The Devil's Detective

By: Simon Kurt Unsworth

Narrated by: David Rintool

Length: 11 hrs and 33 mins

Publisher's summary

Debut novelist Simon Kurt Unsworth sends the detective novel to Hell. In The Devil's Detective, a sea change is coming to Hell... and a man named Thomas Fool is caught in the middle.

Thomas Fool is an Information Man, an investigator tasked with cataloging and filing reports on the endless stream of violence and brutality that flows through Hell. His job holds no reward or satisfaction, because Hell has rules but no justice. Each new crime is stamped "Do Not Investigate" and dutifully filed away in the depths of the Bureaucracy. But when an important political delegation arrives and a human is found murdered in a horrific manner - extravagant even by Hell's standards - everything changes. The murders escalate, and their severity points to the kind of killer not seen for many generations.

Something is challenging the rules and order of Hell, so the Bureaucracy sends Fool to identify and track down the killer.... But how do you investigate murder in a place where death is common currency? Or when your main suspect pool is a legion of demons?

With no memory of his past and only an irresistible need for justice, Fool will piece together clues and follow a trail that leads directly into the heart of a dark and chaotic conspiracy. A revolution is brewing in Hell... and nothing is what it seems.

The Devil's Detective is an audacious, highly suspenseful thriller set against a nightmarish and wildly vivid world. Simon Kurt Unsworth has created a phantasmagoric thrill ride filled with stunning set pieces and characters that spring from our deepest nightmares. It will have listeners of both thrillers and horror hanging on by their fingernails until the final word. In Hell, hope is your worst enemy.

©2015 Simon Kurt Unsworth (P)2015 Random House Audiobooks

Surprised- absolutely fantastic plot, liked the characters and superb narration

I had never heard of the author so I didn’t have high expectations but I figured I would give it a chapter or two. By the second chapter I was sucked into it and I got a couple of nights with little sleep.

Worth a look

I purchased the book several years ago and read it, and I recently wanted to get the sequel so revisited it through Audible.

The most important task in any medium, whether book, movie, tv show, or whatever else, is building a world, preferably foreign to the audience, and immersing them into it until it feels familiar. This book does that.

In response to another reviewer, why would you be surprised that Hell would be filled with depravity and disgusting things? It’s not shocking and gratuitous for the sake of being gratuitous and shocking. The Hell of Dante’s Inferno is an apt comparison, though the inhabitants of this Hell have even been stripped of the knowledge of what they may have even done to be there.

Further, if you read the book to completion, you will understand why the protagonist was chosen for the job. Hell doesn’t particularly care about solving crimes as “crimes” occur constantly and are encouraged. The person investigating need not be qualified. The joke in it is that the protagonist IS qualified, but his critical thinking has been taken from him. This is explained through a plot device which slowly lifts the limiter Hell has put on his brain. Naming him Fool when giving him the job of investigator immediately undermines his authority. It’s another mockery, especially knowing that Hell is to blame for his stupidity.

The ending is predictable, It wasn’t so much of an issue for me, however, because the story became whether he, with these handicaps, would become capable or allowed to complete the investigation. You also wonder why Hell is encouraging him to continue.

The book immerses you in a world with unique characters, and the story is interesting. The audiobook version is further elevated by the narrator. What more can you ask?

amazing listen

The story was slow at first but once it began rolling I couldn't tear myself away from listening The narrator was wonderful, great voices and really set the mood for the scenes. would recommend this to anyone who likes a mystery story.

Great story. Amazing reader

The book I already knew was great as I’ve read it before but I felt like revisiting and work a lot so I got the audiobook to listen to at work and it was an amazing listen. Narrator is truly gifted and makes the story really come to life

Outstanding

Entertaining story, superb narrator. Vivid, nuanced conceptual exploration of what Hell could be, and perhaps is?

Superb performance!! Exceptional writing!

5 stars all around, easily a new favorite author. Oh, and the narraration was completely ON POINT. Brava!

Favorite Dark Fiction

If you could sum up The Devil's Detective in three words, what would they be?

My best friend called me and suggested this book to me - "it's dark and deep," she said, "you'll love it." And that it is. It's poetic and riveting. I could not stop reading this book. I actually bought it in person. Definitely not a book to recommend to say -- er--- your mother-in-law. But a book that makes you question what hell and heaven really is... one of the most striking comments in the book was (and I'm paraphrasing) -- that in hell, you live in a world of constant torture, rape, murder, and destruction but the worst part of it isn't all that, the worst part of hell is not knowing why you're there. You know you deserve this - but what did you do that made this so? (The characters in hell have no memories of their lives in Earth and that's what makes hell truly hell).

The character development and the ending are absolutely phenomenal. If you're into dark fiction, please give this a read. You will not regret it.

My favorite book Ever.

This has been my favorite book for 5 years now. Can't get enough of it.

Dislike

I struggled through most of this book. It was slow and predictable and I couldn't even be bothered to care about any of the characters. Worse, it was sentimental, and I just wasn't having it. Listening to this entire thing was a chore, although I think the reader's performance improves the experience of the novel. I was more and more annoyed every time the narrator said "little _______ fool" because naming the Everyman protagonist "Fool" is just so super duper clever anyway. It was repetative and pretentious. Also the author's interpretation of hell lacks both ambition and creativity -- probably the most disappointing aspect since the ending (while better than the rest) is not surprising or illuminating. The book is not scary, but it is disgusting with graphic description of wounds, people eating dirt and shitting, and demons jerking off in the streets. Overall it was a waste of my time as there was little immediacy in solving the mystery and actually being a detective and by the time the character got to that point (seriously, he is a fool, which is even more annoying -- how did he get this job if he's only started being good at it at the end of the book?) I was wondering why why whyyyy is there still 45 minutes left?