The protagonist, whose name is Cassie, by random coincidence finds a gateway into Hell and decides it's extremely important that she find her dead sister and apologize for having caused her suicide (I would explain that, but it doesn't matter). The plot: The protagonist's twin sister kills herself and ends up in Hell (because everyone who commits suicide automatically goes to Hell). The problems are that the plot is threadbare, the characters are walking cliches, the dialogue is laughable, and - most problematically for a horror novel - it is never at any point even the slightest bit scary. ![]() Lots of good novels, even good horror novels, follow an essentially Christian script (The Stand comes to mind). If there is anything the slightest bit unexpected about City Infernal, it's the book's near-total adherence to Christian orthodoxy. ![]() The book's rules about why people end up in Hell, the tortures reserved for the souls who live there, the dedication shared by Satan and his minions to doing things for the sole purpose of offending God - other than the minor innovation of reimagining Hell as a modern city, virtually everything described in this novel could have been plucked directly from any number of sermons delivered in any number of Bible belt towns all across America. As a matter of fact, while reading City Infernal I found myself thinking more than once that it is exactly the sort of book that might be recommended by the "cool, edgy" youth pastor at a fundamentalist church. City Infernal is a strong contender for "Worst Novel I've Ever Read." Not because it's shocking.
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