The Devil's Banshee

Starred review from July 15, 2016
The Devil's Intern series continues, narrated this time by Alfarin the Viking prince.This hugely imaginative and entertaining series follows the adventures of four young devils trapped in Hell despite the fact that they are really very decent people. Team DEVIL consists of Mitchell and Medusa, both recently deceased teenagers, plus Elinor, who died in the Great Fire of London in 1666, and Alfarin, dead for 1,000 years and the leader of this book's adventures. The Devil's wife (and the titular Banshee), Beatrice Morrigan, has escaped into one of the Nine Circles of Hell, leaving Elinor, and perhaps Mitchell's little brother, to become his Dreamcatcher, the soul required to filter the Devil's awful dreams while he sleeps. Alfarin, who loves Elinor with all of his dead heart, knows he must save her by finding Beatrice, so he leads the team into the Nine Circles. Guided by Virgil himself, the team retraces the Divine Comedy by going through the circles in reverse order. Plenty of action and suspense ensue, but Hosie keeps the focus on the wry comedy generated by Alfarin's unique outlook on life and on his own magnificent manliness. Alfarin has no doubt about his superior masculinity and constantly remarks on the Viking way of doing things in a consistently and amusingly formal voice, and all of this will keep readers chuckling. Series fans will be thrilled by this screamingly funny return to Hell. (Paranormal suspense. 15 & up)

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January 1, 2017

Gr 9 Up-The members of Team DEVIL are back on another harrowing adventure in this continuation of Hosie's hilarious series. When the Devil's wife and Dreamcatcher-a soul who keeps the afterlife in check by filtering the Devil's most evil dreams-suddenly leaves him, Satan has a hard time sleeping, thus throwing the afterlife into teetering chaos. Satan has chosen Elinor Powell, member of Team DEVIL and Prince Alfarin's girlfriend, as his Dreamcatcher replacement-unless the four friends can find the Devil's wife within the Nine Circles of Hell. With the timeless Virgil as their guide, the quartet descend into horrors unimaginable in order to protect one of their own and set things right for Hell and Up There (the demons' phrase for Heaven). Despite the bleak premise of the novel, Hosie constantly injects the plot with humor, creating the same combination of suspense and hilarity that has made the series so popular. The plot also intertwines with the story of how Prince Alfarin, the de facto leader of the group, and Elinor met and fell in love, which lends a rather touching romantic element to the tale without becoming overbearing and cloying. VERDICT Fans of the series will gobble up this new installment and will be pleased that a fourth book is set up at the end.-Tyler Hixson, School Library Journal

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.