Fiction Reviews
Death’s Successor
(2024) by Brad Abdul, Flame Tree Press,
£12.95 / Can$21.95 / US$16.95, pbk, 183pp, ISBN 978-1-787-58899-8
Having enjoyed The Devil’s Advisor, the author’s first novel, I was looking forward to how the sequel might go. I was not disappointed. The author has kept up the same story telling prowess and continues to be inventive.
Back in the first novel, Brian Lachey had accepted a most unusual job - he would take on running Hell as Lucy, as the Devil styled herself, had decided to retire. Given his no-nonsense approach to business, the job was right up his street. However, it was not a smooth take-over, at least not once Allanah, as God calls herself, had cashed in on the situation to cause some serious mayhem between the two celestial parties. There had been the most amazing battle between Heaven and Hell, between the Angels and the Hellions, and Dallas (Lucy’s son) had died and even Gabrielle, generally known as Death, had been badly wounded.
Brian is now firmly established as the acting head of Hell, with Lucy just popping in from time to time. He and Dahlia (Lucy’s daughter) are living in a rather nice beach house somewhere near a major American city (Los Angeles maybe?) and he commutes between the impressively large office building that is the headquarters for S.I.N. Industries and his offices in Hell. Whilst Brian continues to innovate and reorganise aspects of gathering darker souls, Dahlia is feeling a bit bored so she is intrigued when Allanah approaches her with an offer - help her make similar innovations in Heaven and bring Heaven and Hell together, working more as a partnership than as enemies.
Meanwhile, Brian finds that dogged corporate business journalist Sasha Perrin is getting a little close to what S.I.N. Industries might really be up to, which not so surprising when he discovers that a few years ago she had made a deal with Lucy - her soul for a successful career in journalism. To add to the interest, Gabrielle drops in and reveals that she was in fact mortally wounded in the big battle - use the right weapon and you can kill even Death - and she does not have long left. Without Death and her Reapers to collect the souls of the dead, the human world just will not work. She needs his help to find her replacement, a new person to join the Four Horsemen, a new Death.
And so Brian and Dahlia set about finding someone to take on the role but it will, of course, be more difficult than they imagine and there will be skulduggery amongst those they ought to be able to trust. And it is all a lot of fun. The story rolls along nicely and it all fits together well as we learn more of how life and death, souls and soul energy, works. The explanation makes a lot of sense - I could almost find myself with new beliefs!
Like the first volume, it is a most enjoyable read; not long but the pages are satisfyingly well filled. It is lightly written and humour runs throughout; quietly satirical one might say. Given the story, I doubt that there will be a third volume, but I certainly recommend the two. I also wonder what the author will think of next - I cannot help but believe it will be good.
Peter Tyers
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