Some silliness

All the books I've reviewed thus far have been pretty rocking good reads, but have been more on the serious side.  For those who want something lighter, Holly Lisle's Sympathy for the Devil* might well be just the right speed.

 The story starts in hell, with Lucifer and his legions working in the most horrible office setting imaginable (old, cranky computers breaking down; air conditioning on the fritz; etc.), while he reads the weekend paper--including the horoscopes.  The main character, a young widow (Dayne Kuttner) who works as an ICU nurse, doesn't show up until chapter 2.  She muses on the "unfairness" of her beloved husband--a complete jerk who drank and cheated on her--being sent to hell because of what a complete shit he was, and prays for another chance for all residents of hell.  Says she doesn't want to go to heaven if heaven is so unfair.

Sounds like the typical "What I want didn't happen, so it's not fair!!" rebellion, doesn't it?  However, the prayer was made with all faith and sincerity, so...God unleashed a bunch of hell's inhabitants into her home state of North Carolina (a number equal to one percent of the population of the state at the time).  He saw it as an opportunity for some already damned to be saved, and as a chance to prevent others from becoming damned by offering a boost to their faith.

Well...it worked.  Sort of.  Yes, there were demons, succubi and incubi all over the place; guaranteed disease free hookers; all sorts of new ways to entice people into selling their souls to get the body/career/whatever they wanted...but there was a catch.  Satan sent his Lord of Lust to try to capture our heroine's soul, and gave him a set time limit to do it in.

There were a lot of funny situations--for example, the wardrobe Satan sent along to help set up Hell's own brothel held a lot of polyester, and a lot of plaid...and nothing that fit any of them.  The cash he sent was several thousand short, and if the one in charge hadn't counted it, he'd've still been held responsible for what wasn't there.  Demons stormed a Blue Devils football game and punctured the football in the attempt to make a touchdown.  God giggling about springing this on the devil without warning (I love the characterization of God in this novel--I can't quite describe it, but He is the all good for all religions.  And He has a great sense of humor.).

It's a good, cute, fast read, with lots of short chapters.  On the surface, it's feel-good, romantic, brain and soul candy.

But it does make the reader think.  I really loved it, and I've read it several times.  Each time, I've found something different to laugh at, and something different to think about.  I highly recommend it.


*Link goes to Baen's free library site, where you can download it in whatever format you prefer, or read it online.