Hell Hounds by Andrew P. Weston

S.E. rating: 5 of 5 stars

Entertaining, Genre-Bending, Satirical Madness:

Hell Hounds is a mashup of genres: Fantasy, Satirical Horror, Historical Fiction, and some Mystery Noir thrown in. Imagine a parallel universe to our reality on earth where the dead “un-live” for an eternity. If they die there, they feel the pain but then reawaken…. sometimes creatively transformed by The Undertaker (i.e., perhaps he’ll remove your testicles and use them handles on a zipper that wraps around your neck!). Goofy, satirical puns laden the map (Paris is Perish, the Eiffel Tower now the Awful Tower, etc.]. Want to read fresh fiction, read Andrew P. Weston’s Daemon Grim series (check out the guide below to begin).

Daemon Grim is the Reaper, Satan’s personal enforcer and chief bounty hunter. He commands the titular Hell Hounds, a band of agents (Nimrod – the rebellious, biblical king, Charlotte Corday – murderess of Marat, Yamato Takeru—a ninjutsu master of the Yamato dynasty, and more ). They ultimately all serve Satan, Father of Lies, who needs them to control Hell from the conniving dead and meddling angels; but Satan is also punishing his servants for their sins, so no one is on good terms.

Underlying tension spans many groups: Satan, Grim & his Hell Hounds, the duo Frederic Chopin and Nikola Telsa (an ingenious duo learning to control the physics & time in Hell), an insane Angel stripped of his Wings (Grislington), and seven angelic Sibitti who are auditing the souls in Hell. At first the combinations of intentions and conflict is downright farcical. Eventually several themes converge, usually about Grim. The last 20% is a blast of a climax which clarifies the chaos. Along the way, Mr. Weston will occasionally slip into dosing out exposition-through-dialogue, which didn’t bother me. Usually this occurs at times the reader will desire a boost in clarity about the abstract conflicts.

There are two primary games occurring. One is the continuing, cat-and-mouse battle between Grim and Chopin/Tesla, who love to leave scavenger-hunt notes at crime scenes. The second is Grim vs. the angels (and perhaps himself &/or Satan); there is a mystery in this series which is slowly being revealed: who “was” Grim before becoming Satan’s strongest champion?

Where to Start:

Hell Hounds is wacky and fun, but is not the beginning. The Heroes in Hell is primarily a series of anthologies; this novel focuses on Grim but has story arcs connected to HIH. Given the breadth of abstract interactions, I recommend initial readers begin with either:

1) Doctors in Hell (HIH #18): Daemon Grim is introduced in this collection, and even though it is #18 in the series, it is a perfect entryway for HIH newcomers.

2) Or…. Hell Bound (Grim novel #1): Daemon Grim’s first novel, occurring chronologically after Doctors, but before Hell Hounds.

3) Or for those who’ve done that, note Grim also appears in Pirates in Hell (“Pieces of Hate”)

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While searching for a great evil that leaves nothing but death and destruction behind, Iden Belial finds his mate but the Nikkeson demon tears them apart and leaves some of his wickedness inside the warrior, warping and twisting him to its own ends in this thrilling Reaper tale.

The readers are immediately captivated by Iden’s tale as he tries to tell the Reapers about what happened to him and the story just gets more thrilling as readers are soon caught up in the very wicked evil of not only the demon but some of the people as well. There is lots of spine tingling chills throughout the story as we learn more about the vile demon with lots of excitement building as Iden finds his mate Kallista and has to deal with her disapproving mother all while trying to get everyone to safety. The well written scenes make it easy for the readers to imagine each and every scene which of course ensures that the readers can’t put the story down.

For even more excitement, the Shadow Lord, Kheelan Ben-Alkazar might have finally met his match when he goes up against a young woman who gives him as much sass and trouble as she can while she refuses to give in his to his arrogant demands. So fireworks fly in every direction along with the fiery passion in this fast paced and smooth flowing romance full of suspense, excitement and romance.

These dark and sexy Reapers easily capture hearts as they fight evil but I must say that Iden captured my heart a little more than the others and I found it to be quite amusing to watch Kheelan get taken down a peg or two. Dark Reaper was quite an exhilarating read and I can’t wait to experience the next WindLegend tale.

I am very undecided...the cover is just sooo good...but I have been disappointed so often...my heart is bruised...

Have to think that over again...meanwhile this will wait in my TBR waiting room...