Review - Angel Trouble (24/7 Demon Mart #3) by D.M. Guay
Preamble
D.M. Guay’s 24/7 Demon Mart is the best series I’ve read in a long time. I’ve spent a lot of time with horror comedy over the years, but there is a poignancy to the ridiculousness of these books that well-done comedy is all about. It’s easy to write off something like a comedy about a clueless slob in way over his head with the supernatural as light fluff, but there is quite a bit of philosophy written into the story, like most great works of mythology. Monster Burger, the second in the series, was more laugh out loud funny than this but this book really cemented D.M. Guay as a damn fine writer in my book.
A note about my reviews: I consider myself an appreciator, not a critic. I know first-hand what goes into the creation of art – the blood, the sweat, the tears, the risk. I also know that art appreciation is subjective and lernt good what mama tell’t me – if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all. I’m not a school marm grading a spelling test – I’m a reader who enjoys reading. If a book is entertaining, well-written, and I get absorbed into it, five out of five. It’s either five stars or nothing these days – if I don’t like it, no review. Regardless, I wouldn’t even put a star rating system on my reviews but for the reality of storefronts like Amazon.
Take from that what you will.
Review – 5/5
If you’re three books deep into the 24/7 Demon Mart series, chances are you’re sold on the entire series. That’s me, in a nutshell. I bought paperbacks of all of the main entries, including the recently released (Re)Possessed (24/7 Demon Mart #4). D.M. Guay is pretty much guaranteed I’ll be getting everything she writes at this point.
OK, enough fanboy gushing. Each of the books seems to have a thematic thing going on, and Angel Trouble is no different. This time personal responsibility and the price of jealousy are a couple of the foci. Well, to be fair, personal responsibility features heavily in all of them, since Lloyd is a growing manchild who is finally getting his act together. The whole jealousy thing: well, I don’t really want to talk about it since it might spoil the plot a mite, but Guay tackles the subject well.
Then there is what I see as the main focus: death. From my experience, death and birth are linked. Interconnected, even, or two sides of the same coin. The themes of death and resurrection feature prominently throughout all kinds of mythological traditions, be they Christian, Hindu, Norse, Egyptian. There is a reason for that, and you don’t need to be an expert in symbology or have read Carl Jung cover to cover or even… gasp… have lived through a metaphorical death and rebirth and come to understand that life itself has a mythological dimension.
It's no secret that this book is about death. Just look at the cover and you’ll see a cutesy grim reaper staring back at you. Guay’s secrets seem to be woven into the fabric of the text, sandwiched between the lines and soaking into your being through metaphor. The truth is, Guay might ostensibly write comedy books, but I think she’s one of those rare writers who are dispensing the mythology of the age. Joseph Campbell said that the eternal aspects of mythology are indeed timeless – it’s the reason we can still glean hints about our own existence through stories and myths from eons past. The parts that are caught in time, though, are definitely of a modern bent.
It's no surprise: Lloyd is a dude working at a demonic 7/11, cleaning up supernatural messes and doing his pathetic best which seems to be just enough. As his demonic boss Faust often says, he has a lot of heart, and heart is what the whole life game is all about. Lloyd holds on tightly to the calling of his heart, never faltering in his attempts to do the right thing, even if he messes up royally over and over again and must face the maw of the dragon as he grows through his pain. It’s this lesson, reinforced time and again in so many ways and so many stories, that really makes these stories impactful.
I’ll be frank: this book had a huge impact on me. You can’t really express some of the things that go on in our own experience of reality. There is plenty that is beyond words, stuff that we can only talk about through metaphor and suggestion. There’s no guarantee that it will impact anyone else as deeply as it has me, but Angel Trouble certainly has certainly lived up to its name in my little neck of existence.
Plus, it’s easy to read and funny to boot.
Check it out on the ‘zon here.