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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful.
Devilish Fun!
By OutlawPoet
In Hellhole, we meet Max Kilgore, nerd extraordinaire. Max leads a pretty geek-fabulous life. He works a dead end job and spends his days trying to beat his own record for the most crossword puzzles done in a day. It's all so very exciting.But there's a little more to Max than meets the eye. His mother is dying. His dead end job is the only thing keeping the lights on at home - sometimes. And he seems to have accidentally summoned a devil who just won't leave!I've always loved a great Deal with the Devil story. And of course, the real key to enjoying one of these is in figuring out how you, the reader, could make an air tight deal yourself.And like the inestimable Charlie Daniels tells us in The Devil Went Down To Georgia - this devil is looking to make a deal. Basically, Max needs to find this devil a house (with a hot tub). The house must be obtained illegally. And, by the way, if this doesn't happen. Max's life is going to go to hell.Now Max needs to keep the devil living in his house a secret from his dying mother, supply said devil with junk food, keep that devil from trying to date his mom (ick!), and keep working that dead-end job while going to school and keeping anyone from knowing what's really going on in his house.The book is funny, clever, and, at times, pretty horrific. There's a little sweet geek love (melt), quite a bit of danger, and some pretty startling situations.And yes, I kept trying to figure out how I could make a better deal than Max did. While I couldn't figure out a better deal - this is a tricky devil - I did figure out a way to solve Max's little problem before he did.Well written, sly, and a fun, fast read. I thoroughly enjoyed Hellhole and would read the author again in a heartbeat. Note: For more fun Deals with the Devil, you can try to get a hold of Deals with the Devil.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful.Loved it!
By J.Prather
I loved Hellhole! This is a smart, funny, and incredibly well written story that effectively combines humor and horror while still managing to mix in some pretty significant life issues for our hapless hero, Max Kilgore. When good guy Max accidentally unearths his own devil, he sees it as a way to solve his biggest problems. He then does what everyone knows you're not supposed to do. He makes a deal. The result is a wild ride of a novel filled with action, horror and a surprising number of laughs.This is a very fast read with a ton of heart. I really fell in love with Max in all his flawed glory. His friend Lore is a perfect accomplice, and their interactions and dialogues were priceless. I totally believed these two kids, which is a testament to the author's character building skills and fine ear for dialogue. Teen readers will be totally engaged by this story as they will no doubt find themselves thinking about what kind of decisions they would make when faced with a situation that could change your life but just might not be all that smart.Hellhole is simply fantastic storytelling. It's been quite a while since I've read a book that made me laugh out loud so much, and made me care so much for its characters. There's language and violence not uncommon to works of horror, and there are also plenty of poignant moments as Max gets to figure out a few important things. This is an enthusiastic recommend for fans of this author's prior work and any young fan of horror seeking a humorous look at the dark side.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful.
Hilarious Read for Mature Teens
By Parajunkee
I was laughing out loud after I read the first sentence of this book - you can't get any better than that! Then I spent the rest of my time reading it, giggling and shaking my head - the people at my kid's dance studio probably thought I was a bit on the looney side, but I don't care.Gina Damico has a wicked sense of humor and she imbues it into her writing so well that on top of a good story, you get frightfully entertained.You have this kid Max, who is a bit of a nerd, okay, probably more than a bit, but it is what it is. His favorite past-time is clocking himself on how fast he can do a crossword puzzle and trying to dig up a dinosaur bone. He's not twelve, either...The sad thing about Max is that on top of his nerdist tendencies, his mom is quite sick, so he is forced to work a lot at a gas station just so he can pay the bills. This is pretty stressful for Max and to relieve his tension he goes out to a very Ugly Hill (that is what they call it) and tries to dig up a dinosaur bone. Instead he digs up Satan, who now is blackmailing him into helping him find some digs. Not in hell.It was a silly story-line, but it was hilarious and kind of tragic - which all the comedies (in my opinion) are. The characters were GREAT. Max, being in his head, was an experience. Damico is a phenomenal writer and it shows. I couldn't get enough of this book.Warning - this is a very mature Young Adult book. There is a lot of foul language, sexual references and innuendos. Great for mature teens, not so good for the younger reader.The book reminded me of a Young Adult Christopher Moore book, like PRACTICAL DEMON KEEPING - which is something you must read if you liked this book.
