Grounded for All Eternity

May 15, 2022
Middle school can be hell. In this case, quite literally, as middle school fallen angels Malachi, Lilith, and Crowley find themselves transported through an opening in the veil from their suburb in Hell to present-day Salem, Massachusetts, on Halloween. The trio are excited for the adventure, as their weeklong break from classes has been woefully disappointing; Hell's been in lockdown since the soul of Samuel Parris--the Puritan minister who oversaw the Salem witch trials--escaped from the eighth circle. After the three fallen angels attempt to return home, they realize that Parris escaped with them, and Hell has a rule that's keeping them from returning home: The same number that leaves must return. In addition, Parris' evil soul is affecting the citizens of Salem, making it a dangerous place and rendering him more corporeal. The trio have to work with young locals Charity and Sean (a witch and psychic, respectively) and social worker seraph Cassandra before Heaven obliterates the town to stop it from becoming Hell on Earth. This is an entertaining, high-octane story that moves with the speed of a bat out of...you know where. The forward momentum will keep the attention of readers who appreciate plot-driven stories. Mal's fear of change as he and his friends get older feels realistic, and his attraction to both Lilith and Sean adds some nuance, but other characters are more two-dimensional. All characters are presumed White. Fast-paced and amusing. (Adventure. 9-12)

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July 25, 2022
Dark fantasy collides with Dante-esque imagery in debut author Marks’s nail-biting occult adventure, in which a fateful act of rebellion strands an adolescent group of literal hell’s angels on Earth. In the infernal suburbs, black-winged middle schooler Malachi is on a school holiday before following in his parents’ footsteps and becoming a “power”—a guardian of damned souls held in one of nine Dante-inspired circles. But vacation is rendered boring when an especially dangerous soul, puritan minister Samuel Parris—who acted as a ringleader during the Salem witch trials—escapes from hell’s eighth circle (which houses manipulators), resulting in a lockdown. After stumbling through a thin interdimensional veil on Samhain, Mal, along with close friends and fellow fledgling powers Crowley and Lilith, become stuck in Salem, Mass., having unknowingly let another party—Parris—through the veil. Already simmering tensions heighten as the group test their training and friendship, desperate to return Parris to his prison and frantically navigating hell’s bureaucracy in search of a way home. Though characterizations can be thinly rendered, a breakneck plot, rousing fight scenes, and light romance drive this action-forward fantasy with a unique premise. Characters read as white. Ages 8–12. Agent: Victoria Wells Arms, Wells Arms Literary/HG Literary.