A Nefarious Plot

by Steve Deace

Republican vs. Democrat The Haves vs. the Have Nots Left vs. Right Us vs. Them We believe these are the divisions that are threatening to tear America apart. But what if the culprit isn't a political ideology or a class of people but a puppet master? He's been manipulating us for centuries–and now he’s brought us to the brink of implosion. It would take a special kind of sinister to hatch such a nefarious plot against our civilization. Who, or what, would be capable of such a conspiracy? All there is to go on is the cryptic You’ll never guess my name.

Genres: Fiction, Christian, Politics, Horror, Faith, Religion, Adult Fiction

209 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 9, 2016

Reviews

[Brian Nicks · Rating 5 out of 5]

What C. S. Lewis was to WW2 England when he wrote "The Screwtape Letters", Steve Deace is to 21st century America and our culture of relativism and death. "Religious" America needs to read about their capitulation to the progressive movement that has destroyed this once great nation and sent it spiraling to hell, and repent and turn back to God.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is in the fiction section but is full of more truth than anything being taught today. A must read for all U.S. History classes and followers of Jesus.

[Mandee Mostrom · Rating 2 out of 5]

If I am able to look past Deace's 178 page projection of everything he disagrees with about today's America and search for the brief bits of good hidden among the thorny, seemingly unedited text, I can say that the initial idea to publish something like this was clever and necessary for younger Americans to get a picture of where things are headed if they don't grow into catalysts for change in their country. However, Deace seems to lose control of his demonic pseudonym within the first few chapters of the book as the "demon" narrator seems more like the author's guilt-free avenue of blaming the left for everything evil in the US today, successfully making himself come off as arrogant to say the least. By the end of the book, it was somewhat confusing to suddenly feel like Deace hiding behind this demonic facade was suddenly preaching at me after spending several chapters tearing me, my country, and my generation to shreds.

The saddest part about this book was the realization that behind the messy haphazardly finished product, Steve Deace had some really important and hard to swallow truths that need to be shared and heard. Unfortunately, his arrogant and pompous tone throughout the book shrunk his credibility down to shreds. So now, those who need to hear it most are so turned off after the first few chapters that they elect to put the book down never to open it again.

[Hollie D · Rating 4 out of 5]

Steve Deace does a good job of laying out, in great detail, the demise of America. The story is told by a Demon General from Hell who set out to destroy America and succeeded. At times this book is hard to read. It lays bear the horrors of our culture. I felt convicted in a couple areas while reading .

I left off one star because at times the writing seems choppy and doesn't flow well. For me, that didn't take away from the storyline. This was a page turner for me. Good work from Mr. Deace!

[Sandy]

This dark tale of the demon plot to destroy the foundations of American culture, difficult to read at times, convicting even, but maybe with a small bit of hope, has embedded in its pages brilliance.

An example: Mr. Deace makes the case that progressivism is a religion, complete with a creation story. "Progressivism is a bad theology, but you can only defeat a bad theology with a good one. There isn't a political solution to a spiritual problem."

Excellent book, though the rantings from a demon may not be for my more gentle Christian friends. I'm anxious to share it with a few and see how it is received.

The book was an easy read the first time through at only 178 pages, but I need to read it again to digest all that is packed into its pages.

Great job, Mr. Deace!

[Acacia Fox · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book gave me mixed reactions. The negatives for me were first, it is written with a crude and even harsh style. Which is fitting seeing that it is written from the perspective of a demon, but, it was a little difficult and not very enjoyable to read due to that. I also did not appreciate the way that God was referred to. In context of the book’s “author” it makes sense, but at points it felt dishonoring.

The perspective that this book brings makes it very intriguing and it is very well written. There were a few phrases that I’ve remembered and continued to think about. One being: “If faith is the currency in heaven, then fear is the currency in hell. Whenever you make fear based decisions you are fueling the pit of hell, for fear moves my Master to act the same way your faithful prayer moves [God]” ~Nefarious, pg 136

Overall, I would describe this book as a modern day Screwtape Letters. Powerful, convicting and deeply thought provoking.

[Kenneth Bracamonte · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting read

The book was written extremely. You felt like nefarious was an actual being. There were many times that I started to connect the dots and wanted to make changes to become a better individual, citizen, decent human being. It led me to want to study american history.

[Libby Rodriguez · Rating 4 out of 5]

I watched the prequel movie on opening night and was inspired to buy this book. The tone is similar to the movie. The movie writers did a good job emulating certain things from the book! My main critique is that at times, the demon narrator’s tone/intentions were a bit inconsistent. There were times where you can tell that it’s Steve rather than the character, if that makes sense.

Overall, the movie and this book have definitely given me some things to think about and contemplate on. There were many things that I never thought of in certain perspectives. It absolutely gives a great warning of where we are in life and what is to come.

[William Kautz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant.

A wake-up call. Brilliantly written, and relevant to the times we're living in. The question is, is it too late to turn back from the cultural rot and immoral abyss that we as a society currently find ourselves in.

[Zoë Doëvibezz · Rating 1 out of 5]

If you’re coming here from the movie DO NOT READ. The movie was thought provoking and I liked it, the book is basically a political rant. The only thing neferious about the book is the bad writing and the fact this is being compared to CS Lewis. Skip this book, watch the movie and read The Screwtape Letters by CS Lewis for thought provoking ideas.

[Troy · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's like a modern American version of the Screwtape letters by CS Lewis. More direct to the reader and more ominous.

[Jay B · Rating 1 out of 5]

If you’re coming into this book thinking it’ll be anything like the movie, then you’re in for a very bad time. There’s no story here. Just the author going on and on about their beliefs.

[Steven R. McEvoy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I Picked this up to give a read because so many people were raving about the movie. For those who might not be familiar there is currently a movie out called Nefarious, that Catholics and Christians have been raving about for a few months. Being a bibliophile, I always prefer to watch the movie after reading the book, and to be honest the trailers were pretty dark. It looks more like horror than I would normally watch these days. And I really, really wanted to like the book, … but

.
.
.

First the description of the book is:

“Who has co-opted the American Dream? The Right? The Left? It may not be who you think it is.

Republican vs. Democrat

The Haves vs. the Have Nots

Left vs. Right

Us vs. Them

We believe these are the divisions that are threatening to tear America apart. But what if the culprit isn't a political ideology or a class of people but a puppet master? He's been manipulating us for centuries–and now he’s brought us to the brink of implosion.

It would take a special kind of sinister to hatch such a nefarious plot against our civilization. Who, or what, would be capable of such a conspiracy? All there is to go on is the cryptic

You’ll never guess my name.”

This story is in many ways one in a long line of attempts to update C.S. Lewis’s The Screwtape Letters and Screwtape Proposes a Toast. Both of which I greatly appreciated and read a number of times between 20 and 30 years ago.

The Snakebite Letters – Peter Kreeft
Lord Foulgrin's Letters – Randy Alcorn
The Gargoyle Code - Fr Dwight Longenecker
Flambeau@Darkcorp.com - Don Hawkings

Are a few I have read or at least looked at closely. I was underwhelmed with Kreeft’s offering. I did not make it through Alcorn’s. Longenecker’s has been on my list to get around to reading for years and keeps getting bumped down. And Hawkings was terrible. And for me this one really did not hit the mark. I nearly put it in the ‘did not finish’ pile a number of times. And to be honest I kept hoping it would turn that corner. And it just never did. When I was in university in the late 80’s and early 90’s Freak E. Peretti rose to great popularity with evangelical Christians and beyond. I loved This Present Darkness, and Piercing The Darkness and considered them spiritual warfare novels. Every time I read them my prayer life deepened. His volume Prophet blew me away. After reading The Oath, I described it as reading a Christianised Stephen King and that I felt slimed. The same sort of thing happened with Ted Dekker’s books. And for this one that is the overall feeling it left me with. It felt like I had been slimmed and there was no redemption or recovery. Now I know there is a second volume, A Nefarious Carol, but after my experience with this one I am not sure I would be willing to give it a try. And I am far less likely to give the movie a go. At the time of writing this review there are over 1500 reviews on the big A with an average of 4.8, Good reads has 699 ratings and an average of 4.3. I ended up giving it 3 because you can’t do 2.5.

Reading this left me with no desire to read more books by Deace, even though many of his titles are intriguing. The description of the second volume is:

“The time has finally come. Confident America has been conquered, Satan prepares to initiate the final stage of his master plan, but it requires a willing partner—will she say yes?

Convinced his demon general Lord Nefarious has successfully conquered America, Satan himself now decides it’s time for him to step out of the shadows and complete his master plan. But for it to succeed, he must find a willing partner…

On the run, frightened, and alone, Rae is cornered one fateful night in a rundown motel room by the devil himself. He has a once-in-eternity offer for her—the chance to change the world forever. But to convince her to freely accept it, Satan needs to connect with Rae’s past, present, and future to prove to her he can be trusted after all. A showdown for the ages is officially on, and humanity hangs in the balance.”

From the description I cannot but help think about the film The Seventh Sign from 1988. This book is listed as 208 pages and to be honest it felt like a lot more. This modernization of Screwtape is obviously hitting home for many, both the book and movie. But for me, and I rarely say it, I truly wish I had not finished and had given up the first time I felt like it. So if you are reading it and it is working for you, by all means continue. But if it is not, put it aside. You won’t regret that decision.

This book is part of a series of reviews: 2023 Catholic Reading Plan!

[Cheyenne Langevelde · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my first time doing a buddy read and I found it super fun to be able to discuss this and hear other opinions while reading! Highly recommend doing that with a book!

The Good:
This book is extremely insightful to our current culture and the way our culture has deteriorated from its origins. Even if you are already aware of the rot happening in our country, this book is spot on in identifying the beginnings and following it along its culmination into the chaos we see today—with frightening accuracy. And as terrifying as the ending can be, it also ends with a note of hope that there is a chance to fix it.

The Bad:
This book is similar to The Screwtape Letters in that it's written from the POV of a demon. In this instance, however, it's talking about the great Plot to destroy America, vs Wormwood's objective in destroying souls. Unlike TSL, though, Nefarious (the narrator) lacks something very important. This book is written in a very brazen tone. While I understand the reasoning why, the Bible is very clear that while Satan and his minions hate God, there is still an understanding of Who's really in control, and the demons fear and tremble because of Him. You don't really get that in this book. God and Jesus are talked about in a very flippant and often sacrilegious tone, which rubbed the wrong way. I would warn any potential readers of this aspect.

The chapter on Death, specifically the way our culture perceives Death, also contains some very graphic accounts of abortion. While these are true accounts, I would caution any reader about this chapter because it is very disturbing (as it should be) and it's only fair you're warned in advance in case it's too much.

What the Reader Thought:
This book is highly informative, regardless of your political or religious stance. With the warnings given above, I would recommend reading it, especially as part of a government course (for seniors in high school with discretion and college students, not younger children at all). It's very sobering, it's very reflective, but also very good in the purpose that it serves. Even while being aware of most of what the author talks about, seeing it all put together was mind-boggling in an almost frightening way, and I learned a lot while reading it.

And...as slim as the hope is for our current state, there is still hope.

[James Love · Rating 5 out of 5]

"What if we took the legalism, hypocrisy, and judgmental streak that moralistic cultures are stereotypically known for, and swung the pendulum so far the other way that having any moral standard at all made you out to be a “bigot” or a “hater”?"

https://www.whoisnefarious.com/

https://youtube.com/watch?v=WPN0llDX7...

C. S. Lewis' The Screwtape Letters meets Randy Alcorn's Lord Foulgrin's Letters with Steve Deace's unique Snarky Political Commentary. It can be read as a contemporary horror novel or as it was intended to lead stumbling Christians and lost souls to Christ. Read it before seeing the movie.

I recommend the hardcover or paperback version. The Kindle version is filled with typos such as fl instead of finishing out the world fluid. The formatting errors destroy the narrative flow by having half a word and then the rest of the word two lines down the screen and continued halfway across the screen which is distracting and annoying.

[Melanie · Rating 1 out of 5]

If you purchase this book because it is similar to C.S. Lewis' The Screwtape Letters, you will be sorely disappointed. This novel lacks any wit or cleverness, and is essentially a nearly 200 page whining rant, thinly veiled as fiction, mainly lamenting the fact that the whole world doesn't live as the author wishes. Unimpressive, bigoted, and lacking any human kindness.

[Abraham Nagy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Did not finish, this is a crude attempt to emulate The Screwtape Letters, and its few valid points are overwhelmed by the blatant propaganda for ultra conservative Christians.

[Lola · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Nefarious Plot, menceritakan tentang Trevor, yang tiba-tiba mendapati dirinya didorong ke dalam dunia yang intrik dengan manipulasi politik.

Dalam ceritanya ada humor yang sering membuatku tertawa, dan pada saat yang sama, ada komentar tentang manipulasi media, pengaruh kepentingan khusus & pengikisan kebebasan individu.

Aku suka ketika cerita ini menggunakan sindiran untuk menyoroti absurditas, serta kontradiksi yang melekat dalam lanskap politik saat ini.

Namun sayangnya, ada beberapa sindiran yang tidak dapat kupahami & plot terkesan berlebihan atau dibesar-besarkan.

Tapi, terlepas dari itu aemua, cerita ini membuatku bertanya-tanya tentang narasi yang sering kutemui di berbagai media, serta motif di balik mereka yang berusaha untuk mengontrol persepsi publik.

[Sheila · Rating 3 out of 5]

Many, many great points in this book, which detail how evil (Satan) has carefully dismantled the America of its founding fathers - from within, of course. Trying to mimic the Screwtape Letters, this plot is explained by a demon, whose voice is quite annoyingly immature for at least the first third of the book. (His human readers are called "bags of meat" WAY too many times.) But thankfully, at about halfway in, he seemed to hit his stride with the real message and so dropped the distracting personality of an amateur demon to a much lesser influence. I read this in one sitting, and because of its message, would love to give this book more stars. However, it definitely could have been pared down and perhaps framed differently. CS Lewis is just not someone you want to imitate unless you want to be found clearly wanting.

[Christina Pauze (is in a reading slump) · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Good:
There was a lot of truth in this book, like the veil was being lifted in full of all the true motives behind what we all view as progress in history. The best chapter that on it's own I would rate 10/5 stars (yes 10/5) would be chapter 8 - DEATH. It is very graphic I will warn you, but it really does show the monstrosity of abortion and the complete lack of value (borderline hatred) of human life. It is further backed with case references and articles and of course the names so you can do the research yourself. The most shocking one being Kermit Gosnell. As someone who enjoys true crime it speaks volumes that I have never heard of this man, America truly did hide this one when it would cause sever damage to the radical left (or left in general) on their fight "for" women.

I also liked the breakdown of the psychology of man as a whole and the depravity of our sinful nature. If you are someone who is hearing all of this for the first time, this is ground shaking.

The Bad:

I cannot wholeheartedly recommend this book. The one thing that I despise is comment of Steve Deace himself. It is in print and also currently said again on his podcast that he thinks this was spiritually inspired. If you really think about it, there are only two spirits (those of God aka the trinity and His hosts, or those of evil). There is no way this was something directly inspired by God, how do I know, because there are still some lies in this book that are portrayed as truth (and in the movie. I highly recommend go to 511 News Goodfightministries YouTube Channel and watch their movie review). Which can only imply one thing. I will say right here and now I do not think this was demonically inspired, all I am saying is that it is a very uncomfortable comment to hear of Christian say so lightheartedly, which I think is worth mentioning. (Knowing the history of C S Lewis before, after and during his faith would make me question the screwtape letters though. Although it was educational there is something very disturbing with how that work came about)

I think this was written in the same with with heavy reference to the screwtape letters, which Steve Deace does say in the introduction, that this was meant to be a modern take (a better word would be update) on what the screwtape letters revealed. The only main difference is that this focuses more on American politics and history where the screwtape letters is more general.

I found that there was a lot of unnecessary vulgarity - not profanity (other than the word Ass which is a problem for some) but the vocation in itself was worded in a way that I didn't think was necessary which add further discomfort that I think hurt the book a bit. Then again I don't think this is necessarily a book targeted to Christians explicitly so you can make your own choice. The repetitive referral to God as "you know who" or "dead beat dad" was also disheartening and made me take a few breaks.

There is also the underlining theology of hell itself. That it is like every Disney movie where it is Satan's kingdom and he doesn't actually suffer there, at least not now. When that simply isn't true. Hell is a place for Satan and the other fallen angels who will suffer in eternal torment when the final judgment comes. It is a place where there is gnashing of teeth and no names. But (just like in screwtape letters) there is this lie of hell being a place that is the ideal world for demons and that they don't have to torment humans but do so out of their hatred for humans. I can't help but think that in a way that gives teh evil man hope, that if he is evil enough then maybe he can be an acception to the rule in hell rather than being tormented be one of the tormenters for eternity. This is also something taught by one of the hosts of the Bible Project who believe Hell is a man made place where there is no torment but just a little spiritual town essentially that God doesn't reign for the humans who reject God. The punishment is that it isn't as good as heaven but they are by no means tormented. It makes me think of Alister Crowley who was self-proclaimed as the most wicked man on earth and wanted to be know as the anti Christ or specifically Satan's right hand man. Could he have also thought the same acception could apply to him in order for him to further bask in his own wickedness as he invented not only knew ways to cause evil but also pioneered a lot of occult practices that are in many christian churches today (enneagram, enchantment, which is the repetitive chanting of a single word, a great example is "olive get out of that grave" which was also an attempt of necromancy, the use of words like energy, vibe - do as though wilt is now accepted in the form as "you do you") but it comes out of crowleys work 'Satan's bible' and the way he lived. This was something that was really leaned into.

I found the experience just as disheartening as the original. All truths with specks of lies for additional seasoning. As interesting as it was, none of this was a true reveal of anything. We can easily watch christian political podcast and general conservatives podcast for all of this information and history to be put out for us in the same way except there would be more theology added in the podcast version and less insults to God in the process. I picked the book up because I was told it was a good movie to watch but I was hesitant so this was my compromise ... I wouldn't recommend this book (unless you really want to read chapter 8 which is the only chapter that I think gave anything new and truly beneficial to the table, it was written beautifully).

[Ricardo Portella · Rating 1 out of 5]

The Nefarious movie writer is a much better writer than Nefarious itself! The book is monologue of the demon Nefarious where he lay down his view of the world and the plan to end the human race, but his view on history and religion is so biased and imperfect that I couldn't pass the second chapter. It's a simplistic protestant view of the world. Stay with the movie and don't care about this book, it's not worth.

[Kinsley Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was compared to Screwtape Letters for modern day America. It was very heavy at times and took me awhile to get through due to that. One chapter in particular was gut wrenching to read because it's so sad. Would definitely read again because I'm sure there are many things I missed and would further understand after reading a 2nd time.

[Janet Shea · Rating 2 out of 5]

The “bags of meat”, “you-know-who” ?

I tried twice to finish this book and finally stopped half way through. Written from the cynical devil’s viewpoint was depressing. It’s hard to find new knowledge to highlight that I would refer back to at a later time.

[Jub Akins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Do not read this if you want to keep your blinders on...

If you happen to be wondering why the United States is where it is today in 2016, read this book!

[Brent Soderstrum · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have been a fan of Steve Deace since he did sports talk radio at KJJC in Iowa. I listen to his current podcast and generally agree with him when it comes to politics and religion.

This is a scary book. I was written in 2017 before transing our kids, drag time story hour at the libraries, the alphabet mafia, Bideneconomics, the Summer of Love, COVID-19, our corporate and political love affair with China, the Biden Crime Family, and the attack on our Supreme Court. Quite frankly our country had gotten a lot worse in 6 years and Nefarious paints a grim picture in this book. Is there any hope? Are we, as a country, destined for the scrap heap like so many of our predecessors? We have turned our back on God, how can we expect Him to save us now? I am almost 60 years old and I have found myself hoping we can just hang on until I am able to go home. Very selfish of me because I fear for our kids who will be left to pick up the mess we leave them.

Some good things have happened such as the overturning of Roe v. Wade and the Trump presidency. I am not a huge fan of his but he actually did better than I expected he would. He dropped the ball with COVID and didn't clean the swamp like he said he would but better than I expected. We need a revival yet our country seems to be going in the opposite direction.

This is a book in which Nefarious, the General of the Demons of Hell, sets out how he plans to bring the United States down. It appears to be right on point. I am not a big fan of the story device having Nefarious rant throughout the book about his plans. It is a lot like the Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis in that regard and I didn't care for that either. However, this is a look at the enemy's playbook. Now it will be interesting to see how, or even if, our country reacts.

[Larissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amei esse livro (tirando um capítulo mais pro final que achei bem pesado — é um assunto que, pra mim, é revoltante; e alguns pedaços foram quase gráficos).

A escrita é leve, engraçada, mas absurdamente séria. O autor traz alguns problemas dos EUA, mas que são completamente relacionáveis com qualquer lugar do mundo… onde tenha humanos, claro.

Assusta-me um monte saber que, no fundo, somos sim capazes de tanta maldade. É aquele tipo de leitura que te faz rir desconfortável, refletir e, no final, fechar o livro olhando pro teto, pensando: “Caramba... a gente é isso aí mesmo!”.

Enfim… esse livro é necessário!


Obs.: o filme vale muito a pena! Meu irmão comentou uma coisa e ele tá certíssimo: são a mesma história, mas com abordagens bem diferentes. Isso faz com que quem viu o filme tenha novidades ao ler o livro — e vice-versa —, sem ficar com aquela sensação de estar consumindo a mesma coisa repetida.

[Gail Whitney · Rating 1 out of 5]

I've never been so glad to be an atheist. Can you really call it satire if it's this heavy handed?
The author tries to imply that we're all idiots now because we aren't focusing on religion but the connection makes no sense. Basic facts about America and the government were not taught at any Sunday school I was forced to attend.
In a 200 page book the author references humans as meat 57 times, get a thesaurus!
The author points out real problems in America, like crushing student debt, lack of access to affordable medical care, stagnating wages but then blames all of that on not being religious. How is that a solution?! The point seems to be we're too far gone so just focus on getting into heaven to enjoy the next life while passing as much hateful judgement as possible in the interim.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

21st century Screwtape Letters?

I'm a faithful listener of The Steve Deace Show, and I am a devoted fan of C.S. Lewis. The Screwtape Letters completely blew my mind, probably because I read it early in my Christian life. A Nefarious Plot isn't the Screwtape Letters, but Nefarious is absolutely today's Uncle Screwtape. I absolutely recommend this read. And like countless Steve Deace fans, I cannot wait for the upcoming movie "Nefarious" based on this book, hopefully being released sometime this year!

[London B. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an incredible book. However, I would not say it was a happy book. The themes filled me with a sense of dread for the way our country is heading. Despite all of this, I would say that in the end it filled me with hope. In the end it helped to make my faith stronger.

Would I recommend it to someone? That all depends on how much they can handle. This book is not for the faint of heart.

This was a great read.

[Molly Shaffer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I give this a 4.5 out of 5 stars. There are instances of compelling arguments, some arguments I dislike, but ultimately a lot to think about. If you are easily offended, this is not the book for you.