TL;DR Review: Lovable characters, a fascinating world, and epic action. Had me hooked from Page 1.
Synopsis:
The Crew
A hulked-out wrath demon who eats gamer rage and loves cats, a shapeshifting lust demon who enjoys their food a bit too much, and a void demon who doesn’t see the point of any of this. They’re not the sort of mercenaries you’d hire on purpose, but Bex wouldn’t trust her life to anyone else.
Ever since the ancient Mesopotamian king Gilgamesh decided death wasn’t for him, killed the gods, and conquered the afterlife, times have been rough for a free demon. But the denizens of the Nine Hells aren’t the quitting sort, and Bex and her team have been choking a living out of the Eternal King’s lackeys for years. It’s not honest work, but when Heaven itself declares you a non-person, you smash-and-grab what you can get.
This next gig looks like more of the same…until Bex meets the client.
The Job
Adrian Blackwood is a witch with a problem. His family has skirted the edges of King Gilgamesh’s ire for centuries, but thanks to a decision he made as a child, Adrian is personally responsible for putting his entire coven in Heaven’s crosshairs.
Determined to set things right, Adrian drags his broom, caldron, and talking cat thousands of miles across the country to Seattle where he can fight the Eternal King’s warlocks without bringing the rest of his family into the fray. But witchcraft–like all crafts–takes time, and if the warlocks catch him before his spells are ready, he’s dead. So Adrian does what any professional witch would do and hires a team of mercenaries to keep the warlocks off his back. He didn’t expect to get demons, but when you’re already on the killing-edge of Heaven’s bad side, what’s a bit more fuel on the fire?
Sometimes you get more than you paid for.
Neither Adrian nor Bex knew what to expect when they signed their contract, but witch-plus-demon turns out to be a match made in the Hells. With this much chaos at their fingertips, even impossible dreams can come back into reach, because Bex wasn’t always a mercenary. She used to be the Eternal King’s biggest nightmare, and now that she’s got a witch in her corner, it’s time to put the old magics back on the field and show Adrian Blackwood just how much Hell he’s hired.
Full Review:
I had so much fun with this book, I didn’t want to put it down!
Hell for Hire introduces us to some immediately lovable characters:
- Adrian Blackwood, a witch who, along with his snarky and uppity cat familiar Boston, have traveled to the Pacific Northwest to start their own witch forest.
- Bex, a demon who leads a crew of other demons (Iggs the muscle, Lys the charmer and recon expert, and Nemini the…well, she’s Nemini) in a gig to protect Adrian from warlocks, sorcerers, and other magical douchebags who might want to interfere with his plan.
You see, the Blackwood witches are the last coven to operate on Earth, and only because they are too powerful for King Gilgamesh (the bastard who conquered Heaven and turned it into Hell) to stomp out. But when Adrian ventures out of the safety of the powerful witch forest in New England to cross the country, he’s vulnerable and fully liable to be stomped. Hence the demonic protection.
From Page 1, our protagonists and side characters are instantly likable and relatable. Adrian is trying to do good in creating new forests and establishing himself as a witch, and we love him for his frank, open, empathetic, compassionate nature. Bex is a great big badass in a tiny package, and the more we see her—from her eternally bleeding wounds to her compassion for the conquered and enthralled demons—the more we come to love her, too.
The story is instantly engaging, too. We’re introduced quickly to the various types of demons and their special skills, the magical enslavement under King Gilgamesh, and the fallout of the war that conquered Heaven. We also learn what Bex is REALLY hiding, and the secret that has kept her alive and fighting despite the terrible odds.
This world is FASCINATING! I loved the unique worldbuilding that adds a layer of magic and mystery to the mundane human world. We see the goblin fixers, the market where angels and humans rub shoulders, the spells that keep humans from seeing demons (and the consequences of those spells being broken), and the age-old rivalry between the nature-loving witches and the power-greedy warlocks and sorcerers.
All of this is teased out with a deft hand, one tantalizing detail at a time, and woven in around the emotional and psychological stakes that drive our characters to do what they do. This is very much a “blink and you’ll be halfway done” type of story—so addicting and so well-paced you won’t want to put it down.
Inevitably, the story leads to an epic climax, with grand revelations that will shape the course of both characters’ futures and lead to bigger, better things.
I am soooooo glad this is a series, because I’m going to need at least six more books to find out how this badass demon and witch pairing not only tears down Heaven (as the series name makes clear), but also inevitably fall in love. I am here for a slow-burn romance and all the insane demon- and angel-fighting action I can feel coming.
Leave a Reply