Nephilim by Jeb Kinnison

Mt. Hermon, Utah, is the ideal small town—until forces of darkness from deep beneath the mountain lead its people astray. Sara just moved to town with her divorced mother from a wealthy Long Island suburb; her Jewish roots don’t protect her when a relentless angel comes calling. Jared has lived there all his life, and his addiction to online games and porn has his grades tumbling and his Mormon family worried. Together, Jared and Sara fight the battle of their lives against spirits from the Underworld.

Available on Amazon

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I found a paperback copy of this book on the free table at the LTUE (Life, the Universe, and Everything) Conference in February 2018. As a recovering sex and porn addict myself, I was intrigued by a story that dealt with the growing epidemic of pornography addiction mentioned on the back cover. I'm also LDS (Mormon) and was interested in a story that took place in small-town Utah and how the local culture influences the events in the story.

Jeb Kinnison

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What I liked:

I liked the premise. A teenage Mormon boy struggling with addiction to online pornography meets a Jewish girl transplanted from the East Coast and find themselves entwined in a battle between good and evil. 

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What I didn't like:

For me, the story felt flat. After reading just 65 pages, I didn't feel any investment in the success or failure of the protagonist(s). I also had no idea who the antagonist(s) were. I could only visualize the small-town setting because of the many communities I've driven through in my travels through Utah. I never felt transported into this world.

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I gave Nephilim by Jeb Kinnison 2 stars, but I wish the author the best of luck in all his future writing endeavors.