Why Consider Hell Bound?
For those of you who might still be wondering what the shared Heroes in Hell universe is all about, perhaps a good place to start is Hell Bound, featuring the escapades of Daemon Grim - Satan's Reaper - as he pursues the Devil's adversaries throughout the many despicable layers of the underworld that link the latterday levels of hell together.
Look at what recent reviewers have to say about this dark adventure:
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In Andrew P. Weston’s
Hell Bound, our protagonist and tour guide into Hell is Daemon Grim: he’s a
snarky bounty hunter, Satan’s right-hand man for reining in the damned. Grim is
so impressed with himself that it takes a while to realize that he may, like
everyone in Hell, may actually be subject to being played.
Grim was
introduced to the Heroes in Hell series in the previous installment, Doctors in
Hell. In short story form there, he was tasked to retrieve Dr. Thomas Neill
Cream who had escaped topside. Doctors in Hell is an anthology, an enjoyable
introduction to Hell which serves as a great entry point to the series. Heroes
in Hell is a long, sustained series, but Doctors and Hell Bound confirm that
anyone can hop along and enjoy the ride from any stop ( it is always a good
time to go to Hell. Reading Doctors will help the reader appreciate the full
novel Hell Bound, but doing so is not necessary.
For new
readers, I summarize the Heroes in Hell milieu. It is a fantastical place built
from myths and religions—so do not expect Tolkienesque elves or dwarves. The
primary realm explored is called Juxtapose, which is a satirical mirror of our
earth’s cityscapes (the Seine river featured as “Inseine”, Paris called Perish,
the Eiffel Tower represented as the Awful Tower, Facebook is called Hatebook…
which sadly seems too appropriate…). Since time has little meaning in Hell,
beings from past and present meet and scheme (i.e., Tesla and Chopin). There
are other realms beyond Juxtapose connected with ethereal gateways. All are
populated by beings being tormented and try to outwit Satan or their comrades.
Even Erra, the Akkadian plague god, has visited Hell to torment Satan. No one
is safe! It is a splendid, wacky place that works well.
Having
recently read Doctors, I was intrigued with the Heroes In Hell world. I wanted
to experience it more but needed a tour guide. Daemon Grim did so in
entertaining fashion. I wanted to “see” how the Undertaker refreshed the damned
as they underwent subsequent deaths; I wanted to experience more odd-ball
pairings of historical figures struggling to complete their life’s missions; I
wanted my tour guide to have some depth, even if he was unaware of it. The
story is a bizarre cat-versus-mouse hunt, with Grim chasing Cream through very
dark realms, upturning mystery after mystery. A scavenger hunt-like game
ensures with beautiful, cryptic poetry that leads Grim further and further into
a web of deceit. Antagonists are aplenty.
Hell
Bound delivered. Andrew P. Weston did a superb job balancing the needs of a
full length novel with the freedoms/constraints of a shared world usually
expressed in short story form. Highly recommended for fantasy readers who enjoy
a bit of dark adventure.
Hellbound is a comedic and engrossing
look into the life of Satan's reaper. When a certain undesirable manages to
escape his punishment its up to Daemon Grimm to bring the madman under control
and restore his and Satan's bad name. The world of Hell is much like ours with
heroes, criminals and those just trying to get by. The characters are so richly
imagined youll find yourself booing and cheering for people you never would
have imagined you would previously!
This is
such a unique and exciting novel I guarantee you'll love it. What's not to love
about a mystery/thriller set in Hell???
The attention to
detail in this book was something else. It kept me enthralled from beginning to
end with a unique storyline and a wealth of interesting characters. The story follows
Daemon Grimm, one of Satan's reapers as he seeks out a bad soul that escaped
his fate. The style is both irreverent and intelligent, and at times had me
laughing out loud: "Nice, one, Sire! Thank Beelzebub I didn't make a
complete tit of myself." Weston weaves his way through a complex plot with
some pretty intense world building. This is not my usual genre but I'm glad the
book was recommended to me - all in all a good read!
The latest
installment in the HEROES IN HELL series is outstanding! Chock full of action
and suspense, it delivers hours of reading enjoyment.
The main character in
Hell Bound is Daemon Grim, Satan’s bounty hunter, also known as the Reaper. Not
only does he hunt down any damned soul in Hell who gets on the wrong side of
His Satanic Majesty, he has the power to visit our world and harvest those who
belong in Hell, souls Satan wants in Hell now. Grim can travel between Earth
and Hell using a special sickle or scythe that can open portals between the two
realms. This scythe also possesses a powerful weapon called God Grace’s, which
gives Grim the ability to utterly destroy souls. Since there’s no death in Hell
as we know it, (the Damned are already dead) there is instead Reassignment, a
twisted version of resurrection handled by an unsavory character known only as
the Undertaker. However, there is Oblivion — total obliteration into
non-existence. Grim’s weapon gives him the power to send souls howling into
eternal nothingness.
The plot concerns Grim’s mission to track down Doctor Thomas Neill Cream, the
English physician who in real life was the brilliant and infamous Lambeth
Poisoner. Cream has been stealing long-hidden relics and angelic weapons from
the Time of the Sundering, when Satan and his followers were cast out of Heaven.
All history and knowledge of the Sundering is banned in Hell, but Cream may
have illegal access to Satan’s bureaucratic network. Thus he and his crew of
cohorts, including Frederick Chopin, have been able to steal these ancient
artifacts, one by one. Cream is clever and manages to stay one step ahead of
Grim, always avoiding capture and Reassignment. Cream is playing a cat and
mouse game with Grim, leaving clues in place of each stolen artifact — clues
written in the form of poetic riddles, which Cream must unravel. The first of
these clues included a piece of carbonized bone from a Heavenly angel who was
destroyed in the original battle of the Sundering. How did Cream get his hands
on that? What are his plans? What is his ultimate goal?
Weston
has not only expanded the scope of the Heroes in Hell series, he has introduced
new themes and concepts, and new characters. He creates a fresh vision of Hell
and presents to us a seedy underworld uniquely his own. Grim lives in Olde
London Town, a macabre mockery of our earthly London. Rather than make up
strange-sounding, nearly unpronounceable names, and because Hell is a twisted
echo of Earth, Weston (as do all those who write for Heroes in Hell) comes up
with names and titles that bear a warped familiarity to places and things we
know. For example: Paris is Perish, Seine River is River Inseine, Drury Lane is
Dreary Lane, Piccadilly Circus is Icepiccadilly, Westminster in Westmonster,
and so on. That’s all part of the fun, part of the gallows humor that is
inherent in Hell. Everything on Earth has its infernal counterpart in Hell. Not
only do we go through the looking glass and down the rabbit hole when entering
Hell, we also enter another, diabolical dimension where not only pain and
torment and suffering rule, there’s also a grand touch of irony to everything
that happens in the underworlds. Hell mimics Earth in a very fiendish way.
Hell
Bound is an epic and fast-paced adventure. It’s a manhunt in Hell, brought to
life by Weston’s literary style and prose that often reach poetic levels of
grace. But the heart of the story is Daemon Grim, a character who works for
Satan, a character who is supposed to be evil and villainous, but often comes
across as heroic and valiant. Walking that fine line is part of Weston’s talent.
You can’t reason with Grim or tempt him. He feels no pity, sorrow or remorse.
And yet, he has a wicked sense of humor, very good manners, never lies, and he
values truth, honesty and loyalty. These make him a paradox, and part of the
mystery. We’re never told exactly who or what he is — or was. Grim’s an enigma:
he can’t remember anything before his awakening in Hell . . . and that final
revelation will no doubt eventually play out in future novels. As powerful,
ruthless and deadly as he is, Grim is also very much a human character, with
flaws and virtues — yes, even in Hell, the Damned can have virtues. This is
part of the fun and part of the puzzle of Hell Bound and why I enjoyed it so
much. Daemon Grim carried the story on his shoulders and kept me reading to the
last page. What’s more, you need not be familiar with any other books in the
Heroes in Hell series in order to enjoy Hell Bound . . . but it will add to
enjoyment if you are
History, philosophy,
epic battles, questions and dilemmas of biblical proportions, and even humor
and lightness, it is all there, in this riveting novel that grabbed me from its
first page and didn't let me go.
The first
person account on the daily life of the Grim Reaper caught me completely
unprepared. So refreshingly different! He had a different life before becoming
Satan's reaper, and he remembers those times with no regret. Matter of fact,
busy. Oh but did I love his point of view! A fan of history and mythology, I
found this novel to be a real treat. I didn't want it to end, most definitely!
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Intrigued?
Then you know what to do
And of course - don't forget the smorgasbord of satanic sinfulness available in the other books from the Heroes in Hell Universe:
