Baal by Robert R. McCammon
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Early McCammon, this novel has all the late seventies' fascination with the antichrist and has a LOT of the feel of Rosemary's Baby and the Omen -- at least at first -- and it transforms nicely into a sprawling drama of an older version of the evil in Omen, as well.

Where it diverges is in how it becomes a Middle East curiosity, with cultists in Kuwait, as well as going to the cold reaches of the north, eventually turning into a pretty epic battle of good versus evil, albeit relying on traditional Christian motifs (and some Jewish!).

While it DOES appear to be a book of its time, I think it held up quite well. It nods to both the old mythologies and the more common, but together, it makes a rather flavorful novel full of rich ideas.

Granted, I loved this less than almost all of his other works, to date, but that's not saying that much. I have liked almost everything he's written.


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