Shadows of Hell by Duncan Thompson

4 Stars from me

Following on nicely from Shadows of the Woods and still featuring everyone’s favourite shadowmen, Shadows of Hell is a wonderful take on Dante’s Divine Comedy.

I loved Layla, our happy go lucky medium who seemed to thinking nothing of entering into the other worldly realm to guide gorgeous Joe through the circles of Hell.

We follow Joe on a richly enthralling dance with the devil as he makes his way (with a few little nudges from Layla) through each circle – some more disturbing than others. The pointy pommel horse thing was the stuff of nightmares for sure!

I can easily see this series with a cult following – think cornetto trilogy – with its brushes of humour among the matter of fact gruesomeness.

As enjoyable as it is grim.

My thanks to Emma from @damppebbles and @dthompsonauthor for letting me be a stop on the blog tour for Shadows of Hell.

Blurb: When a man of heavenly worth sins in Hell, darkness shall reign upon the earth.

A message from the other side – an omen of the impending apocalypse. A message intended for one man, the only man who can prevent Armageddon, saving the soul of every man, woman and child on Earth. That man is Joe Costello.

But, not only is Joe trapped in the underworld, he is also the same man who has the power to unleash the shadows of hell upon the world.

Inspired by Dante Alighieri’s The Divine Comedy, Joe must battle his way through the nine circles of Hell – his escape being the key to salvation. Not only will he face all manner of Hell’s demons, he’ll also face his own.

However, Joe is not alone on his journey, as he is guided through each level of Hell by medium and psychic, Layla Thorne. Shadows of Hell is the epic follow-up to Shadows of the Woods.

‘Shadows of Hell thunders along at a breakneck pace, not giving the reader chance to draw breath.’ – Lee Mountford, author of The Demonic