Meet Inspector Chen, the Singapore police department’s snake agent. A snake agent is the detective in charge of all supernatural disturbances. Chen isn’t like other snake agents though. He is somewhat of free thinker and has even married an escaped demon from Hell. The case begins with a grieving mother who asks Chen to look into her daughter’s death. Apparently her soul never made it to Heaven and was mysteriously rerouted to Hell. The case leads the inspector to a larger conspiracy, one that threatens to overturn the ruling family of Hell and could quite possibly destroy the balance that keeps Heaven, Hell, & Earth in harmony. Chen literally travels to Heaven and Hell, speaks with ghosts, and even partners with another detective, one that happens to be a demon!
Liz Williams has done a masterful job of updating the detective genre. She has mingled it with horror, through the supernatural, and fantasy by drawing on a rich tapestry of eastern mythology, as well a dash of sci-fi with very cool technology. The best part that I personally enjoyed is the dynamic relationship between Heaven, Hell, and Earth. This isn’t a three tiered universe with Heaven above us, or Hell below, but rather all three are next door to one another. Just because you can’t see it, doesn’t mean you might not just step into Hell around the next street corner. Instead of having these realms in a hierarchical scheme, Heaven, Hell, and Earth all contribute to a overall balance. In this light Chen becomes more of a protector of this balance then a harbinger of justice.
On the other hand, this book did take me a while to get into, almost a hundred pages. This could very well be because it is the first of a series and therefore has to set the ground rules of this new literary world. But once I was hooked I kept on wanting to open up the cover and read any chance I could. If this creative amalgam sounds like fun, take a chance and pick up a copy. I would recommend this book for more advanced readers, ages 14 and up.
Posted under a librarian reads, review
This post was written by johntg on April 22, 2008
