Fiction Reviews
The Devil's Advisor
(2023) Brad Abdul, Flame Tree Press,
£12.95 / Can$21.95 / US$16.95, pbk, 215pp, ISBN 978-1-787-58845-5
Having of recent years enjoyed stories that depict the Devil in other lights than the strictly biblical, such as the TV series Lucifer (based on Neil Gaiman’s graphic novels continued by Mike Carey), I was intrigued as to how this story might go. I was not disappointed.
Brian Lachey is a business consultant working at BS Consulting and he is clearly very good at his job; he really does have the aptitude. This does not make him popular, especially as he does not participate in the general social life of the company. To Brian, the enjoyment is in getting the job done and done well. This has been noticed by those above and, despite not being there very long, he has already been promoted. This also has not increased his popularity amongst his fellow workers. He figures he is due for another promotion but he is being held back by his manager, who has realised that his excellence is reflecting very well on her own apparent performance and therefore she has every intention of keeping him where he is. Brian is not happy about this and is considering moving on to somewhere where his abilities will be properly recognised and rewarded.
Meanwhile, a chain-email circulating the office, ostensibly from Ms@tan.com, requests the workers to nominate somebody they hate and promises that the ‘winner’ will be made to truly suffer. Unsurprisingly Brian gets all the votes. Surprisingly, though, at the end of the day he finds himself being invited by Dallas, presumably somebody from management, to attend an immediate interview - perhaps for the promotion he has been expecting?
He is surprised to find that Dallas does not in fact work for his company and is even more surprised to find himself in a foyer being introduced to Dahlia, Dallas’ twin sister, and about to be ushered into the office of their mother Lucy, as Lucifer is currently styling herself. Apparently, the whole hateful email thing is a way of darkening the characters of ordinary people in the eternal battle between good and evil - just a few evil thoughts get one a step nearer to Hell and the Devil is keeping up with modern technology as a means of corrupting the unwary. However, the hatred his colleagues have for Brian has caught her attention, she has looked at him and his abilities and thoroughness, and realised that he is just the person she is looking for. She wants to retire and needs somebody else to run Hell, somebody who will know how businesses really run, understand the purpose of Hell, and run it as it needs to be run. Lucy’s offspring are not up to it - but Brian just might be.
And so Brian gets a tour of Hell, which these days is much more about offices and departments than the old stuff like burning pits and eternal torment. He begins to get the hang of it, to see opportunities for improvement, and indeed he might be just the guy to run it and boost its position when it comes to the battle for souls. But, of course, not everybody in Hell plays fair. Corporate backstabbing knows no bounds and the stakes are very high. And God, it seems, is far from nice and neither are her angels. And which side is Gabrielle on? It is not going to be easy!
This is the author’s first novel and the story is well written and inventive; I often found myself wondering where it would go next. The page count is not high but a lot of story is packed in and packed in nicely. It is very amusing, flows well, and held my interest throughout. In terms of story telling, it would be nice to see a follow up but, given the inevitable showdown between Heaven and Hell, where else could the story go? Well, the answer appears to lie in Death’s Successor and I look forward to reading more from Brad Abdul!
Peter Tyers
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