Book tip

We Sold Our Souls

Grady Hendrix

One of these days, I look forward to reading a novel about a Christian musician who sells his (or her) soul to the Devil in exchange for success and fame. In the meantime, seems like most authors working this trope describe their protagonists as being either practitioners of metal or blues. For Hendrix's clever, funny and spooky "We Sold Our Souls," guitarist/songwriter Kris Pulaski gave her all for metal and her band Dürt Würk short of drawing up a contract with Satan. But the band's vocalist, Terry Hunt, has no problem with such things and rockets to stardom with his new group Koffin while Kris falls into dead-end obscurity. But when Hunt comes out of retirement with one final concert blitz, and Kris realizes it's a set-up for a vast rite to the Dark Lord, she rallies herself and sets out to stop Hunt and Koffin. There's plenty of music-biz in-jokes and fan minutiae, a clever twist on a time-honored plot, and Hendrix's fluid style — which might be thought of as the Dimmu Borgir of horror writing.

— Rick Koster