551] that I hoped for.

I was a little surprised and unsure why this book was technically a prequel to the first in the series, but it all makes sense now. The events that take place in this book are heavily referenced and clouded by mystery in the previous book, and boy does this remove that mystery quite well.

Devil's Door is about a down-on-their-luck family that takes a job in restoring a massive house and in turn is tasked with turning it into a hotel. A history shrouded in violence, unbeknownst to said family prior to accepting said job, conflicts with all of the well-written characters of the novel.

While I thoroughly enjoyed the first book, which takes place well after the events of this one, everything about this book is better. The character development, pacing, and horror elements almost perfectly mash together to create a thrilling and horrifying read. My main issue with the first book, which is that not enough things really happened, is thrown out the window here. Lots of stuff happen, but not too much. Like I said, the pacing is almost flawless.

A welcome change compared to the first book was that all of the scenes actually take place within the property limits, save for one or two. The house, just like with the characters in the story, does not let you escape for a moment. It possesses not only the living humans residing there, but also you, the reader. The author brilliantly traps us into his dreary, claustrophobic dwelling and I loved every minute of it.

The whole demon/occult aspect was also more present, with some more details arising, however, I would still like to learn more specifics. The author may be using this as an element of mystery to instill anxiety in the reader, however, I wished for more knowledge on the demons possessing the house, just like Marcus and Vincent. I hope the next book in the series does just that.

If you have not read the first book in the series, I'd say if you really wanted to you could read this first, however, I highly recommend going in order here. While yes this is a prequel, going in with a tiny bit of knowledge from the first book will make it that much more enjoyable.

On to the next book in the series!