The book overall like its subject matter is both good and bad. It tries to explain the historical Satan as coming from a race of gargoyle like beings that inhabit underground passages that extend almost to the bowls of the Earth. The beings appear to be pure evil with only the purpose of killing, eating and enslaving surface dwellers. An expedition is formed to explore the underground region and try to unravel the secrets of these beings. The expedition is made up of a band of scientists, a nun, an escaped POW from the beings, and a bunch of military mercenaries. The book is intriguing in that you want to learn the secrets of these beings and if they are really led by "Satan." All through the expedition, interesting things are found and there are some really compelling pages of plot (though they are scattered in various parts of the book). On top of all this there is a renegade in the group looking for a way to destroy all underground life.
Now the bad points. Firstly, the book was incredibly slow-moving and written in a style where I kept forgetting who the characters were. I am claustrophobic and just thinking how far the travelers were underground constantly bothered me. It is never explained how they get air. Also, they are dropped supply containers from the surface. I was never really clear how they could be transported from the surface to where the travelers were supposed to be. I truly did not understand how some of the "mutants" became the way they were and could not actually picture how they looked. The main mutant is named Ike and he is supposedly pretty repulsive looking with glyphs and tattoos over all his body. You can not understand why the main female character, who is also a nun, would be attracted to him physically. Some of their physical interactions left me very uncomfortable.
This is one book with good points and bad points that you can't really help read to the end because even though it is a difficult read, you definitely want to find out what will happen in the end.
