As One Devil to Another

November 15, 2012

You'll have a hell of a time listening to this devilishly fiendish debut novel--OK, enough with the satanic references. C.S. Lewis scholar Walter Hooper compares Platt's work to Lewis's Screwtape Letters and the association is well deserved. In a series of diabolically (sorry) well-written letters, senior devil Slashreap attempts to prepare his nephew Scardagger for the world he is about to enter. At first, Slashreap is thrilled about the progress his nephew is making and delights in informing him of the many opportunities to plant the seeds of eternal damnation: slutty women, popular novels, the Internet, and reality television are just a few of the places where a devil can do his dirty work. It soon becomes obvious to Slashreap that Scardagger is not quite as demonic as he first expected, and the letters grow exceedingly frantic. Narrator Richard Poe's reading of Slashreap's letters is outstanding and keeps readers' attention to the very (unexpected) end. VERDICT This is one book that is better heard than read in order to enjoy the delicious use of the English language in an age where LOL and SYY are considered proper rhetoric. Highly recommended.--Joseph L. Carlson, Vandenberg Air Force Base Lib., Lompoc, CA

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