Jonathan Whitelaw

Loved the dynamic of the mother-in-law/son-in-law detective duo. Ot made it more realistic. The voice actor did a phenomenal job with the many accents throughout the book. There were a few times I forgot it was the same person. And the humor was nicely paced. Would definitely recommend it to some of my friends. The reason for the lower rating was because it was an extremely simple book. Not too much mystery or suspense. It was written as if to be the in-betweener of other books you read. Still a good book though.… (meer)

The Devil had just started to enjoy his long-overdue holiday, relaxing on a beautiful, remote, sun-kissed beach and was feeling appreciative that God had not only kept His word in allowing him to have this break, but had created somewhere so magnificent for him to have it. He was feeling that all was well in his world, then the phone rang … it was for him ... “I’ve got another one for you.” Who else could it be but Him, with yet more demands? Although reluctant to be always at His beck and call, Brutus and Cassius persuade him that, with the success of Hellcorp, he is currently at the height of his powers and that by accepting God’s latest challenge, he now has the ideal opportunity to upset the natural order of things and to achieve even greater power. Although in the past he’s been tempted, a certain lethargy has always stopped him from putting in the necessary effort … but perhaps now he really can put one over on God and have more?
So, trusting Brutus and Cassius to “steady the ship” in his absence, and knowing that Alice, his loyal secretary (in addition to being his ideal woman), would be there to look after his interests, he takes on the challenge. Once again he finds himself in human form, this time on the streets of London helping the police, in particular no-nonsense DS Laurie, to find a woman who has been kidnapped by terrorists. But it’s not long before things start to go badly wrong and he realises that the challenge to the old order is coming from a different direction. He should never have allowed himself to be seduced by the flattery of Brutus and Cassius … after all he, better than anyone, should have known just how treacherous they’re capable of being.
“Lodged “ in a strange human body (to his disgust, most definitely not a prime specimen!), still finding it difficult to understand what makes human beings tick, beset by out of control rioters, violent demonstrations on the streets, with even the coppers turning rogue and, at times, his direct line of communication to Him Upstairs cut off, the Devil soon feels that on all fronts he’s fighting a losing battle.
It’s difficult to go into too much detail about the development of this story without running the risk of including spoilers, so I’m just going to share some of the reasons I found it such a hugely entertaining and thought-provoking read. I loved the descriptions of the relationship between The Devil and a sometimes Him, sometimes Her, God, with their mutual point-scoring and yet their essential interdependence. I found the accounts of the despair and confusion each of them experience when they realise that the old order is being threatened, that the apocalypse is looming and they wonder whether they can cooperate to stop it, or whether it’s already too late, surprisingly moving – and disturbingly thought-provoking. For the multitude of ways in which they are different, what does become clear is that the one thing they do agree on is that human beings need to stop expecting them to “do something” and instead need to start taking responsibility for their own actions and behaviour!
I loved that the story explores the worst of what humans are capable of but also shows them capable of compassion and unselfish caring. On this theme, one of the things I really enjoyed was the developing relationship between The Devil and Laurie, with her gradually coming to believe that he really was who he claimed to be and yet still being prepared to introduce him to her husband and young daughter, and to show him that a caring partner and family can offer an unshakeable foundation of comforting, loving support.
As in Hellcorp, the humour is often dark, but it is also frequently laugh-out-loud funny – something which, given the nature of some of the themes in this story, came as a very welcome respite! In many ways I found there was far more tension in this story, with dark deeds feeling a much deeper shade of black! Maybe a major reason I found it so much more disturbing than is because we’re currently living through such a turbulent time, with communities riven by division, tolerance of other points of view fast-disappearing and the disturbingly unpredictable behaviour of our elected representatives adding fuel to the fire! On both a national and an international level, people are vying for more and more power and yet appear to have little idea of how they are going to use it if they get it. No wonder it felt so easy to identify with God’s despair at the disastrous effects of the attempts to overturn the old order (the image of Him/Her in tears at the approaching apocalypse was a powerful one), with The Devil’s confusion as he struggled to deal with the weakening of his power, as well as with their joint desire to get things back onto an even keel. On a more light-hearted level I had some fun imagining which politicians I’d cast in the roles of those perfidious traitors, Brutus and Cassius – I know The Devil is bad, but there were moments when he felt like a saint in comparison!
One of the delights of Jonathan’s books is the way in which philosophical questions about the nature of good and evil underpin his story-telling. The fact that this is never done in a “preachy” way makes the thought-provoking impact of his reflections even more powerful and is a major reason why his books would provide rich sources of discussion for reading groups.
Having read (and LOVED!) Hellcorp earlier in the year I’d been eagerly anticipating the promised sequel and Jonathan’s latest outing with Eternity’s bad guy more than fulfilled my high expectations – and as the ending would appear to suggest that he hasn’t yet finished having fun with his main character, perhaps I can anticipate another encounter with this charismatic anti-hero?!
One final reflection – I notice that the ISBN includes 666 … what a serendipitous delight!!

With my thanks to the publisher (and NB) for a pre-publication copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.… (meer)

From the use of the Mark Twain quote, “Go to Heaven for the climate, Hell for the company”, followed by being introduced to a farting, smoking, whisky-loving Pope in the prologue, I knew this would be a very visual story, one which would have me laughing out loud. By the time I had finished it, my initial expectations had been exceeded and I even found myself wondering whether the story will soon find its way onto our television screens – if it does, I’m sure it will attract a large and enthusiastic audience!
At midnight the Pope, having just relieved his internal pressure, poured himself a glass of single malt and lit a cigarette, is suddenly confronted by the appearance of the Devil. Feeling both horrified and scared, he wonders if he is having either a heart attack or a psychotic breakdown – maybe he shouldn’t have had that drink? However, although unable to resist questioning the Pope’s long-held beliefs, the Devil mostly wants to talk business. He is weary of always being the “bad-guy”, is badly in need of a holiday (sipping cocktails on a beach appeals) so plans to make Hell a legitimate business by setting up “Hellcorp”, with its global headquarters based in Edinburgh, and further branches planned for other cities and countries. The company will do his job for him, keeping the sins of the world ticking over whilst he takes a well-earned holiday. To his later bewilderment, the Pope realises that he has agreed to fund the venture. However, when God hears of this plan, he summons the Devil “upstairs” and tells him that yes, he can have his vacation, but not until he has solved the mystery of a crime carried out in Glasgow, forty years ago.
Sent to earth in human form, but with no real understanding of the ways of humans, the Devil soon discovers that he needs help and local knowledge, help which comes in the form of Dr Jill Gideon, a junior doctor who understands human frailty all too well. As the reader soon discovers, she is also more than a match for the Devil as she attempts to keep him out of the endless trouble he creates wherever he goes. Their developing relationship and interactions were hugely enjoyable – I loved the fact that she was more than a match for him!
It’s a long time since I have read a story which has been so amusing from start to finish – there were so many moments when I found tears running down my cheeks and my sides aching as a result of laughing so much! I loved the humour, at times very black, which permeated the storytelling and the irreverent explorations of what influences our belief systems and our ways of interacting. There wasn’t one character who wasn’t drawn in vivid colour, who didn’t leap from the page and imprint himself/herself in my memory. From the Devil himself, Alice his long-term secretary (a “big girl with a big bottom”, the Devil’s preferred body shape), Dr Jill Gideon, a golf-playing God (sometimes Him, sometimes Her), St Peter (receptionist at the heavenly golf club) to a number of more minor characters, they all made an important contribution to the story.
Conversational interactions were full of wisecracks and sharp wit and, in addition to the wonderful Devil/Jill relationship, I loved the sparky love/hate relationship between the Devil and God – a delightful twist on sibling rivalry! The part of the story development which was about the solving of the forty-year-old crime also had some very satisfying, and unexpected, twists and turns.
In spite of his portrayal within the story as a menacing, tantrum-throwing, unscrupulous, narcissistic, character , accompanied by all those old warnings from teachings at Sunday School, I found myself caring for the Devil and what happened to him – perhaps I should be feeling worried about falling for such an anti-hero! However, he was also portrayed as being very witty, clever and charismatic and it is this acknowledgement of complexity, throughout the book, which underlies the rather more philosophical, thought-provoking aspects of the story-telling, as the author explores ideas of good and evil and challenges certain religious, moral and ethical certainties. I also appreciated the many references to literature, music and modern cultural interests.
This is a certainly a crime novel with a difference so I hope that my enthusiasm for it will encourage you to set aside a few hours to suspend disbelief and join these wonderfully drawn characters on their hilarious, but often thought-provoking journey of discovery.

With thanks to the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.… (meer)