What do you think?
Rate this book
Hell Inc. #1
Hell Inc.
Raz Frewer has just concocted a plan. And it's a terrible, terrible idea.
After his dying wife's doctors reveal that all their brilliant strategies have failed, Raz tries a different tack -- he does something incredibly stupid.
He goes to the Crossroads and makes a deal with the Devil.
Now, with the help of three willing strangers (well, two of them are willing), he's got just days to search the planet for the pieces of an ancient artifact.
Raz knows, once assembled, this mystical lamp can cure the woman he loves.
What he doesn't know?
The Devil has other plans for it.
After his dying wife's doctors reveal that all their brilliant strategies have failed, Raz tries a different tack -- he does something incredibly stupid.
He goes to the Crossroads and makes a deal with the Devil.
Now, with the help of three willing strangers (well, two of them are willing), he's got just days to search the planet for the pieces of an ancient artifact.
Raz knows, once assembled, this mystical lamp can cure the woman he loves.
What he doesn't know?
The Devil has other plans for it.
412 pages, ebook
First published October 23, 2018
1132 people are currently reading
872 people want to read
About the author
Dick Wybrow
26 books130 followersDick Wybrow is a Canadian author. His novels are mainly set in the US, where he grew up. A former stand-up comedian, Wybrow is a humor writer who crafts thrillers that incorporate elements of suspense, horror, mystery, science fiction and fantasy.
At the age of six, Dick was given his first book by his father. It was Wind in the Willows. Naturally, that put Dick off reading for several years.
After discovering Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, the love of reading returned. And with it came the compulsion to get lost worlds like Douglas had created.
Dick lives in Auckland, New Zealand with one wife and two cats.
At the age of six, Dick was given his first book by his father. It was Wind in the Willows. Naturally, that put Dick off reading for several years.
After discovering Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, the love of reading returned. And with it came the compulsion to get lost worlds like Douglas had created.
Dick lives in Auckland, New Zealand with one wife and two cats.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 73 reviews
October 17, 2020
Need a great Halloween read but hate horror books? This is for you!
Hell, Inc by Dick Wybrow is the perfect Halloween book for people that want a book that has creatures, demons, and devils in it but is certainly not scary. In fact, this book kept me giggling, or a smile on my face, or smirking throughout the book. I needed a funny, witty book! This was so great! The main character's wife is dying so he makes a deal with the devil at the crossroad. He is going to need help and the help he gets is hilarious. The whole thing had me in stitches! The plot, the multiple situations, the dialogue, just everything! My animals must have thought I lost my mind laughing my head off by myself! They kept checking on me! This book is a real hoot! Definitely will read book 2!
Hell, Inc by Dick Wybrow is the perfect Halloween book for people that want a book that has creatures, demons, and devils in it but is certainly not scary. In fact, this book kept me giggling, or a smile on my face, or smirking throughout the book. I needed a funny, witty book! This was so great! The main character's wife is dying so he makes a deal with the devil at the crossroad. He is going to need help and the help he gets is hilarious. The whole thing had me in stitches! The plot, the multiple situations, the dialogue, just everything! My animals must have thought I lost my mind laughing my head off by myself! They kept checking on me! This book is a real hoot! Definitely will read book 2!
April 20, 2021
Good read
Good read, liked the story. Could use some cleaning up. But overall very good. I needed six more words to post.
Good read, liked the story. Could use some cleaning up. But overall very good. I needed six more words to post.
December 15, 2018
I'm not sure why I stopped scrolling through the social media site to read the sponsored ad for this book, then clicked and bought it, but I'm glad I did.
I read at night, before I fall asleep. My husband has yelled at me several times for laughing out loud and waking him up.
Like many great stories, this is a quest and buddy novel--and it's the buddies who make the story. I can't tell you more without giving it away, but the take away message is don't judge a person by your stereotypes. This is fast-paced, funny, and a nice read.
I read at night, before I fall asleep. My husband has yelled at me several times for laughing out loud and waking him up.
Like many great stories, this is a quest and buddy novel--and it's the buddies who make the story. I can't tell you more without giving it away, but the take away message is don't judge a person by your stereotypes. This is fast-paced, funny, and a nice read.
Read
May 20, 2020Nope. Dnf. Barely started. This one falls under the "too many adjectives" umbrella. I don't like writers who work that hard.
This was a Goodreads giveaway.
This was a Goodreads giveaway.
Currently reading
December 15, 2018Very well written. Lots of fun to read! I honestly get bored with most humorous books, but this one is holding my attention very well! I love it and would recommend it.
December 24, 2018
Funny
I really enjoyed this book. Overall it was a fun read with plenty of moments that made me laugh. Final thoughts on this would be, when will it be a graphic novel?!
I really enjoyed this book. Overall it was a fun read with plenty of moments that made me laugh. Final thoughts on this would be, when will it be a graphic novel?!
June 5, 2020
I don’t know how many times I’ve come across a book that I expected to be horror and it turned out to be something else. Hell inc. is one of those books. Based on the cover, the title, and even the blurb I was led to believe this is horror. This is a comedy with a dab of horror thrown in; like those salad sprays that give the essence of a flavor.
Don’t get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoyed Hell inc. It’s quite clever and fun, though there are some spots that I wanted to punch myself in the throat because it wasn’t moving fast enough. The story is solid with Raz jumping from one continent to another in search of the pieces to a special lamp that can heal his dying wife.
Throughout, there is one obstacle after another thrown in his and his merry band of helpers’ way, keeping my attention. The subplot is interesting with a faction forming to take over Hell from Satan; I’m assuming the following books in the series touch more of this.
If you’re looking for something fun and exciting to read (even if it isn’t 100% horror), then I recommend this one.
Don’t get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoyed Hell inc. It’s quite clever and fun, though there are some spots that I wanted to punch myself in the throat because it wasn’t moving fast enough. The story is solid with Raz jumping from one continent to another in search of the pieces to a special lamp that can heal his dying wife.
Throughout, there is one obstacle after another thrown in his and his merry band of helpers’ way, keeping my attention. The subplot is interesting with a faction forming to take over Hell from Satan; I’m assuming the following books in the series touch more of this.
If you’re looking for something fun and exciting to read (even if it isn’t 100% horror), then I recommend this one.
April 27, 2022
DNF @ P34 (8% - Ch.4)
July 14, 2022
Brilliant and funny
August 27, 2025
Such a humorous adventure I just went on!
November 27, 2025
Interesting fantasy.
January 14, 2023
Interesting premise which initially really pulled me in. However, it needs more editing. It jumps all over the place, has too much description in parts and not enough in others. I will say some parts are humorous, but it's not nearly as funny as some reviewers have said (and why I chose to read this book.) The use of Jesus as a swear word often really turned me off. I guess it's supposed to be funny in some way, but it's not. It's unnecessary. I do not plan to read any more books in this series. It became a chore to finish it. There are more well-written books available to spend my time reading.
November 23, 2019
This is really great book from an author I've never heard of before. This is a story about a desperate, psychologically damaged man on an impossible and ridiculous quest. It is written with plenty of wit and humor that keeps you turning the pages. I would have rated it higher, but there were plenty of noticeable editing mistakes that should have been easily fixed by a decent proofreader. I loved this book, and I will be looking up more work from Dick Wybrow.
March 13, 2021
Advertised as funny? Well Douglas Adams is funny, Tom Sharpe is funny, this was just a load of nonsense, to be honest I only got halfway and gave up as it was irritating, puerile, but definitely not funny.
February 6, 2024
An absolutely amazing story about the kind of quest you could be forced to undertake to save your wife when making a deal with the devil. It's got it all - great characters, funny jokes, physics, and best of all.. poop jokes. The humor certainly did it for me, and I knew i'd enjoy this book by the end of chapter two, with a certain joke.
I loved the main cast, though out of all of them the main character was the least interesting, or quirky atleast. Uncle Jerry went above and beyond my pre-conceptions, just like he did for the main character. What a motivational man. Anza was absolutely amazing, savage queen who isn't gonna take any petty insults, is ready to torch your entire soul, verbally. I found her absolutely hilarious. The actor, who is very morally grey, probably bad even, had some great bits in the story. I particularly loved his confidance-man bit, that chapter was probably one of my favourites in this book. Don't mess with british bulldog.
I'm rating this 4 stars based on vibes. The story was kinda simplistic, and there were in my opinion, a few lulls in the story. Some of the plane chapters kinda dragged on, so I feel like the pacing wasn't as good as it could have been for the entirety of the story. When the characters were on dry-land, the book was easily 5 stars. I also feel like, considering the title of the book is 'Hell Inc', the faction didn't play as much of a role in the finale as I was expecting. They had this 'plan', and they didn't really try to execute it around the time of the finale. I was expecting a bit more evil on their part.
If you like comedy, and are craving a short-ish epic adventure, I highly recommend picking this book up. I wouldn't let my criticisms sway you away from reading this. I really enjoyed it (and read the last ~40% of the book in one sitting!). I picked up this book for £0.99 with amazon kindle book deals, and got an extra book for free at the end, so i'll be reading 'The Swordsman' by Dick Wybrow at some point in the future.
4/5
I loved the main cast, though out of all of them the main character was the least interesting, or quirky atleast. Uncle Jerry went above and beyond my pre-conceptions, just like he did for the main character. What a motivational man. Anza was absolutely amazing, savage queen who isn't gonna take any petty insults, is ready to torch your entire soul, verbally. I found her absolutely hilarious. The actor, who is very morally grey, probably bad even, had some great bits in the story. I particularly loved his confidance-man bit, that chapter was probably one of my favourites in this book. Don't mess with british bulldog.
I'm rating this 4 stars based on vibes. The story was kinda simplistic, and there were in my opinion, a few lulls in the story. Some of the plane chapters kinda dragged on, so I feel like the pacing wasn't as good as it could have been for the entirety of the story. When the characters were on dry-land, the book was easily 5 stars. I also feel like, considering the title of the book is 'Hell Inc', the faction didn't play as much of a role in the finale as I was expecting. They had this 'plan', and they didn't really try to execute it around the time of the finale. I was expecting a bit more evil on their part.
If you like comedy, and are craving a short-ish epic adventure, I highly recommend picking this book up. I wouldn't let my criticisms sway you away from reading this. I really enjoyed it (and read the last ~40% of the book in one sitting!). I picked up this book for £0.99 with amazon kindle book deals, and got an extra book for free at the end, so i'll be reading 'The Swordsman' by Dick Wybrow at some point in the future.
4/5
February 17, 2023
Mmmm, I see that many people think that this book is fantastic but clearly I don’t share that view. I think it is probably aimed at much younger people than me with a different vocabulary and possibly a greater knowledge of American TV
Had I known that much of the humour was coarse (handjob from someone suffering from disease?) and that there is quite a lot of swearing, I would not have bought the book. Nothing wrong in any of it but not what I would pay to be entertained by, not my thing. I stopped reading fairly early on as I had no clue what was going on due to references (I’m guessing TV) that meant nothing to me, typos and generally what I considered as random sentences, not relating to anything that I could discern
.
I don’t mean to decry the book as such but rather want to let people who share my tastes know what they are in for. If you like more bawdy humour then this could be for you
Had I known that much of the humour was coarse (handjob from someone suffering from disease?) and that there is quite a lot of swearing, I would not have bought the book. Nothing wrong in any of it but not what I would pay to be entertained by, not my thing. I stopped reading fairly early on as I had no clue what was going on due to references (I’m guessing TV) that meant nothing to me, typos and generally what I considered as random sentences, not relating to anything that I could discern
.
I don’t mean to decry the book as such but rather want to let people who share my tastes know what they are in for. If you like more bawdy humour then this could be for you
April 12, 2024
I really liked this one even though it kind of piddled put at the end. Dick Wybrow has a very Neil Gaiman humorous way of writing. I enjoy his humor and his style.
Rasputin, not THE Rasputin, but just a guy with an unfortunate name, is trying to save his dying wife by making a deal with the devil... or just a dude named Randall. His task is to find all the pieces of a lamp before the time is up. If he doesn't, his soul is forfeit, if he does it can cure his wife. He can have people with him to help, 2 of his choosing and a 3rd he doesn't have a choice in. The 3rd turns out to be an actor, who is never named, but (spoiler alert) is the little person from Game of Thones and Elf. Craziness ensues in the race to beat the clock. I have the 4th book in this series already so I will continue to read it as soon as I break my streak of reading only from my TBR to purchase more books.
Rasputin, not THE Rasputin, but just a guy with an unfortunate name, is trying to save his dying wife by making a deal with the devil... or just a dude named Randall. His task is to find all the pieces of a lamp before the time is up. If he doesn't, his soul is forfeit, if he does it can cure his wife. He can have people with him to help, 2 of his choosing and a 3rd he doesn't have a choice in. The 3rd turns out to be an actor, who is never named, but (spoiler alert) is the little person from Game of Thones and Elf. Craziness ensues in the race to beat the clock. I have the 4th book in this series already so I will continue to read it as soon as I break my streak of reading only from my TBR to purchase more books.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 31, 2025
If you're looking for a great escape from reality and love wild, supernatural romps, this is for you! Rasputin makes a deal with the devil to save his dying wife. His task: to retrieve various parts of a life-saving lamp from around the world. Enter bizarre cast of characters: drug-taking, hippie-dude Uncle Jerry, a famous actor that everyone will recognize, and the spunky wife of a good friend. They gradually form a weird found family as they race against the clock to save Rasputin's wife. The zany situations they find themselves in and how these unique characters navigate the journey had me symbolically ROTFL (because I was listening to the audio version in the car so to actually do so could have been fatal). LOVED it and can't wait to read the whole series.
April 7, 2025
that was a fun, albeit odd, ride!
More please…
Characters who you’d swear were people you’ve watched on tv, out of place now, in a world … in a world in between… crazy action, and by that I mean the action is crazy. No not the amount of action, although that is cool. More like the crazy that happens when half baked plans meet reality… or some version of it. And, mayhem. Oh, the mayhem of a personal quest, with three (or four, depending on if you include the narrator, which we probably should) people, on a trip where they see the world.
A good read. That review didn’t really come close to the fun I had.
More please…
Characters who you’d swear were people you’ve watched on tv, out of place now, in a world … in a world in between… crazy action, and by that I mean the action is crazy. No not the amount of action, although that is cool. More like the crazy that happens when half baked plans meet reality… or some version of it. And, mayhem. Oh, the mayhem of a personal quest, with three (or four, depending on if you include the narrator, which we probably should) people, on a trip where they see the world.
A good read. That review didn’t really come close to the fun I had.
April 25, 2019
Always spoiler free. Despite the title and paranormal aspects I really find this more in the Humor genre than in Horror. The humor is often snuck into the narrative, often being only a 1 or 2 word absurdity. However, it is usually quite funny, but you need to pay attention or you can miss it. It's an interesting story line although not fast paced. There are 3 real surprises at the end which were quite creative. I enjoyed this book and recommend it if you don't have your heart set on fast action. I usually enjoy a faster pace but the humor made it well worth reading.
August 5, 2022
This book IS full of humor!often promised, but not delivered. The story flows with "Oh NO!" moment
I was pleasantly surprised to find lots of humor in this book because it is often promised, but not delivered. The story flows with "Oh NO!" moments and great characters. I don't know if you would want to take some of them home to meet your mother, but you are glad you got to meet them.
I was pleasantly surprised to find lots of humor in this book because it is often promised, but not delivered. The story flows with "Oh NO!" moments and great characters. I don't know if you would want to take some of them home to meet your mother, but you are glad you got to meet them.
March 23, 2020
Entertaining and educational
The plot is engrossing and allows the settings to be in several countries. Short historical explanations are expertly included into the storyline, along with descriptions and geographical information necessary to the plot, which makes learning fun. His characters are well fleshed out, and they “grow” emotionally during the book. However, the best part of Mr. Wybrow’s writing is his humor. I laughed out loud, snickered and grinned. He can build a humorous anecdote as skillfully as any comedian. I will reread this book soon, and am so glad I bought it.
The plot is engrossing and allows the settings to be in several countries. Short historical explanations are expertly included into the storyline, along with descriptions and geographical information necessary to the plot, which makes learning fun. His characters are well fleshed out, and they “grow” emotionally during the book. However, the best part of Mr. Wybrow’s writing is his humor. I laughed out loud, snickered and grinned. He can build a humorous anecdote as skillfully as any comedian. I will reread this book soon, and am so glad I bought it.
February 12, 2022
A series of improbable events
There’s a kinda HEA, but not the normal type, there’s so many unlikely things happening in a sequence you could never predict, and Hell and Hell version 2.0 don’t exactly get what they expect. It’s a bit funny, weird, sad, happy, odd. Not quite the ending I was promised at the start, but everything should work out eventually.
There’s a kinda HEA, but not the normal type, there’s so many unlikely things happening in a sequence you could never predict, and Hell and Hell version 2.0 don’t exactly get what they expect. It’s a bit funny, weird, sad, happy, odd. Not quite the ending I was promised at the start, but everything should work out eventually.
February 2, 2023
The central storyline seems good; but the author just misses. The characters aren't one dimensional, but they are not fully three dimensional either, about 1.75. It is like he wants to get to the next plot point too quickly and then stumbles over the each one with a lack of depth and description. Disappointed.
May 19, 2025
If you haven't been to the CrossRoads in Mississippi, you need to go. This explains all else. A man, desperate to save his wife, sells his sole to the Devil and agrees to retreive a lamp. It is a very strange, weird path to get there but he does and returns to the Cross Roads. Alas! He succeeded, but also was duped. I'm going on to the second book.
January 26, 2019
A great dark comedy filled with loveable characters, even if not at first, and one that makes effective use of the faustian bargain and the great american road trip tropes. I imagine Hell, Inc would make Dante Alighieri proud, despite the poop and dick jokes.
September 13, 2019
This author is downright funny
I rarely leave a review that doesn’t have some form of critique in it, but this book made me laugh so often I never got a chance to find something negative. Funny as Hell ... inc!
I rarely leave a review that doesn’t have some form of critique in it, but this book made me laugh so often I never got a chance to find something negative. Funny as Hell ... inc!
July 29, 2020
Help Inc
Great reading. Loved how everything seemed to fall into place and finding all the parts all over the world and deamons trying to kill them everywhere they went. Not sure I liked the ending but it worked for the story.Highly recommend reading.
Great reading. Loved how everything seemed to fall into place and finding all the parts all over the world and deamons trying to kill them everywhere they went. Not sure I liked the ending but it worked for the story.Highly recommend reading.
February 18, 2022
This was billed as a hysterically funny book about a man who makes a deal with the devil to save his wife's life. Instead it is a meandering, stupid, unfunny book about seemingly almost nothing. I gave up about a quarter of the way through.
May 15, 2022
Got about fifty pages in and just quit.
This one is just a struggle to read. The writing is so choppy that it keeps you from seeing any flow in the story. For a humorous book, this is a death sentence.
This one is just a struggle to read. The writing is so choppy that it keeps you from seeing any flow in the story. For a humorous book, this is a death sentence.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 73 reviews