The Devil by Name

A Novel

By: Keith Rosson

Narrated by: Xe Sands

“Fever House and The Devil by Name are exciting, suspenseful, horrifying, and written at a flurry-of-punches pace. Read them now and you can thank me later.”—STEPHEN KING

No one expected the apocalypse would be broadcast via phone call. But in this chilling sequel to Fever House, anyone who managed to survive that doomsday call has a harrowing answer to the question, “Where were you when the Message came through?”

“Every scene, every chapter is more bananas than the one before. It’s impulsive and tremendously exciting.”—Joe Hill, The New York Times

Five years after the event that drove most of the global population to madness, the world is overrun with the “fevered”—once-human, zombielike creatures drawn indiscriminately to violence and murder. In a campaign to restabilize the country, the massive corporation known as Terradyne Industries has merged with the U.S. government in a partnership of dubious motives, quarantining major American cities behind towering walls and corralling the afflicted there with the hope, they say, of developing a vaccine.

In Portland, where it all began, guilt-ridden detective John Bonner scours the city’s darkest corners for clues to humanity’s redemption. In New England, Katherine Moriarty mourns the devastating losses of her husband and son while in hiding from Terradyne. And across the ocean in France, a sixteen-year-old girl named Naomi Laurent discovers she has a disturbing and powerful gift—which may just be the key to the world's salvation.

Equal parts gruesome and beautiful, The Devil by Name is a heart-stopping, breakneck saga of survival. As its characters’ paths inevitably collide across the ravaged landscape of a post-apocalyptic America, they are united by the desire to not just escape death but to carve out some way to live anew.

Everything starts and ends in the fever house.

©2024 Keith Rosson (P)2024 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“Rosson continues to trace the spreading ripples generated by the first book’s cliff-hanger ending . . . with the same unpredictable energy and flights of comic-book excess. My advice: Read this duology as one single grand, mutating epic.”—Esquire, “The Best Horror Books of 2024”

“Rosson’s stellar sequel to 2023’s Fever House . . . is literary horror at its finest.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review

“This is an absolute skull-cracker of a novel, presenting what may be one of the most unique takes on the end of the world I’ve ever seen. It somehow manages to hit even harder than Fever House.”—Chuck Wendig, author of Black River Orchard and The Book of Accidents

Perfect wrap up

Great conclusion to the saga of the fever house. Incredible narration. Keith Rosson for president.

The performance, the dialog, the pacing of the plot.

Thoroughly enjoyed this series, looking forward to more books from Keith Rosson. I think this would adapt very well into a show or movie, something I would love to see in the future.

Top tier horror.

You've read the first book. The series is a slow burn but the slow part is a really well-written zombie apocalypse. Two thumbs up, 10/10, five stars.

Even better than the 1st

I liked that almost everything was tied up at the end of the 2nd book. Good narrator & lots of action. Seems like there are a lot of characters to follow but it’s not confusing at all-they all end up crossing paths where they need to. I love both books in this series, original idea & good actual horror. Great author.

A Most Worthy Sequel

Keith Rosson has expanded the world he conjured in “Fever House” in a delightfully devilish way! A great story!

Story held back by awful narrator

Worst narrator I’ve ever come across. Barely any type of character work aside from raising the pitch of her voice and adding glottal fry.