The Five Demons You Meet In Hell

by Timothy Carter, Sarah Water Raven (Illustrations)

Boston Lefebvre, school bully and all around jerk, dies and finds himself in Hell. Not the fire and brimstone place he'd expected, Boston discovers Hell to be a centre for forced spiritual rehabilitation. Each damned soul must face five demons, who in turn will confront them with their five worst sins.Boston is less than enthusiastic about the process, especially when he discovers he's being punished for the sins of Tony Smerle, a former friend. Tony, in cooperation with a demon named Rigdis, has found a way to subvert the Hell system, an action that could have devastating consequences.Faced with the prospect of taking the fall for Tony's transgressions, Boston fights to set the record straight. His efforts lead him on an adventure involving demons, imps, assassins, cutthroats, and his long dead father, with the stakes being the existence of Hell itself.

324 pages, Paperback

First published November 13, 2013

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Dilva]

I enjoyed this book a lot. What a creative view of hell.

[Elizabeth Hirst]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It's like Dante's Inferno mixed with A Christmas Carol, with a little bit of action movie thrown in for good measure... and did I mention it's funny?

Normally (being a jaded editor type) I don't get 'hooked' on books very easily, and I'm a slow reader, but I read this in a day and a half. I couldn't put it down. It has a steady stream of action and jokes that kept me engaged right from the get-go, Carter's imagination and creative interpretation of Hell kept me waiting to see what else he would dream up, and as the story progressed, I was surprised to find a lot of heart in there as well.

I find that sometimes comedic books, especially ones with jocky male protagonists, can get a bit surface for me. Not so with 5 Demons. Carter really delves into the mind of someone who is, at first and through much of the tale, essentially unlikeable, and makes the reader follow him, and believe that somehow, he might actually come out of his adventures a better person. I won't give any spoilers, but there were a few parts where I was genuinely moved.

This book is a lot of fun, and I would recommend it to anyone who likes YA, humour or quirky re-imaginings of mythology.

[Meg]

Once again, I find myself reading a Timothy Carter book, and wishing the hell (pun intended) these books had existed when I was in middle school.

Timothy Carter uses his humour and charm to tackle a subject that is thorny for many people: bullying. This action-packed story takes us through the trials and tribulations of a young bully recently sent to hell for rehabilitation. But as AC/DC once said, hell ain't a bad place to be, when you have demons to face. (Even if some of them do have ulterior motives.)

I'll avoid spoilers and just say this: I was glued to this book to the very end. While the tale itself is lighthearted, (like with Cupid Wars) I'm deeply moved by the symbolism of it all, in relation to the subject matter.

[Shawna]

This is a wildly imaginative book about the redemption of a teenage bully who's died and gone to Hell. Pure fun!