BOOK REVIEW: "Unsoul'd" by Barry Lyga

The devil is a hipster.
Yep, after years if people saying Goths were evil, New York Times bestselling author Barry Lyga introduces the King of Hell as a skinny-jean wearing hipster in his first novel directed exclusively towards an adult market, Unsoul'd.
His previous novels were all originally written for teens & kids, but nearly all of them had an adult following stronger than the teen one. So, yes, it was about time (as he wrote at the end of this novel) he write a truly adult novel.
(And, yes, reader, this is a novel for people 18+ ONLY.)

Writer Randall Banner is moderately popular with a "cult following", but it barely makes ends meet & dashes his dreams of being the next Stephen King or J.K. Rowling to a violent death.
While working on his next novel, he becomes so exasperated he types that he'd sell his soul for a bestseller. On cue, the devil appears and, after proving to Randall that he is indeed Satan, writes up a simple contract for him: I give you a hit book, you give me your soul.
No room for loopholes, right? Sure...The novel spans for nearly 400 pages detailing the sudden rise of Randall's career at the hands of a kidnapped college student's rescue. She read his book while she was being tortured & the statement makes Randall Banner a household name. It even gets him laid by the hottest actress in Hollywood, Kiki Newman.

It shows the rise of one man's career, but it also explores the depths of his soul & what it means to be selfless after a lifetime of selfishness.

As an avid Lyga fan, I had no doubts I would enjoy this novel, but I did wonderhow he would do writing for adults. He did an awesome job. His writing is conversational & the reader feels like they are listening to a story, not reading it, if you get my meaning.

While I have made it known that I usually do not care for a story filled with a lot of sex, in this novel everything, even the sex (including but not limited to a threesome, adultery & masturbation), has a purpose in the outcome & also in getting the reader to know the character of Randall.
I was also wondering if I'd enjoy a novel about the devil when I am a believer in God, but I think that it was because I believe that I enjoyed this book all the more.
To sum it up, Mr. Lyga's first adult novel has a great story, great characters & will make the reader stop & examine his or her very own soul.

5/5--I'll repeat now what I said aloud when I read the very last line in the book: "This was fucking amazing!"

Purchase Unsoul'd at the following places:

Barnes & Noble (NOOK)

Amazon KINDLE

Kobo

(iBooks version coming soon!)