evidence: The book focuses on two basic stories through which Sullivan examines what he considers to be the manifestation of Satanic evil: the culture of brujeria (black magic sorcery) in Mexico, and the long-unsolved death of a teenage boy in small-town Texas that almost certainly involved a satanic cult. There are three minor themes: a) how most of the leaders of the late 19c Decadent movement had been involved with the occult, but reconciled with the faith before death; b) the story of one of North America’s worst sex killers, and his redemption before his execution; and c) a true account of a spectacular, well-documented 1928 exorcism in the US. [...] The Mexican narrative is far more compelling, but who knows? The fact that a murderous Satanic cult almost certainly operated in a small Texas town in the middle of nowhere for a time, and even killed a popular kid — and got away with it — might be more unsettling to American readers, who cannot finish this book thinking that the occult is something that happens across the border, but not among us. As an exorcist tells me in Living In Wonder, there is no such thing as a spiritual vacuum. When the religion of Christ withdraws from the infidelity of the people, the dark side advances. If we tell ourselves we can live in neutral territory, it’s a lie.