This quote from Sun Tzu’s The Art of War has special meaning for author Chris DeFlorio, who has it prominently displayed in the office of his Long Island home. The native New Yorker has good reason for it—he engages in war on a routine basis.

I learned about DeFlorio’s book, Called into Darkness when I was surfing on YouTube a few months ago and a thumbnail caught my attention. An ex-cop battling demons and the supernatural? Intrigued, I clicked, watched the video, then bought the eBook on Amazon.

The author writes primarily in the third person with himself as the main character, for the purpose, as stated in the introduction, of creating a novel-style read despite the fact that the book is nonfiction. He succeeds and also manages to present other points of view when necessary without subjecting readers to a disorienting “head-hopping” experience.


DeFlorio takes the approach of interweaving two storylines by alternating chapters. The book starts by placing the reader directly inside a haunted Connecticut home, the case which in 2021 garnered international attention. In chapter two he turns back the clock to 2008. As a rookie police officer in the most dangerous precinct in Manhattan, Chris approaches his job with passion, confidence, and a sense of humor. The next chapter introduces us to the background of the terrifying Connecticut case of demonic infestation. The evil presence in a beautiful country home is targeting a four-year-old little boy with an intention to possess him. As the book unfolds, we learn there are no lengths to which Chris won’t go in order to protect the child.

Connecticut is not the only scary story here. On a family vacation, the frightening presence in an Orlando resort hotel room proves to be very real, and DeFlorio receives a horrifying warning not to mess with the entity. And then there’s that chilling experience in a Rwandan marketplace….

The characters are complex, smart, and strong, yet with weaknesses with which the reader can readily identify. As the main character, Chris deals with his personal demons: a quick temper, and a sense of sadness stemming from lost dreams and broken relationships. The other principal character, Harmony, is a lovely blond single woman living and working in Harlem as a Fire Department EMT, with her own history of heartache.

As noted in the official book description, “All is well as love blooms amid the chaotic life of first responders. But they never suspect that one day they will embark together on the most dangerous assignment of their lives...They find they will need every skill learned at their jobs combined with their faith, as they travel from home to home to battle that ancient foe, Satan himself, in the unseen realm of the supernatural.”

Just as DeFlorio is able to convey differing points of view, he can successfully place readers in a wild police chase simply by switching tenses from past to present—yet without jarring or confusing them—before seamlessly returning to the past tense to continue the main narrative. Yet another positive is his deft use of cliffhangers, which is part of the reason I sped through this book. A cliché it may be, but it was hard to put down.

A major theme is Chris’s realization that nothing happens in his life by chance. His religious upbringing does not play an important role in his adult life until a certain set of circumstances unfolds and he sees a bigger plan for himself than he ever envisioned. Most importantly, he realizes how God and the events of his past were equipping him all through the years for his present work in fighting supernatural forces. The same holds true for Harmony, whose professional talents combined with skills as a nurturer and caregiver prove invaluable. Crediting their faith for the strength and courage to confront the face of quintessential evil is an immensely powerful testimony.

All this praise! What about flaws? To be honest, the original edition of Called into Darkness had formatting and grammatical issues that bothered me. So when I wrote an Amazon review, I gave it a five-star rating but noted if it had not been such a compelling story, it would have been only four. Then I cut and pasted the review and emailed it to the author. Imagine my surprise when he quickly wrote back. Was I willing to edit the book? I was.

By now I have probably read Called into Darkness a dozen times, painstakingly going through it with the proverbial fine-tooth comb. And yet every time I arrive at the last chapter, “Connecticut—The Confrontation,” I still get chills, a testament to how gripping this true story of the paranormal and the divine really is.

Author

Native New Yorker Tricia Pimental left the US in 2012, later becoming International Living’s first Portugal Correspondent. The award-winning author and her husband, now Portuguese citizens, currently live in Coimbra.

Tricia Pimental