Hellbound by Tim Hawken reviewed by fellow author Shannon Yarbrough.
As I started reading Tim Hawken’s Hellbound, I half-expected it to end up being a retelling of Dante’s Inferno. We meet a dead man named Michael, who finds himself in Hell and in the company of Satan. Satan gives Michael a tour of Hell, and there are all of these superb descriptions of the city of fire and its inhabitants.
Hellbound
By Tim Hawken
Dangerous Little Books
Copyright © 2010
ISBN: 0956427634
228 Pages
$14.99 Paperback
$2.99 Amazon Kindle
Reviewed by: Shannon Yarbrough
www.shannonyarbrough.com
Hawken paints bizarre images of demons that really give the setting some color and flair; I was drawn into the story at once just by all the strange interactions Michael has with the minor characters. The seven deadly sins are kind of like different districts in Hell, with catchy cliché-like names for the businesses and places located there.
But Hawken’s Hell is very different and not all that predictable. Satan explains that it’s basically a place of rehabilitation for sinners to face and accept their transgressions. Once they’ve done that, they can move on to Heaven. What follows is a series of flashbacks that both the reader and Michael must go through. They provide insight for the reader as to who Michael was and how he died. For Michael, they are the first steps of rehab.
Once again, I was soon caught completely off guard, expecting this to be a story of one man’s journey through Hell and eventually onto Heaven. But the author surprises the reader again and reminds us that Satan is not a trustworthy counselor. Michael quickly discovers there is a higher purpose behind his trip to Hell, involving the love of his life named Charlotte, who Michael now desires to see again. But before he can do that, Michael must sort out his true meaning in life and his real reason for being in Hell which will fill you with shock and awe.
Part religion, part philosophy, part horror, and part thriller, Hellbound is a multi-layered story that doesn’t disappoint. I thoroughly enjoyed the early flashbacks that alternated between chapters in Hell, showing us who Michael was on earth and giving us really great back story as to how he ended up in Hell. However, once Michael’s purpose in Hell is revealed, the flashbacks stopped and that was probably the only real disappointment for me. While I enjoyed where the story was taking me, I continued to want to know more about Michael’s time on earth.
Satan is also not really the bad guy here though he has some very thorough scenes where he tells Michael his own story and how he and God became rivals. Those who enjoy non-Biblical religious-type history will certainly be entertained. Whether you are agnostic or atheist, you have to appreciate Hawken’s storytelling and the depth he goes to make Satan such a multi-dimensional character.
We also meet a stronger antagonist named Gideon that Michael has to eventually face and defeat if he wants to get closer to Charlotte. Gideon’s role in this story is literally out of this world, and I almost would have liked to have read some of his own back story as well.
Overall, I was thoroughly entertained. I have always avoided religious fiction of any kind like the plague, but now that I’ve read it, I certainly wouldn’t give Hellbound that label. Sure, devout Christians might not be as easily entertained, but if you can approach a book with an open-mind and you are not easily offended by stories that are inspired by doctrine but don’t seek to rewrite it, then I’d recommend this book to you. I was elated to see Michael’s story is a trilogy since this book did end so abruptly and am anxious to continue reading Hawken’s next two books in the series.
