To Hell and Back-Lilith Saintcrow

To Hell and Back
Lilith Saintcrow
Orbit, Jan 2008, $6.99
ISBN: 9780316001779

When Lucifer captured half-demon and powerful necromance Dante Valentine he did all sorts torturous things to her before dispatching her back to the mortal world to live or die as the god’s will. At first Dante remembers nothing about her time in Hell, but gradually begins to recall enough to be afraid and hide under her bed. Her demon lover Japhrimel finds her; asks what Lucifer did to her but she is too traumatized to tell him. Japh vows vengeance on the Lord he once served.

Japh is now one of the Fallen although he tricked Lucifer into returning to him to his Greater Flight Powers. Japh fails to confide in Dante, but takes her to another demon who removes what Lucifer placed in her belly, a worm that tied her to him and through her Japh would be bound too. They recover half of the blade of Fudsham, a blade that could kill a demon including Lucifer. The other half is in a place Dante won’t go so while Japh goes to recover it, she tries to stay alive from all the factions that want her dead

This is the final book in the Dante Valentine saga and it answers all the key questions followers have had from the previous tales while tying up the major threads. Japh is beginning to be more confident in his feelings and trusts that Dante loves him like he does her. Dante is unsure of whether to trust Japh as he spins plot after plot, but she knows she loves him. TO HELL AND BACK is literal and allegorical and a magnificent enthralling urban fantasy.

Harriet Klausner