HELL HATH NO FURY

Nothing can stand in the way of a former cop as she storms Hell to rescue her beloved cat in Isom’s urban fantasy.

As the story opens, the Dark Lord, down in the underworld’s fiery Pit, assigns an Imp the sinister task of retrieving a cat. The Imp must brave the dreaded mortal realm, where he treks through the Washington state woods until he spots a feline in a window. Unfortunately, he’s picked the wrong cat to kidnap, as furry Momo belongs to Delilah Jones, a former Las Vegas cop-turned-self-defense instructor. She cherishes Momo, who was once her late mother’s pet. So when Delilah catches the Imp during his abduction attempt, she gives chase—even passing through the supernatural portal to Hell. It’s hardly surprising that the underworld is rife with harrowing creatures and treacherous obstacles; Delilah, however, soon runs into a friendly demon named Larry who, as a fan of “human culture,” lends a helping hand. She also stumbles onto a powerful weapon and has the skill and tenacity to battle the worst that Hell has to offer. Isom steeps this fast-paced tale in rollicking humor. Hell’s city of Necropolis, for example, is revealed to have a soul vendor (“Come get your souls”), and Larry frequently babbles on in entertaining fashion: “Yeah, not sure what went right with me, but pretty much every other demon I’ve met has been a total asshole.” Delilah, meanwhile, is a well-rounded hero with a compelling backstory; something terrible happened back in Vegas that she’s afraid to tell her girlfriend, Gabby, about, and Delilah also shows a fear of commitment. Gabby’s own subplot slows down the action, though it eventually leads to the further development of the couple’s relationship. Although the novel’s irreverence makes the underworld less frightening that it could be, Isom’s descriptions still make it unforgettable; Hell boasts such sights as a “winged eye” with flailing fibrous nerves and six-armed and six-legged Abominations with multiple heads sporting “needle toothed smiles.”

An often riveting otherworldly tale with colorful details and hordes of demonic creatures.