Godthread by Caleb Brabham

Azrael Abaddon, better known as The Destroyer, has been tasked with an unusual quest. Reunite Eve with her son Cain.

More than a little intrigued, Azrael accepts the task, even though the mere act of kindness is very un-demonlike. But Azrael has no idea of the interwoven stories and their butterfly effects he is about to encounter, both in heaven and hell, and places in between.

When Morningstar meets his demise, uncertainty and chaos abound, which is to be expected, but Azrael can work off this. The Godthread, however, now that’s a different story…

When asked to review this, I had no idea how I’d feel about it. Would it be a story filled with fire and brimstone and an Old Testament wrath, or would it be a satire on an old story? It was neither and yet it was both, written in a noir style that captured a fascinating way of looking at the relationship between the angels and demons, their history, their interactions with the devil and the Almighty, and their view of the “flesh” on Earth.

The author cleverly moves back and forth to the telling of the first sin and the repercussions, both at the time and later, with the punishment inflicted on those involved. As we are taken between the realms, the descriptions of the demons and angels (both terrifying) and the worlds and lands they are dominion over (both terrifying) are vivid and give new imagery to the idea of fire down below and clouds up above.

Azrael’s journey is somewhat surprising in that some actions would not be expected from a demon, and the sub-plots and secrets, both with demons alone as well as demons and angels working together, are hinted at gradually until an ending that I did not foresee coming. Probably should have, but there were a number of ways this could have gone and the author definitely picked the right one!

What let this book down were a number of different proofing errors. From action and dialogue tags being mixed up, which influenced punctuation and capital letters, to backwards quotation marks, to wrong words being used. The writing style, however, was fluid and so descriptive that it was easy to consume this story rapidly.

A well-imagined tale, with the focus on a clever story, in a setting and with characters as old as time.

Thanks to Reedsy Discovery for the opportunity to review the book.