Happy Hour in Hell by Tad Williams

TWilliams-Happy Hour in HellTad Williams brings to life a generic buddy cop film with an angel twist in Happy Hour in Hell. This is not only unfortunate, but had it been a movie, I would not have even wanted to watch it for the whim of watching a bad movie. While this assessment may seem harsh, there are so many issues with Happy Hour in Hell that I wonder who would spend the time to read it to its entirety.

I’ve been told to go to Hell more times than I can count. But this time I’m actually going.

My name’s Bobby Dollar, sometimes known as Doloriel, and of course, Hell isn’t a great place for someone like me—I’m an angel. They don’t like my kind down there, not even the slightly fallen variety. But they have my girlfriend, who happens to be a beautiful demon named Casimira, Countess of Cold Hands. Why does an angel have a demon girlfriend? Well, certainly not because it helps my career.

She’s being held hostage by one of the nastiest, most powerful demons in all of the netherworld—Eligor, Grand Duke of Hell. He already hates me, and he’d like nothing better than to get his hands on me and rip my immortal soul right out of my borrowed but oh-so-mortal body.

But wait, it gets better! Not only do I have to sneak into Hell, make my way across thousands of miles of terror and suffering to reach Pan- demonium, capital of the fiery depths, but then I have to steal Caz right out from under Eligor’s burning eyes and smuggle her out again, past demon soldiers, hellhounds, and all the murderous creatures imprisoned there for eternity. And even if I somehow manage to escape Hell, I’m also being stalked by an undead psychopath named Smyler who’s been following me for weeks. Oh, and did I mention that he can’t be killed?

So if I somehow survive Hell, elude the Grand Duke and all his hideous minions and make it back to the real world, I’ll still be the most hunted soul in Creation. But at least I’ll have Caz. Gotta have something to look forward to, right?

So just pour me that damn drink, will you? I’ve got somewhere to go.

I had high hopes for this novel. I was unfortunately, severely disappointed. Not only is the plot ridiculously banal, the characters are one dimensional and cliched in the worst possible manner. To quote a friend ” It’s like a Steven Seagal film minus the fun.” It is hard to measure the quality of plot when the writing leaves much to be desired. With run on sentences galore, Williams makes his narrator sound not only idiotic, but as if he’s speaking ridiculously fast without any breaths. Frankly, I couldn’t even stand to finish this book after four chapters. The negative aspects were so glaring, that I could not fathom Happy Hour in Hell improving.

About Natassia 143 Articles
I am a performer by trade and have been an avid reader for as long as I can remember. My bookshelves are full of many genres but I have a love of fantasy, SciFi and steampunk which have only spurred my performing dreams to help one of these fabulous worlds come to life. I tend to read books with a lot of edge and grit; if it's got zombies, space battles or fantastical steam inventions, I'm in. When I'm not reading or off making my own adventures, I can be caught watching movies of every era, gaming, and being scandalously political like any good steampunk heroine.