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nyctarian's review against another edition
2.0
dnf @ 21%. This might be one i revisit eventually. I only stopped reading because I lost interest and the visceral gross elements of hell were vivid in a narratively effective way but made my stomach lurch a little too much. No rating because this feels like one i really need to read all of the adequately judge. I did really enjoy what I had read up to this point, but my hunger for mysteries gave way to a soft desire for romance.
sashajust4you's review against another edition
dark
funny
5.0
When I finished reading this one, I cursed out loud and restrained myself from flinging the book across the room. But like, in a good way.
I recommend it.
I recommend it.
shouldgowork's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
masav's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
snowbenton's review against another edition
3.0
Hell used to be a place of physical torment, but as the world changed so did it, and now it is a morass of bureaucracy that is beginning to center around Thomas Fool, one of Hell's Information Men. This is a noir style mystery where Thomas is seeking a demon that eats souls as he tries to navigate his uncertain future, deal with the visiting angels he is playing tour guide for, and try not to get killed (or, preferably, noticed). I love the idea of Hell as bureacracy, and Unsworth has some great pieces (the Man of Plants and Flowers, the ocean of souls) but overall it lacks depth. Why did sexless angels Fall and become creatures that use humans as prostitutes? I didn't mind the gore, but it felt a little gratuitous to be constantly describing the violence these people were subject to without it making sense or advancing the plot. Why don't any of Hell's humans remember their human lives? It seems counter-intuitive to the idea of hell to be punished for sins you can't remember committing. It was also never clear what of their human lives people remembered, and that felt important. It was a fun read, but not particularly memorable. I will be interested to see what he comes up with next.
macchi's review against another edition
4.0
This... definitely isn't for everyone. But I, personally, quite enjoyed it. The descriptions can be graphic, and it paints a grim picture of Hell, but discovering and exploring this incarnation of Hell through the eyes of one of its detectives was fascinating.
Thomas Fool is one of Hell's Information Men. The Information Men rarely solve cases, in fact they never have in his time, but they investigate incidents that occur in Hell. He's never encountered murders like this before, though, with no soul left intact in the body. Strange enough for Hell? Well, let's not forget the angelic contingent he's also escorting around the place. It certainly will make for an interesting mix.
I love a good detective story, and the idea of Hell having a detective was too intriguing to resist. Fool has no illusions about his role, and the picture painted of Hell as a land of grays and mediocre misery rang unsettlingly true for what Hell might be in the modern day. As Fool and his colleagues take us to the far, and very strange, reaches of Hell, you find yourself wondering just what Hell should be and how that reconciles itself with the older traditions of Hell.
I unfortunately can't say more without ruining the book. Suffice it to say that embedded in this detective story are concepts that have given me pause. I wouldn't recommend it to those with a weak stomach, or those who aren't interested in religious trappings around their stories, but if you like reflections on humanity and how what drives us can take us to unanticipated places, this might be for you.
Thomas Fool is one of Hell's Information Men. The Information Men rarely solve cases, in fact they never have in his time, but they investigate incidents that occur in Hell. He's never encountered murders like this before, though, with no soul left intact in the body. Strange enough for Hell? Well, let's not forget the angelic contingent he's also escorting around the place. It certainly will make for an interesting mix.
I love a good detective story, and the idea of Hell having a detective was too intriguing to resist. Fool has no illusions about his role, and the picture painted of Hell as a land of grays and mediocre misery rang unsettlingly true for what Hell might be in the modern day. As Fool and his colleagues take us to the far, and very strange, reaches of Hell, you find yourself wondering just what Hell should be and how that reconciles itself with the older traditions of Hell.
I unfortunately can't say more without ruining the book. Suffice it to say that embedded in this detective story are concepts that have given me pause.
Spoiler
If nothing else, it makes you really reflect on how one might accidentally become the head of a dictatorship or authoritarian movement while having the best of intentions.5elementknitr's review against another edition
3.0
Major spoilers ahead.
A friend read this a year or two ago, and raved about it. I kept forgetting the name, "It's the one you talked about, a detective in hell, trying to solve a murder? Or something?"
She said, "You're SO close. It's The Devil's Detective. hah!"
So I finally get it from the library, and.... it's ok.
I can tell when a book isn't grabbing me, because it takes forever for me to get through it. This took me a full month. It's only about 300 pages long.
First off, the author's idea of Hell is just... living in poverty? Like a tedious, soul-crushing, dead-end job, living in squalid conditions only with slightly MORE violence and slightly more obvious monsters? Oh, and those at the top get to do whatever the fuck they want because they have all the power? To include doing whatever they want to those at the bottom for their own personal amusement/gain - feeding and getting off on the pain and misery of those at the bottom - with no repercussions.
Soooo, how is this different from Earth?
Seriously. It was depressing.
Oh, and, further like Earth, those at the very bottom keep on keepin' on because they have the tiniest hope of getting out of their situation through some fucked up, completely random lottery.
For me, the worst part of this book's Hell is that the people down there don't even know WHY they are down there. They are fished out of limbo (literally), and are given zero recollections of what they've done to send them to Hell.
So, again, much like Earth, some appearingly-random birth lottery they lost.
Ok, spoilers now:
This delegation from Heaven shows up, and then these mysterious murders start happening.
Gee. I wonder whodunnit.
Come ON.
There were a few 1980's movie script issues:
Fool comes home, hears some sound of groaning, maybe painful?, in the next room, bursts in to save his friends, oh... they're just having sex. Ugh.
Not 20 pages later, one of those friends tells Fool, "I have this vital piece of information I must share." Fool says, "Not now, Friend, we have to go do this very dangerous thing first." I was all, "Yeah. That Friend's gonna die." and they did. UUUUGH.
I was going to give this two stars, because it was super depressing (see above), and I guessed whodunnit basically from the get-go. But, about the time Fool found the holes in the wall behind the Man, it started getting a bit better. That's SO FAR into the book though.
But, I'm still giving this three stars, because there were some really good characters in there, and the ending, like the VERY ending was pretty fucked up in a "Yep, It's Hell" kinda way.
Also, often with a mystery/suspense novel, once the killer is revealed, there's about a 10-20 page wrap-up. This one was more like 50 pages with a pretty good fight scene in there. I think this would make a decent movie.
I'd watch it.
A friend read this a year or two ago, and raved about it. I kept forgetting the name, "It's the one you talked about, a detective in hell, trying to solve a murder? Or something?"
She said, "You're SO close. It's The Devil's Detective. hah!"
So I finally get it from the library, and.... it's ok.
I can tell when a book isn't grabbing me, because it takes forever for me to get through it. This took me a full month. It's only about 300 pages long.
First off, the author's idea of Hell is just... living in poverty? Like a tedious, soul-crushing, dead-end job, living in squalid conditions only with slightly MORE violence and slightly more obvious monsters? Oh, and those at the top get to do whatever the fuck they want because they have all the power? To include doing whatever they want to those at the bottom for their own personal amusement/gain - feeding and getting off on the pain and misery of those at the bottom - with no repercussions.
Soooo, how is this different from Earth?
Seriously. It was depressing.
Oh, and, further like Earth, those at the very bottom keep on keepin' on because they have the tiniest hope of getting out of their situation through some fucked up, completely random lottery.
For me, the worst part of this book's Hell is that the people down there don't even know WHY they are down there. They are fished out of limbo (literally), and are given zero recollections of what they've done to send them to Hell.
So, again, much like Earth, some appearingly-random birth lottery they lost.
Ok, spoilers now:
This delegation from Heaven shows up, and then these mysterious murders start happening.
Gee. I wonder whodunnit.
Come ON.
There were a few 1980's movie script issues:
Fool comes home, hears some sound of groaning, maybe painful?, in the next room, bursts in to save his friends, oh... they're just having sex. Ugh.
Not 20 pages later, one of those friends tells Fool, "I have this vital piece of information I must share." Fool says, "Not now, Friend, we have to go do this very dangerous thing first." I was all, "Yeah. That Friend's gonna die." and they did. UUUUGH.
I was going to give this two stars, because it was super depressing (see above), and I guessed whodunnit basically from the get-go. But, about the time Fool found the holes in the wall behind the Man, it started getting a bit better. That's SO FAR into the book though.
But, I'm still giving this three stars, because there were some really good characters in there, and the ending, like the VERY ending was pretty fucked up in a "Yep, It's Hell" kinda way.
Also, often with a mystery/suspense novel, once the killer is revealed, there's about a 10-20 page wrap-up. This one was more like 50 pages with a pretty good fight scene in there. I think this would make a decent movie.
I'd watch it.
ericgaryanderson's review against another edition
3.0
Great premise: Thomas Fool is an Information Man (a detective) in Hell, and he does his best to solve the ridiculous number of crimes that you'd expect would take place Down There. Unsworth does a brilliant job of creating a convincing Hell; I absolutely loved the settings, the hellscapes. However, this is his first novel, and it shows; at times I got the sense that he had a solid beginning and a solid ending but didn't quite work out how to fill in the middle. So in places the book can seem repetitive. Still, a fun read.
austinburns's review against another edition
3.0
a good detective story and an interesting view of hell, but the descriptions were so disgusting: a lot of shit, blood, viscera, fire, etc. i usually read while i eat and it was very difficult to finish this book because of that