Reviewed in the United States on December 15, 2023
Verified Purchase
Author J.S. Frankel’s highly imaginative, young adult fantasy leaps off the pages from the premise of homeostasis: there must be a balance between the number of souls in heaven and those in the nether region. If the balance doesn’t hold by the end of the year—there’s hell to pay, whereby the world will be destroyed and the whole process of evolution begins anew.
The team upstairs is short two souls. Heaven sends a Halo named Nell to team up with Ed, one of Hell’s minions, to make things right before the New Year. Not an easy task, given human nature. Ed and Nell chase down many leads to make their quota.
What ensues along their chase is an in-depth, soul-searching venture with time running out to avert an apocalypse:
Ed grapples with remembering his past to gauge how he got to Hell, wondering if he could be someone different if given the chance. Marcus, Ed’s demonic nemesis, sabotages all efforts to save the world for his own selfish reasons. Ed finds himself attracted to Nell.
Frankel’s readers get the best of heaven, hell, and earth’s ominous sky, ever darkening as the apocalypse approaches. You’ll get a strong dose of New York through an uptick in breakout fights, riots, and the sewer underworld as Nell and Ed struggle to serve their masters and save the world.
Cleverly plotted with charismatic characters and harrowing action at every turn, ‘And the Devil Take Ye’ is a devilishly different, must-read.
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