Costume Not Included

Today's post is on Costume Not Included by Matthew Hughes. It is the second in his To Hell & Back series. It is 378 pages long and is published by Angry Robot Publishing. The cover is great; it has scenes from the book in comic book style. With Chesney and his demon at the top and Jesus and the Devil on the bottom. There is sex (not graphic), language, and some odd violence in this book. The intended reader as read the first book, is not easily offended, and likes meta plots. The story is told from third person close of the main characters moving from to the other has the story moves. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the back of the book- Chesney Arnstruther's efforts to Save the Day and Get the Girl are making slow progress. This superhero stuff is more complicated than he first thought, even with a cigar-chomping demon for a sidekick.

But even as Chesney is trying to learn the ropes, Boss Greenley has made a deal with the Devil, a pact that is making the villain stronger by the minute. Meanwhile, Reverend Hardacre has been doing some research into matters spiritual and has found that not everything in the Garden of (Eden) is rosy.
It's book two of the acclaimed To Hell & Back saga, the uproarious fantasy of part-time superheros and wayward deities from the pen of Philip K. Dick Award nominee Matthew Hughes.

Review- The blurb is misleading for this book. Boss Greenley is just a minor background character. He may end up a bigger deal in the last book but the real plot is going with Hardacre and Jesus. Hardacre wants to be the most important man of his age or at least this chapter in the book that God is writing. So he tries to end the world. Chesney has to stop him and the Devil from doing that. One of the funniest scenes is when Jesus is meeting with a TV news reporter and he casts out the demons in the man. It was great. This book is not as funny as the first one but there is more character growth all around. Chesney gets a lot which is good as he is the main character. But his mother, his girlfriend, and even Hardacre get good growth. If you have read the first book then you need to continue with this series. If you have not you need to. It is really great.

I give this book a Four of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I bought this book with own money.