FORMAT: PAPERBACK | RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Burn, Beautiful Soul by William J. Donahue follows Basil, a seven-foot demon with hooves and horns who, though the king of Hell (known to its inhabitants as Our Fiery Home) decides he would rather explore the human world than to remain in the underworld any longer. His journey topside takes him to the small town of Beak, Nebraska, where he encounters a colourful cast of characters – most of whom are relatively unfazed by the sudden appearance of the Satyr-like demon in their locale. Soon enough, Basil finds work as a copywriter at an advertising agency, makes enemies of a biker gang and a local, God-fearing woman, and even tries his hand at dating.

This may all sound like the perfect recipe for either some absurdist comedy or a satirical take on modern America, yet Burn, Beautiful Soul doesn’t appear to know what it wants to be or where it wishes to go. Too ugly to be comedy and too blunt for any sharp satire, the story seems stuck: Basil fails to evolve over the course of his journey and so, shockingly for a naked demon, remains a mostly uninteresting protagonist. And though the book integrates other POVs which heighten the overall atmosphere, they add relatively little to the central narrative.

To Donahue’s credit, the writing style is clear and fluid, his descriptions are both evocative and imaginative, and the dialogue in particular works hard to propel the reader onwards. However, this alone cannot save Burn, Beautiful Soul from feeling shallow or like its primary goal is to provoke the reader – particularly with the multiple, graphically described rapes of its few female characters. Perhaps we’ve grown too accustomed to film and television’s more charismatic interpretations of the devil, but Basil’s story ultimately proves too unpleasant to be entertaining.