Tom Lupton is hired by an old friend, Sir Roger, who happens to be a billionaire businessman, to build a house on an island Sir Roger has purchased in Italy. Tom's wife and young daughter go along and they see the weeks they will spend there as a grand adventure, a once-in-a-lifetime experience. The island Roger purchased, however, has been vacant for centuries after atrocities were committed there and the towns people shut it off to civilization. It only takes a few days for the adventure to turn sour. Tom's assistant disappears, then mysteriously reappears a day later in a coma. The Lupton's daughter sees a pig-faced creature watching her from the trees and later believes it was in their home. The incidents are all being orchestrated by an old priest named Clavelli who wants to claim the island as his own to reanimate an ancient evil that he has lived for his whole life.

Diavolino was a very entertaining book. Emmett's writing flows smoothly and gives you clearly delineated characters to root for and against. I found them all to be real people as well, no stereotypes or cardboard cut-outs. He does especially well with some gruesome descriptive passages that really allow you to feel and smell the scenery. Diavolino is an excellent horror story.