Rating: 
Summary: Hostage To The Devil, Scary
Review: The credibility of the author which is well respected for his research and education makes this book all the more interesting. The book did nothing short of frighten me for weeks after reading it. It is outstanding in defining not only the how, but the why of demonic possesion. The fact that a medical doctor must be present at all exorcisms (official policy of the church) should lend some credibility to the doubt. Very interesting point brought out by the book was that there are some things which science and medicine simply can not define and perhaps may never be able to. I highly recommend this book, it is well written and very informative...also very scary. I am 44 yrs old and thought I was beyond the "scare" stage of my life, this book proved that wrong! John S.
Rating: 
Summary: A dash of Oral Roberts and P.T. Barnum
Review: What this book does is convince weak-minded Catholics and impressionable altar boys to keep patronizing the Church and donating money to support the whole facade. Nothing like a good ol' boogeyman masquerading as a priest to thump on his Bible and warn us of the evils in this world that will engulf us if we don't hand blank checks to our local Church! Malachi Martin spewed his rhetoric like Oral Roberts, Benny Hinn, and other great con men who know how to keep their money coffers full. Martin's ingenious spin was to use "demonic possession" an untapped racket that lost popularity after "The Exorcist" phase. Buy this book for scaring Boy Scouts sitting around the campfire.
Rating: 
Summary: a way out ride of terror
Review: I believe that Malachi Martin was a fine man and an interesting writer. I read "Windswept House" and thought that it was a great piece of work. "Hostage to the Devil" is definately interesting. I couldn't put it down. The problem I had with it is that the stories seemed to get more and more fantastic and way out as the book went on. Believing in some of these demons was sort of like watching the movie "Beetlejuice" and taking it serious. The book is a good account of evil vs. good in the world. I do believe that some of it may be true; and some can be taken with a grain of salt. It does start off as being pretty scary, but after a while you become immune to the terror. Keep a logical and open mind when reading this one.
Rating:
Summary: A Good Read
Review: I found the book to be a scary and interesting insight into exorcism and demonic possession. A compelling book.
Rating:
Summary: The familiar face of evil
Review: When an event like the massacre at Columbine High happens, inevitably, we're left asking: 'How could something like this happen?' For most of us, it's beyond our comprehension that man's soul could be capable of such madness. It never fails to boggle our collective mind when evil on such a scale shows itself to be within our human grasp, whether it be an event such as Columbine, the bombing at Oklahoma City, or just the most recent head-shaker in our own hometown. In Father Malachi Martin's book, 'Hostage to the Devil', the Father offers us as good a clue as any as how such things ultimately come to be. The book is a rather matter of fact account of satanic possesion. 5 such incidents actually, stories of Catholic priests being called in to try to evict the prescence of Satan from the souls of those foolish enough to have invited him in. And while the simple stories of possesion are plenty disturbing in and of themselves, eventually it's the familiarness of the actual invitations themselves that bring out the true chill of 'Hostage to the Devil'. For in most of the cases, Satan needs little more than the mere doubting of God's divinity to get his hoof in the door. A doubt that's likely crossed the reader's own mind once or twice. For the unbeliever, I'm sure this book comes across like just another batch of religous frivolity . . . . 'Jesus is Lord, yada, yada, yada,', but to those that do believe, the warning the book presents is both legitimate and alarming . . . . Hopefully, just not too late.
Rating:
Summary: Maximum BS and an axe to grind....
Review: Read this book at your own cost...you may become possesed by ignorance,sheer stupidity,and devilish platitudes.The blame-it-on-the-devil approach is brought to a climax by Malachi Martin who offers a book populated with virtuous Catholic clergy fighting the good fight in a world where there's dark angels around every corner,so exorcism must be brought back in order to redeem the world and set us free.Anyone with a minimum of culture can cut through this fog and expose this book for what it is(please see my title).As far as the author is concerned,he is one of those hard line Catholics who took Vatican II very hard and sees any attempt at change and enlightenment as a sign of demonic possesion.The fact that a 'work'like this still arouses interest testifies to the level of our contemporary culture...
Rating:
Summary: Interesting, scholarly work!
Review: The author presents cases of demonic possession and the exorcisms that followed in a fascinating, yet repsectful way. This book is not about sensationalism, but is a study of evil from a solidly Roman Catholic point of view.
Rating:
Summary: For further study...
Review: I didn't see this listed here, but I thought it worth mentioning that if you have read Dr. Martin's book, you may also want to read Dr. M. Scott Peck's book "People of the Lie." It provides/begins a psychological study of evil. Peck relies on "Hostage to the Devil" as a foundation for his chapter on exorcism. Both are powerful reads. Keep the house well lit when reading this book though.
Rating:
Summary: too flowery for my taste
Review: The matter of evil is something we learned from the (SND) as childern. The Sisters of Notre Dame really knew how to scare the devil out of you. I only read Malachi Martins book during my lunch hour (well lighted). But it still gave me nightmares.
Rating:
Summary: This book is a narrative, not an investigative report.
Review: Although Malachi Martin's credentials are seemingly impeccable and intentions sincere, his accounts of possession are merely creative narrations. Obviously, his faith as a Jesuit blatantly biases his literary perspective of why possessions occur and the supposed remedies offered by exorcists who exclusively practice Christian doctrine. Unfortunately, the book earnestly devotes itself as a preachy text whose primary objective is to propagate the virtues of Christianity. Objective analysis devoted to the paranormal or metaphysical realm of potential possession and resulting exorcism is flagrantly absent. Given the text's predetermined requirement of absolute faith in "Jesus," Buddhists, Hindus, Jews, et. al. would seemingly be out of luck if ever possessed by an evil entity or were subject to an exorcist who did not fervently maintain a Christian belief. Hence, Malachi Martin's dreamy, almost fictional narrations which occasionally incorporate purported facts of exorcisms are myopic at best - and preachy religious propaganda at worst.
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