For best friends Mestoph and Leviticus the end of the world can’t come fast enough. Mestoph is a demon and troublemaker for Hell Industries, while Leviticus is an angel and cubicle jockey for Heaven, Inc. They might be unlikely friends, but they have something in common – they both hate their jobs.
Unfortunately for them The End is nowhere in sight. The two take matters into their own hands when they come up with a scheme to get themselves kicked out of the Afterlife without spending an eternity in Purgatory. Their misadventure will take them from the tiny town of Truth or Consequences, NM to the highlands of Iceland as they cross paths and pantheons with Neo-Vikings, Greek and Norse Gods, and a Scottish terrier named Sir Reginald Pollywog Newcastle III.
Adam Ingle is a basement-dwelling, graveyard-shift nerd by night and an aspiring peddler of exorcised creative demons by day. He and his chinchilla live in a tin can on the side of the interstate somewhere in South Carolina. Necessary Evil and the Greater Good is his is his first novel.
WE INTERRUPT OUR PROGRESS ON SERIES to bring you a special review. What makes it special? Well, a dude I know wrote it. That's not a first around here, but it's certainly notable. Plus, look at that cover! What's not to like about it?
Necessary Evil and the Greater Good is a novel about Heaven and Hell, Purgatory and Truth or Consequences, NM, Greek and Norse gods, and a Scottish terrier named Sir Reginald Pollywog Newcastle III. There are also a couple of human beings in the mix, but the real story is about Leviticus and Mestoph, the angel and demon characters who are hoping to bring about the end of the world with a couple of stolen items -- namely, an omen and a prophecy. If that doesn't interest you in the story, then I don't know what else to tell you.
The story is quirky and irreverent, but it still manages to have a seriousness about it that keeps it from being a satire or parody. It also moves quickly. The events in the novel are tied together in a way to keep the characters moving from place to place, but none of it feels random. Everything builds off of what's come before, and even when a new character is introduced to the story, it's done in such a way that he doesn't just appear out of nowhere. It helps that the story involves a prophecy and other spiritual machinations, but even then, Ingle doesn't rely on that as a way to explain away what is otherwise a random event.
There's also a dark sense of humor running beneath the events, with one character serving as comic relief and antagonist at the same time. In fact, there's a running gag that kept cracking me up, despite the fact that this was a books about bringing about the end of the world. There were many points in the novel where I found myself chuckling at an event or turn of phrase, and after reaching the halfway point in the book, I felt like I was in good hands. To give you an example, one chapter is titled "The Beginning of the Beginning of the Middle of The End," which makes perfect sense if you know the story.
The novel is a self-published effort, and suffers from some issues that are outside of the story itself (typos, weird formatting issues, and a lack of page numbers, despite having a table of contents that directed you to said page numbers), but otherwise it's one of the better self-published efforts I've read. I think the characterization of the two human characters could have been stronger, but the rest of the characters seemed real and alive to me, and besides, the humans weren't really the central characters anyway. Overall, it reminded me a little bit of how American Gods would have been if Quentin Tarantino had directed a movie version of it.
I'm not sure if it would be the kind of book for everyone, but if you don't mind a little irreverence in your theological novels, then I'd definitely recommend it.
The last couple of weeks have been weird for me. But I have another book review for you! I stumbled across Necessary Evil and The Greater Good by Adam Ingle on my public library app. Between the cover and the blurb, it intrigued me enough to check it out. The book follows the unlikely duo of an angel and a demon who concoct a scheme to force The End to happen because they’re both bored and hate their respective jobs. Of course, chaos ensues.
Likes
I loved the story’s base concept. This pairing of a demon and an angel is a very stereotypical trope, but Ingle made it work. Mestoph and Leviticus have a wonderfully contentious relationship that shifts from a “clandestine affair” type feel to a genuine regard for each other as their scheming plays out. That growth feels organic and believable. I also loved how Ingle wove in so many different religious beliefs. Given the concept for the book is a very Christian based concept, this impressed me a little. The most significant connection is to Norse paganism, though other beliefs come into play at different points in the story.
Dislikes
Some scenes in the book were hard for me to understand. For example, there’s a room Mestoph comes across with various crazy versions of Santas who end up going nuts and chasing him. Because that was really it for this concept, I didn’t understand what it added to the story other than a general sense of bizarreness. Given this scene happened in Hell and Ingle had other scenes that also illustrated the creepy, weird factor, it just didn’t make sense to me in context with the story. I also was not impressed with the crassness. While I don’t mind cursing, it felt gratuitous at times. There’s a scene where an airplane crashes and Ingle goes on for like a page and a half or more about the number of dildos found in various suitcases for no real purpose. Things like this. Again, I don’t mind weird or taboo scenes on some levels. This just felt over the top and didn’t lend to the story. Finally, I also struggled some with the ending. It came across to me as a bit jumbled and rushed. No examples because I don’t want to spoil anything. I can’t help but think if some of the extraneous bits earlier in the novel had been edited out, Ingle would have had more room to play out the ending how it deserved rather than this “jam it in quick” feeling.
Conclusion
I have a few mixed feelings about this book. I enjoyed the silliness and poking fun at various Christian doctrines, and I liked how Ingle created a great arc for Mestoph and Leviticus’s relationship. But I struggled with some gratuitousness that could have been edited out while losing none of what made the story fun. In the end, I gave it 2 stars. Not super awesome, not terrible, but somewhere in between.
Necessary Evil and the Greater Good is an imaginative novel filled with all kinds of supernatural beings. I truly enjoyed the unnatural way that Leviticus(good) and Mestoph(bad) were friends instead of enemies. It lends a refreshing outlook to seeing both sides of the story at the same time. I enjoyed the versatile style of the characters backgrounds as well as the dark sense of humor. It is what I expected from a book like this and was delivered delightfully throughout most of the book. There were a few points in the book the kind of fell off but it did not take away from the overall storyline. This book was definitely one of the greater novels I've read recently. And I would absolutely read more from this author.
*I was given this book to read for free in return for an honest review.
Loved the premise (angel and demon in corporate heaven and hell, tired of their jobs, think it's a good idea to end the world) and the characters; humor is great, sometimes bawdy and definitely irreverent (think twice about reading if you can't tolerate poking fun at entrenched christian beliefs). Helps to know Norse and Greek mythology, and must be able to overlook grammar and spelling errors (doesn't anyone proofread anymore???). Starts fast and hilarious, ends slower and more ironic. Does the world end? whose view of the world is relevant?
Note: I was provided a copy of this book for review
Religions and gods collide in this wonderful story filled with secrets, intrigue, and a surprising amount of reality. Ingle's self published novel offers a side to angels, demons, religion and the afterlife that was not only completely unexpected, but also one that is clever and funny as well.
What seems like a simple plan between an angel and demon soon becomes a mass endeavour as plans go awry and there are morals and issues to contend with. You see the strength of characters in what they have to endure and through it all you get a great enjoyment and even a few laughs as the absurdities makes you forget the fact a serious matter is at hand and a lot is at stake. There are some wonderful surprises to discover as you read, not just the big ones, but the little ones as well. The unexpected nature of a character, the cameos and people who turn up, and even the language and dialogue can hold surprises.
What I loved was how Ingle has a way of making conversations between characters seem not only natural, but strangely realistic in unrealistic circumstances. Despite the nature of the story, the whole thing actually never felt unbelievable, there is a great realism in the story, something I was not expecting, but really came to enjoy.
Ingle has written a clever, funny, engaging, and fast paced novel that makes you laugh and makes you curious about the characters and the story but you cannot ignore the fact that there is a clear tampering with established notions of various religions.
There is a strong sense of irreverence throughout this book, something you can't ignore. However being someone who is not religious I was surprised but not offended, but I know many other people have a strong belief or respect for the religion shown in this book and I can easily see how Ingle's representation of key religious figures may not sit well with others.
While there is no slander per se, the representations of figures such as God and St Peter, as well as some of the events in this book are quite different than how they are typically portrayed. As I say, I really enjoyed it, I enjoyed that these figures were completely different than what I was expecting from them, even knowing the tone of the book they still surprised me. I loved that Ingle took such a chance in portraying them as he did, it only added to the story in my opinion.
Away from that there is a fast paced novel involving NeoVikings, and a Scottish Terrier called Sir Reginald Pollywog Newcastle III, or Sir Regi, and the two humans, Marcus and Stephanie, who must work together and trust what their angel and demon companions tell them. I really enjoyed each character, they were unique, and interacted with one another in a realistic manner, I did think though that Marcus and Stephanie did not get as much in-depth development as the others. They played their roles well, but I never felt there was a lot beneath their exteriors; even minor characters seemed to be more complicated on occasion.
I enjoyed this book because it was funny, it had interesting characters, and there was an engaging and intriguing approach taken to the ideas of The End, religions old and new, and the light-hearted approach overall to what is naturally a sensitive subject. A new interpretation on what is clearly a current religion, as well as those from the past is always interesting if done well. Seeing how people interpret the stories and figures from not just the Bible but Greek and Norse mythology can make for an interesting story, something Ingle has done well. The frank nature of the characters and the storyline is one that makes the world of angels and demons interesting, modern, and enjoyable, and one that is not always so pious, holy, or innocent.
I was not sure what to expect from Adam Ingle’s first novel, Necessary Evil and Greater Good. I’m not usually a fan of contemporary fantasy novels, which I believe is the category that this book would fall under. However, the synopsis of the book captured my interest. Without giving too much away, the book is about two friends, a Demon and an Angel, who work for rival companies: Hell Industries and Heaven, Inc. Both the Angel and the Demon hate their jobs, so they devise a scheme to get kicked out of the Afterlife without having to spend time in Purgatory, which is located in New Mexico, and “not, contrary to popular opinion, in New Jersey.” The novel is also about a human named Marcus, a mild-mannered employee at a software design company, and his dog, Sir Regi.
Going in to this novel I knew it could either be intelligent and creative or an absolutely ghastly train-wreck. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. It is laugh at loud funny in parts, but also has a lot of depth. The author’s ingenuity should be applauded: he has written a truly original novel.
Like a lot of self-published books, this manuscript could use a bit more editing. There were missing commas and minor inconsistencies, but overall it is a success and a thoroughly enjoyable read.
The idea that Heaven and Hell are run like companies whose prime objective is to have to most souls when The End of the World comes is clever, and he expands upon it creatively. Ingle fully explores how each department of a company (R&D, PR and Marketing, etc) would manifest itself if Heaven and Hell were Fortune 500 companies. In both the main story lines of the book the frustrations of working in an office are highlighted. I suspect that anyone who identified with the characters in the movie Office Space would enjoy this book. If you didn’t identify with Office Space, then what is your job and can I have it?
Very often the book reminded me of Douglas Adam’s The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, which is high praise coming from me, because it is one of my favorite books. It has the same knack for combining things nearly everybody will identify with (the quality of your day being discernable based on the number of cups of coffee you have had to drink), with circumstances that are completely out of this world (talking Angels and Demons), and then punctuation them with expertly crafted humour.
I believe this book will appeal to any type of reader as long as they have a sense of humour when it comes to religion. You certainly do not have to be a die hard fan of fantasy or sci fi in order to appreciate this book.
Full Disclosure: I received a digital copy of this book in exchange for my unbiased review.
Necessary Evil and the Greater Good started out really strong: good character development, strong plot line, laugh out loud moments. At first I got really into it-the idea of Heaven and Hell as corporations, the politics involved-but about halfway through it kind of fell off. While I definitely found myself rooting for the angel and demon trying to bring around the end of the world I found myself skipping through large sections of battle action that were hard to follow and poorly coordinated. By the last third or so there were just too many characters to keep track of. A caveat here, someone with in-depth knowledge of Norse and Greek gods will probably have a lot easier time following the story. Unfortunately I found that most of the book failed to draw me off the page. The omniscient narrator attempts to tell the story from the perspective of every character, and even groups of characters, all at once. The result is not so much a sliding point of view, which I don't really mind so much and even enjoy if it is done right, but more of a jumbled POV that jumps around quite violently. There were some strange moments that didn't mesh well with reality.... like how would someone know she's pregnant at less than two weeks of conception? Hmmmm. Vague dream reference does not make this believable. I did stick it out to the end however and I really liked the concept of the End as discussed. That's probably as much as I can say without giving away any spoilers. This story has a ton of potential but I think what it needs is some ruthless gutting by a third party in order to become more readable.
So, I read the ‘back of the cover’ description for this, and my first thought was obviously Good Omens! … Yes, my thought came with an exclamation point - because I love that book, and am totally down for reading something similar. … Now, of course, if it ended up being too similar to Good Omens I’d obviously not like it as much - because Good Omens is one of my top-10 favorite books ever, and you don’t just re-do that. But it was definitely worth a read - you can never go wrong with comedy (if the comedy is done well).
While the story seems similar - a satirical comedy in which two friends set out on a quest - oh, and one of the friends is an angel, the other a demon. And mixed into it are a human or two. But that’s sort of where the similarities end. Where Good Omens was about them trying to prevent the end of the world, this is more about the two friends wanting to get kicked out of the Afterlife and leave their boring jobs behind.
I really enjoyed this, pretty much from start to finish. There was a lot of Norse/Viking mythology interspersed, which I know very little about. And the descriptions of Thor and Loki really didn’t sound like Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston, so that was a little-bit disappointing, from a purely theatrical point-of-view.
I really liked Sir Regi, along with our angel & demon. And the scene at the end where they’re in court and sentence Father Mike to death, but then just drop it because he’s already dead. I laughed. Enjoyable read, for sure. Now to go read the sequel
If you are a fan of the movie Dogma read this book. If you are a very strict Christian don't read this book. I was raised in a strict Christian home and my mother (if alive) would make me beg for forgiveness from God for reading this book. As for me I have my own ideas on the whole God thing. This was without a doubt a book with action and adventure, humor, a little romance and a complete blast to read. The idea of Good and Evil joining forces just to get out of their boring jobs is a great premise. It was a great foundation for the chaos that ensued. And then throw in a Greek Goddess and the Norse Pantheon and you have a free for all that made me want to turn the page to see what happened next and not turn the page because it brought the book closer to its conclusion. Leviticus and Mestoph could become a series of books. Strong characters that easily carried the leads. Write more with these two and their misadventures and I'll enjoy myself through every page. Make this a movie, I'll go. Needless to say I enjoyed the Hell (pun intended) out of this book. Highly recommend.
Imagine a place where heaven and hell are large conglomerates run by thousands employees with CEO's at the head. And these companies have departments like a regular company. This is the mind of Adam Ingle. He takes two bored employees, one from heaven named Leviticus, and from hell names Mestoph and makes them friends, buddies. Good enough friends to plan a way to end the world so that they could be free from their menial jobs. They involve humans in their convoluted plan. Stephanie and Marcus. Marcus and his dog Sir Regi. They leave New Mexico and are chased by strange creatures. The humor hits off one character to the next as they get involved in crazy situations. The story reminds me of the TV show, Supernatural, where two brothers fight demons in their own unusual way. Mestoph could be Crawley, the head of hell. Leviticus could be good brother Sam. All in a day's work for these characters.
Very fun read! Author did a great job with characterization, setting/scene descriptions, overall pace (which was a fast ride) and dialogue (which was particularly hilarious...reminiscent to me of dialogue found in Pratchett's Discworld novels). My only complaint was the prevalence of grammatical errors, scattered throughout the work. I generally find grammatical errors, typos and general editing shortfalls distracting . In this case, the story and other mechanics were so entertaining that I was willing to overlook them. I would have gladly rated this 4.5 or...maybe even a 5, if it weren't for these editing shortcomings. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the read so much that I just downloaded the next installment in the series. Fans of Christopher Moore, Terry Pratchett, Tim Dorsey, Kevin Hearne and similar writers would likely enjoy the adventures of Mestoph and Leviticus.
3.5 stars: I enjoyed the beginning plot development and character reveals, but once we left Heaven and Hell things got a little wonky. I thoroughly enjoyed the pantheon of mythological beings, but I loved that class in college. For someone who doesn't know their Greek, Norse, and Christian mythos, things were probably very confusing.
There were some plot holes and things not explained, so it made getting involved with the story a bit difficult. It was just ok - not awful, however, not great enough to interest me in reading the sequel.
I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.
When I was contacted about reviewing it, I thought the subject matter was somewhat strange and out of my “comfort zone”, but I was curious enough to stick my neck out, so to speak, and see what it was about. Well, the gamble paid off, because it was an outlandishly funny read.
Mestoph and Leviticus are a demon and an angel, respectively, and despite working for rival companies – Hell Industries and Heaven Inc. – they have struck an age-long friendship, based on their mutual dissatisfaction with their boring, routine jobs. What Mestoph and Leviticus want more than anything else is to escape that boredom, and to that end they concoct a crazy plan to bring about the end of the world, breaking the impasse created between their firms and a third player, Free Will International – a company founded by “highly evolved humans of scrupulous moral character from various religions and walks of life such as Gandhi, Mother Theresa, and Larry King”.
The two friends set in motion a plan that involves the theft of an Omen and a Prophecy, and the forced participation of two hapless humans, Marcus and Stephanie – plus Marcus’ very special dog, Sir Regi. As most crazy plans are wont to do, this one starts with the wrong foot and goes spectacularly from bad to worse, in a kaleidoscopic, Hitchhikers-Guide-like merry-go-round that calls into play several figures from major religions and mythical characters from the Norse and Greek pantheons, just to name a few.
Tongue-in-cheek humor is the main ingredient of this book: humor about beliefs, about iconic figures, heroes and myths, but it’s never disrespectful – at least I never saw it that way, even when it involved beings like the Christian God himself, or Saint Peter, or Satan. I think that even people who hold strong beliefs could not feel offended by the story’s take on such figures because it’s done with a light hand and the will to bring up a smile, not to make impolite fun of it all.
Heaven and Hell are depicted like multinational industries, with highly-placed CEOs who behave like their mundane counterparts, and floors upon floors of employees who carry on in what looks like corporate drudgery: so it’s not difficult to feel sympathy for the two rebels, especially when the reader realizes that, far from being bona fide supernatural beings, they are prone to astounding mistakes just like the rest of us poor mortals. One of the main strengths of the book comes from the interaction and friendship between Leviticus and Mestoph, their rapid-fire conversations and their equally bumbling attempts at playing conspirators: the fact that they are actually trying to destroy the human race to… liven up their existence, becomes less important than their antics as they strive to reach that goal.
The book is not immune from some flaws, like several typos that need to be addressed, or the lack of deeper characterization for Marcus and Stephanie, that are overshadowed by their better-defined companions, even the ones that serve as minor figures, but all in all these flaws don’t detract from the enjoyment of the book.
Among the many, many funny gags aimed at popular culture that pepper the story, I want to quote the one that made me laugh out louder than others:
Mestoph set the Omen down, opened his trench coat, and pulled out a large poster tube from the deep pocket he had dubbed the Highlander Pocket, named for the propensity of the sword-wielding characters from the popular movies and TV series to pull a full-sized katana or claymore from out of nowhere.
This is just one example of the kind of humor you will find in this book, a fast, entertaining and different story that I can happily recommend if you want to enjoy something unusual.
Mestoph, a demon, and Leviticus, an angel, are bored with their day jobs in Hell Industries and Heaven Inc. so they concoct a plan to bring about the very thing that has been forestalled by their squabbling organisations; the end of the world. But the best laid plans of angels and demons oft go awry, and soon the pair find themselves chasing a Greek goddess to Iceland while fighting off various attempts at their lives.
This novel is insanely ambitious. It uses various mythologies, people and religions to great effect; Norse, Greek and Christian elements all fuse into one story-line, and what could have been entirely nonsensical actually turns into an amusing, confusing adventure. Let's not forget to mention cameo appearances from some of the worlds' most notorious bad guys and inspirational good guys.
Necessary Evil and the Greater Good is a novel to be taken with a pinch of salt. The adventure its-self is complex, convoluted and strangely compelling. I found myself constantly wondering what on earth could go wrong next for our characters.
Mestoph and Leviticus are both great characters in their own right, with Mestoph just winning out with his family issues and the fact he can't really get over his demonic tendancies. Although they are plotting the end of the world, you end up really rooting for them. My favourite, however, was Stephanie, a human who has got caught up in their plans. She deals with the situation really well, and is not afraid to voice her opinions and fight for her life is she needs to. I loved her dreams/nightmares and the way that they foreshadowed events to come. Coming up a close second in running for best character is Sir Reginald Pollywog Newcastle III, a little Scottie dog with a big personality and a rather large secret. My only critisism in these characters is that I never really found myself empathising with them, apart from Stephanie.
The ending was certainly the best part, and is particularly interesting if you happen to know a little bit about Norse mythology. The climax is huge and the scenes really keep you reading. However, it does tail off at the end with a couple of funny scenes and a fairly unexpected revelation.
All in all an entertaining read, but it did confuse me a little bit at the start and the middle as the plot got more complex. I think it was just a little too explanation heavy to begin with and that might have been why. It is definitely something for fans of Good Omens, as the style and the subject matter is similar, but it is is no way a rip off. It wasn't quite for me, but anyone who likes a good adventure and books that adult mythological retellings would definitely enjoy this book.
"So I've been working on a plan to get us kicked out of The Afterlife, but not banished to T or C for eternity, with enough money to get us settled and to just wait out the eventual end."
Leviticus and Mestopheles have been friends for a thousand years, a friendship rooted in mutual hatred of jobs they've come to see as utterly pointless. They hatch an elaborate plan to get themselves fired (presumably because Heaven, Inc and Hell Industries do not accept resignation letters) and begin a spiralling series of misadventures; freeing tortured Santa clones, meeting up with Hitler in Purgatory, fighting Icelandic metal Neo Vikings, upsetting other Pantheons and generally messing with the apocalypse and free will, all with the aid of two regular humans and a Scottish terrier called Sir Reginald Pollywog Newcastle III,but you can call him Sir Regi.
I am compelled to issue a warning about this book:The subject matter, frequent swearing and completely irreverent tone may cause offence.
I, myself, nearly wrote a strongly worded letter to Adam Ingle after I was deeply offended when he suggested that a South African accent, mixed with Creole and a touch of German sounds like Klingon.As a South African I could not help but take umbrage at this impertinence. However, before I clicked 'send' on the choice bit of hate mail I had typed out, I spoke out-loud, mixing my own accent with Creole and German, and I found he was right. It sounded exactly like Klingon. So I went back to reading the book instead. I'm glad I did.
A fast paced read, strung together by hilarious action sequences and memorable characters Necessary Evil is a mix of religious satire, dark humour and general absurdism. A wildly entertaining parody, it manages to skirt around trite agenda's of anti-theism and focus on simply being refreshingly funny. I laughed out loud more than once at creative details and tongue-in-cheek world building. In short, if you read one Indie book this year, read this one.
It loses a star only because of a few technical issues. A string of info dumps early on in the story prevented me from being sucked in right away, and the author has a tendency to allow sentences to get too long and unwieldy, losing some of the impact. However, the writing is of such quality, it's easy to look past the little things.
I received this book free through Goodreads' First Reads program.
Necessary Evil and the Greater Good is a buddy comedy in which two friends are sick of their jobs and one comes up with a brilliant plan which will get them out of ever having to work again. The catch is that one is an angel and the other's a demon, and, of course, not everything works out quite as planned.
Adam Ingle starts out his characters' journey borrowing heavily from the movie Office Space, with heaven and hell transformed into a reflection of the corporate cubicle farms of the physical realm. Because of this, the book gets off to a slow start and doesn't really find a voice of its own until the two start to put their plan into motion.
The story is at its best when it revels in oddities and really takes advantage of the ability to completely redefine good and evil, heaven and hell, and some of the most familiar names in religion (Judeo-Christian and otherwise). It is at its worst when it falls back on familiar territory to set the scene or, oddly enough, when it tries to portray evil. Perhaps this is because the lines are meant to blur so readily and many of the characters find themselves crossing the traditional lines of good and evil, but, while most of the characters display some good, evil is generally short-lived (truly evil characters tend to be killed before they might have some reason to display any good qualities). It could also use another round or two of editing for spelling errors.
Overall, I found it a good read which improved as the story progressed, and I look forward to the sequel.
Adam Ingle has an extraordinary imagination and an ability to string words together to tell an epic-scaled tale. For this to be his first book, I am properly impressed. It’s unique, creative, and thought provoking. There are horrifying as well as comic events all woven expertly together.
Mestoph, son of Mephistopheles, didn’t have the hate, anger, and rage his father had. That’s not to say he wasn’t a trouble maker by any means. He and his Angelic best friend Leviticus, an angel with a desk job, are bored waiting for the apocalypse to start. They were known to concoct wild plans to cause enough chaos to start the apocalypse, since it was way overdue. Most of their plans were exposed and stopped before any real trouble started. However, this one is a little different. It involves two under-the-radar humans, who in fact are destined to be together.
Marcus barely has the nerve to speak to Stephanie, the barista at a coffee shop, where he orders coffee every working morning on the way to work. Stephanie has started to have dreams, which usually involve her dead grandmother, and they have turned frightening lately. With some fast talking and not quite truths Mestoph and Leviticus get Marcus and Stephanie to follow them on their misadventure around the globe. Nothing goes the way it was meant to and there are surprises around every corner. With a whole cast of interesting characters, the plot is fast moving and extraordinarily unique. There are a number of twists and turns throughout the story, but I enjoyed the humorous ones in the last chapters the best.
FYI: Adult language, several F-bombs are dropped. **Originally written for "Books and Pals" book blog. May have received a free review copy.** July 8, 2015
Format/Typo Issues: Small number of proofing errors, mostly missing or wrong words.
The End of the World, Prophecies, Omens, Angels, Demons, Gods, Satan, Assassins, Heaven, Hell, Asgard, Purgatory, Humans, Santa and a NEO Viking rock band. This book has all that and more. This is a very funny book about two friends who are sick of their jobs and decide to bring about the end of the world, so they can retire. Of course, nothing goes right, thus the hilarity ensues as they attempt to survive what they started.
The characters are very well-written especially Sir Regi. Action sequences are exciting and easy to picture in the chaos. The innovation and creativity of the story is very good. Dialogue between characters flows throughout the book seamlessly. The pace of the story is even and kept me enthralled.
Overall, I enjoyed this book and would definitely like to see the main characters in a sequel.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys humorous misadventures.
I received the book free for review by Story Cartel.
An angel and a demon team up with a plan to escape the drudgery of life in Heaven (and Hell). Naturally, it all goes horribly wrong.
Mestoph (a demon) and Leviticus (an angel) are both bored of their jobs. They hatch a plan to escape. A couple of humans and a talking dog are involved, for some reason. People want to kill them. Ragnorak breaks out.
There are some minor formatting and editing errors, but this is generally very readable. As you may gather from my summary (which is my memory from reading it over a week ago), the plot isn’t terribly coherent. Christian, Norse, and other mythologies are drawn on for a story which doesn’t make a lot of sense but is certainly a lot of fun.
If you are religiously inclined, there’s plenty to take offense at. Also plenty of violence and rude stuff.
awesome book, a real page turner. for being the author's 1st book ever written it was beautifully done. im looking forward for the sequel. the book is about a demon and an angle that team up to cause the end of the world cause there tied of there jobs in the afterlife. the demon, Mestoph has a plan the goes terribly wrong and enlist the help of his friend that happens to be an angle of God named Leviticus. the plan also includes two humans names Marcus and Stephanie and a dog Named Sir Reginald Pollywog Newcastle the 3rd. i wont go on about the book and give away spoilers. but i will say if u like Greek and Norse mythology and fantasy then this book is for you. i received this book for free from a giveaway, but my review is my honest opinion
Adam Ingle does a great job of mixing humor with an end of the world premise. The beginning of the book was crisp and clearly constructed so the writing pulled me in and I was excited to see where the author would take me with his characters.
Unfortunately, at times there seemed to be so much going on that the natural story flow became a little confusing. Additionally, the writing became less engaging as the story progressed which was sort of disappointing.
Overall, the story has promise and I would not be adverse to reading another of the author's novels.
Disclaimer - I received a copy in exchange for an honest review.
When I first started this book, I thought it'd be interesting and that I'd enjoy it. I really liked the characters Mestoph and Leviticus. The idea of Heaven and Hell was interesting and God was quite different than He is usually portrayed. The idea of ETA (Estimated Time of Apocalypse) and how Heaven and Hell were plotting the End of All Days was great. The writing could have been better and sometimes the story got to a point and I was just... really?? Honestly, I stopped reading after Hitler.
I actually honestly enjoyed this, and found the entire concept to be fascinating, and the entire world to be extraordinarily ridiculous and funny. It became less ridiculous as the novel went on, kind of, and I'm not sure whether that was a good thing or a bad thing. There probably could have been more woman in the story; I felt the story almost entirely revolved around men, which makes sense, since it is based on fairly sexist mythology, but still. Apart from that, I loved it, an extremely entertaining read.
This book was somewhat disappointing. Although the subject matter and concept of the book sounded really cool and interesting, it was written somewhat poorly so I had a hard time getting into the book. The language was very simple, so it felt a little awkward, as though a teenager had written it.
Also, my printed paperback copy of the book had no page numbers, yet the book had a table of contents with page numbers on the third page...Wtf?
Leviticus and Mestoph have a plan to jumpstart the apocalypse and come out on the other end , and all they need is an Omen, a Prophecy, and 2 humans… but things don't go exactly according to plan.
This was a great book. It keeps readers engaged with a tale of epic proportions. I would recommend this book to anyone, and especially anyone who enjoys fantasy tied with apocalyptic and biblical ideas.
*I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review.