by
Hell Bound or Heaven Sent?
Some of us will never know until it's too late.
From an infernal fiend reduced to baking cookies to distract a small child, to a pastor's kid rescued from a fall from grace by an unlikely pair, and every iteration in between, Devilish & Divine explores the spectrum of mankind's encounters with beings of power beyond our comprehension.
Are you ready to explore otherworldly hosts-both heavenly and otherwise?
With stories by
James Chambers, John L. French, Robert E. Waters, Jenifer Purcell Rosenberg, Christopher J. Burke, Michelle D. Sonnier, Danielle Ackley-McPhail, Keith R.A. DeCandido, Russ Colchamiro, Michael A. Black, Patrick Thomas, Hildy Silverman, and, John G. Hartness
The last angel gets a visit from the last demon. The war is over and no reason for any being to stand guard. What's an angel to believe?
These 15 inventive but uneven stories of angels and demons challenge the stereotypical tropes of good vs. evil. Though many lack polish, the selections are universally imaginative: angels and demons play a game of pool with souls for stakes in “Irradia’s Gauntlet” by Russ Colchamiro, and the Archangel Chamuel helps King Oberon of the Faeries locate his missing daughter in Michelle D. Sonnier’s “As Ye Seek So Shall Ye Find.” Patrick Thomas’s “Fear to Tread” sees a down-on-his-luck guardian angel make a last-ditch effort to save his charge. “Duality” by John G. Hartness has angels and demons working on the same team and the afterlife decided instead by each individual human. For a more clear-cut good-wins-out message, Jenifer Purcell Rosenberg’s “World-Wide Wings” sees an angel living as a human CEO and working to balance out the evil on the internet. “Bringer of Doom” by Christopher J. Burke, in which a little girl accidentally summons a demon for a playmate and wins him over to the light with her purity of soul, is similarly hopeful. The execution can be lacking, but these unconventional urban fantasies offer plenty of intriguing ideas.
