Review of Hell Is in the Details

Tam at Brief Encounters -- a review blog that focuses on short stories -- posted a great review of my story Hell Is In the Details and gave it a B+, which is very cool. She said:

As a rule I enjoy demon and/or angel stories, and I especially enjoy them when they don’t take themselves too seriously. That is definitely the case here. Hell is pretty much like earth. Crappy jobs with bosses who ride you, forgotten deadlines, a loss of the passion for your work, an inbox full of unread e-mails … life can be as dull in Hell as anywhere else, despite all the fun of torture and mayhem. When Benioth’s boss lets him have it for not bringing the Big Boss his quota of souls, he is finally forced out of his apathy and decides that since he only has a few hours, debauching a young man into the ways of gay sex would be perfect. It’s fairly easy and bingo, he’s got his soul for the quota and can not think about it for another decade or two.

...

I loved Benioth and Andy. Benioth is kind of apathetic about life and Andy is all youthful exuberance and wide-eyed excitement. The contrast was nice to read and I felt it kind of woke Benny up again. He’d forgotten what that was like, and he wasn’t sure if it was because he was the Demon of Laziness or was it something more. He was really well drawn and his apathy came through loud and clear. What Andy was thinking and feeling was less clear as this is told from Benioth’s point of view, but his enthusiasm for life was evident. The sex had a nice mix of Benioth’s centuries of experience, combined with Andy’s uncertainty and eagerness, sweet and yet steamy too. This is a great light read, perfect as a pick-you-up between more serious fare or just something fun for a quick read before bed or at lunch time.

It sounds like she enjoyed it quite a lot, which is awesome. :)

Note before you click through that the middle part of the review is kind of spoilery; proceed at your own risk if you haven't read this yet and don't want the ending given away. OTOH if you're a reader who likes to know pretty much exactly what you're getting before you dive in, this write-up is perfect.

Thanks to Tam for the great review!

Angie