Hell Is In The Details
March 30, 2011
17 Comments
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Title: Hell Is In The Details
Author: Angela Benedetti
Cover artist: unnamed (Torquere Press)
Publisher: Torquere Press
Genre: M/M paranormal, comedy
Length: about 36 pages (8,500 words)
Rating: 4.75 out of 5.0
A guest review by Val Kovalin
Summary Review: Don’t miss this comic fantasy gem!
THE BLURB:
Benioth, the Demon of Laziness, is behind on his memos and has just found out he needs to corrupt a soul by midnight to make quota. Luckily the Demon of Sodomy doesn’t mind sharing the fun, and Benioth runs into Andy, who’s still innocent but eager to have someone fix that for him. It sounds like a perfect situation, but somehow things never go right for poor Benioth.
THE REVIEW:
Story elements include … one third-person viewpoint.
This delightful story opens in Hell with Benioth, a demon who hasn’t exactly applied himself to the task of snaring souls for His Highness. In fact, Benioth hasn’t even managed the minimum quota of one soul per decade. His amusingly half-assed excuse is that he is the demon assigned to the sin of Laziness.
This doesn’t impress his supervisor Lord Belial who demands results. Specifically, Benioth must visit a big city on Earth to corrupt an innocent before midnight – or else. Benioth falls to his knees for some obligatory groveling while his boss walks out of his cubicle, “leaving blackened, hissing footprints burned into the putty colored carpet.” I loved this entire scene, which reworks Hell into the image of a gargantuan corporation staffed by overworked bureaucrats.
As soon as he reaches the unspecified city, Benioth realizes he has only three hours to make his deadline. Obviously, he can’t lure a soul to eternal damnation through only a short bout of Sloth, even if it is one of the Seven Deadly Sins. Desperate, he hits the club district and tries to incur some Wrath by giving people lustful glances. He’s shocked to receive several lewd stares in return. Apparently, things have changed since the 1950s, which is when he last visited Earth. Fortunately, he remembers that sodomy is a sin, and soon he runs across an innocent young man named Andy. Can Benioth bring himself to lure Andy to Hell, especially once he starts falling for him?
This short story is flawlessly written and has a droll, mischievous tone that should delight fans of comic fantasy, specifically fiction centered upon demons, which plays with historical and literary references. Benioth is a good character, an appealing mix of stressed-out and resourceful. Andy is a sweet kid, a wide-eyed innocent eager to be corrupted, and their sex scenes are hot. The story had me turning pages in the sheer entertainment of wondering how the author would manage a classic HEA ending while not stepping outside the logic of the plot, and I found her resolution very clever. Highly recommended!
Author Information
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Madonna196
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I really liked this one too. I loved that Hell was kind of like my workplace. LOL Unread e-mails, ergonomic chairs, annoying bosses. Definitely a fun read.
Tam, yes, this reminded me of workplaces I’ve known, ha, ha! The putty-colored carpet, the cubicles, the time-wasting meetings, the emails and memos. Too funny!
Sounds like a blast! Thanks for the rec, Val. I’m adding it to my wishlist.
Josephine, you’re very welcome! Comedy is so worthwhile.
I’m very pleased to help introduce this story to more readers.
oh, this sounds delicious! I’ll have to pick it up.
Feliz, I think you’ll really enjoy it! Delicious is definitely the word. This is keeper, which I’ll be re-reading fairly often.
Just read it, and I’m still smiling. Thanks for the rec, Val !
Oh, excellent, Feliz! Thanks for coming back and letting us know!
I went on a Angela Benedetti reading binge after discovering A Hidden Magic and gobbled up everything I could get my hands on!
This story is very witty. It reminds me of something Woody Allen might have written 30 years ago if he were gay!
Diane, yes, good comparison! Woody Allen can be very funny, and this story is really a comic gem, very witty. It’s the first fiction by this author that I’ve read, so now I’ll probably go on a reading binge and pick up A Hidden Magic.
Sounds like a fun read. Another for my TBB. Thanks for the wonderful review, Val!
Hi, Lily, you’re very welcome! And you’re in for a treat with this on your TBR list.
You’ve sold me, Val. I need to read this one!
Hi, Eden! That’s excellent! I think you’ll really enjoy it.
This one was fun!
Lots of fun! It was even fun writing the review.
Definitely a keeper!