Pandemonium

Thousands of verified demonic possession since the 1950's.

That is the phenomenon behind the alternative world Gregory otherwise sketches. Some possessions provoke deadly accidents, and one demon, a little girl in a long white dress, is an angel of death for those already suffering terminal illnesses. Others are destructive or merely disconcerting intruders society has adjusted to.

As a child Del Pierce was possessed by the demonic version of Dennis the Menace known as The Hellion. Most of the previously possessed get on with the lives, but Del knows that the demon is still trapped inside his brain, literally hammering to get out.

Gregory novels are stories about family, friendship, and all the other ties that bind. They just happen to take place in a society undergoing a world-changing phenomenon. Pandemonium was his first novel, and he already knew the fictional territory he would make his own. It's a pleasure to read, and it includes Philip K. Dick as a character.