February 14, 2014

SERVE IN HELL

by Georgia Gunn
231 pages, Kindle Edition

Review by Melissa Conway

I received an ARC of this manuscript, and have an online acquaintance with the author.

Sometimes when I sit down to write a review, the book in question inspires me to want to simply say, “Just go read it. Trust me, you’ll love it.” That’s definitely the case with Georgia Gunn’s unique, intelligent mystery novel with a twist – it takes place in Hell.

In death, as she was in life, Molly Wallace is a twenty-something waitress-slash-wannabe-actress. She works in a diner, ‘lives’ frugally, and does her best to avoid the attention of the many and varied demons who rule over Hell. That’s easier said than done, however, because demons are everywhere; from the small ones with little influence (but plenty of nastiness), to the older, powerful, and infinitely more frightening ones.

Demons need dead souls like Molly to help them run the place, and they keep them in line through swift and brutal punishment. The hierarchy among demons is simple: strength equals power. The powerful demons don’t much concern themselves with the little ones, except to use them, or eat them, however it may please. Usually, they wouldn’t notice or care if a little demon went missing, but in this case, the suspect is Josh, a fresh arrival in Hell. When he’s taken away, Molly feels responsible because she’d given him some advice that was overheard and interpreted as his possible motive.

As much as her instincts tell her to stay out of it; she can’t because she knows he’s not guilty. But how does one puny, uninfluential dead human suss out the truth in a place like Hell?

Very cleverly, as it happens.

Serve in Hell is well-written, with ingenious worldbuilding, a tight plot, and sympathetic characters. Highly recommended.

 

1 comment:

  1. What do people/characters do about problems when hope is no longer available to them? That's what I saw as the central question of this great novel. In Hell, by definition there is no hope, and yet one still has to do something. Why not do the right thing, regardless, for its own sake? I really liked this book and hope it catches on. Glad to see you helping to spread the word.

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