I first saw the second book in the To Hell and Back trilogy (Costume Not Included) and thought it looked interesting, but decided to wait and read the first book, Damned Busters, instead (since I hate starting in the middle of series). And I’m glad I did. Matthew Hughes has written a funny, subversive wish-fulfillment story about a man who got a chance to be a superhero and what it entailed. The story is quite funny, with wonderful characters and deserves a much wider audience. Let’s check out what happened.

Chesney Ansthruther not only has an unusual name, but is a borderline autistic actuary who was raised by a religious, single mom. So, it’s not unusual that when he hits his thumb with a hammer, while building a poker table for his weekly game, that he would make up a string of sounds instead of cursing. Unfortunately for Chesney, the string of sounds, along with the blood from his thumb falling upon the partial poker table (which kinda looks like a pentagram in its current state) is mistaken for a demon summoning. Chesney, being raised by a religious mother, refuses to make any deal with the demon. This would normally be an annoyance, but due to some other goings on in Hell, end up leading to a general strike in Hell and all sin is gone from the world. But along wit all sin is all ambition and pretty much anything else. Chesney is brought into a meeting with representatives from both sides of Hell, an angel, his mother and his mother’s favorite preacher. A deal is struck where Chesney doesn’t relinquish his soul, but for two hours a day he has access to a demon who will help Chesney be a superhero.

Xaphan the demon is Chesney’s new sidekick…for two hours a day. Chesney is the only one who can see him and other can’t hear when Chesney talks to Xaphan. Pretty soon, a cast of characters emerges. Chesney rescues a woman from a kidnapping attempt. The woman (Poppy Paxton) turns out to be the daughter of his boss (W.T. Paxton). The boss wants to run for mayor and see aligning with a superhero as a path to victory, so he sets up top secret group to do crime analysis and partner with the police. Chesney gets drafted into working with for the group and finds it suspicious when they have him look at crime coverage in the media, especially around missing blond women (such as Poppy). Then Chesney saves the same woman (Melda McCann) twice and she shows an interest in him that he doesn’t know what to do about.

But when Xaphan warns Chesney that there are something he can’t do (because Xaphan’s not allowed to go against other Demons and/or plans from Satan himself), Chesney starts realizing that there are additional plans going on that could not only affect him, but change the face of reality itself.

Matthew Hughes has taken on a ridiculous story idea and written what amounts to be a philosophical novel around the silly concept. Chesney is the perfect foil for the story because he is so earnest and straightforward. The rest of the cast is allowed to push their own agendas and see them bounce back harmlessly against Chesney’s defiant earnestness. The book is structured so we slowly see a darkness build, so that we know there are devious plans around, without knowing exactly what is going to happen. Hughes does a masterful job of slowly drawing out the plot while simultaneously filling in the relationships between the various characters. This is the first book of a proposed trilogy, but it is also a satisfying stand alone novel. Highly recommended.