Clovenhoof

I went into this story not sure what to expect and found laughter, joy, character growth, and FUN. It is very unique! I thoroughly enjoyed this book and have downloaded the next in the series!

Easily the funniest series I've read since Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Wonderful, in depth characters, well written. Looking forward to the rest of the series!

The title of my review sums up just about how I feel about this book. Let's start with confessions, I am 66 years old, so this may be why I feel as I do about this book. And I disclose this due to the many rave reviews this book has achieved on Amazon. All I can say to those is, "You're kidding me, right?" Sorry, but that is how I feel. My next confession is that I could only tolerate reading 1/4 of this book. It was driving me nuts. Again, sorry but this is how I feel.The Good:For the author to come up with the numerous scenarios with this devil to write about amazes me. He, they, have got to have a fascinating imagination and I applaud them both for this. I just wish they had put this talent to better use.The Bad:This I write with tongue in cheek. I do understand that the UK is primarily a Protestant nation, so maybe they just are not aware of certain things that a Catholic nation or person would believe or not believe in. For the Lord to send the devil to the earth, and FUND him, is beyond belief even if this is a humorous book. For the Lord to send this devil to earth and give him the ability to use his powers, I speak about the concert where many were entranced, is beyond belief. Yes, again, I do know this is supposed to be humor, but still can't get past the error.Next we have the young boy, Ben, who is a satan worshiper. What is this mother in...La-la land?? First clue Mom! The sign of the devil on his shirt.The Ugly:In the 1/4 of the book I could stomach reading, there was a reference to Mother Mary. Sorry, but in this type of book she is a hands off person. No way, no how. Cease and desist! And, I will not apologize for my feeling on this one. And yes, I am Catholic.As I said, the authors have great talent, they have made it obvious. The thing with talent is to use it wisely. This book would still have a chance if it were to be revamped some. Keep Archangel Michael, eliminate reference to Mother Mary, and you would likely still have enough of the funny ha-ha scenes to make a good book. I also know that my even suggesting revisions is a bit brassy, just can't help it as I do think the book would have value if revamped.This book is about a devil who is accused of gross incompetence. Why you ask? Answer is simple. He can't process the people going into hell fast enough to keep the Higher Power happy. In other words, there is a waiting line! Staff mismanagement? Just plain lazy? Who knows. Anyway, The devil gets exiled to earth. Here he is supposed to live and function as regular humans do. Of course, he must learn all there is to know about living on earth and doing this. He starts learning, but not well so he has some pitfalls along the way. This is where the comedy comes in. I would imagine the reason he got exiled is to learn things, but since he IS the devil, I doubt it would last as a learning experience.So, do I recommend this book? If you like inane comedy, sure I do. If you do not and want a bit of reality to your comedy, no way.Choice is yours folks.

I have read and reviewed these author's book, Snowflake. I really liked it. I read about this book at the end of that book, and hurried over to Amazon using the link used in Snowflake.I write my reviews as I read. When I started reading late last night, I was too tired to start. I will say as far as I read last night, I know this is as very funny as Snowflake.The fight between Satan and Saint Peter which set up this entire book is hysterically funny. As if Satan would win! He was clearly out of his league, and lost (again).Sent to earth, he is literally out of his element. After many misadventures, he ends up in a flat, with neighbors who have no idea who he is (although he tries to tell them), and they put down to eccentricities.The book only gets better and more fun after that.Once he is settled in his flat, there seems to be a never ending fight with Saint Michael, which, of course, Clovenhoof always loses. These arguments, even though the reader knows the outcome, are very, very entertaining.The many times Clovenhoof ends up at Saint Michael's COE church are extremely touching, and very, very funny. I do seem to use "very, very" alot, but I can't think of any other adjectives that actually fit his situation.Clovenhoof gets a cold. Surely he will die of his symptoms and return to where he belongs. As we humans know, you don't. Clovenhoof is not convinced.Then there is the discussion between the board members about sex. You just have to read the book - I refuse to give anymore of this away, except for the fact that my sides are sore from laughing. I won't even tell you who explains to the board about getting jiggy with it. Nor give you any information as to who is on the board. I am laughing too hard.I loved this book. More deliciously funny than I have words to describe. I do have a very warped sense of humor, and I am always glad to find those who can join me in a giggle, or even a huge belly laugh. This book hits all the right notes.Please read this. Your step will be lighter for days.

Everything clever has already been voiced by previous reviewers. And what a smart bunch they are. Me, I've got insomnia. This is not a good book if you're looking for something that will put you to sleep. The characters are disgustingly well-drawn, with the kind of attention to detail that makes you wonder whether the authors have any friends left. Or parents, for that matter. Before you know it, another day breaks to the dulcet calls of the crow downstairs putting in an order for her first soft-boiled egg of the morning. Oh, you don't have a crow downstairs? Trust me, when a crow is hungry at the crack of dawn, you won't be able to placate her with a casual non sequitur. You will drag your sorry carcass downstairs and make food for that bird. Melodious, crows. Insistent too. And there goes another night. To make matters worse, the follow-up tomes are equally useless for the bleary-eyed in need of a few zzzzzs. I've had better naps to Statistics for Dummies. Now on Book Four. Still fiendishly entertaining. Better Half has started using that most precarious of marital questions. Oh yes. The dreaded "You all right, luv'?" I'm deriving a tiny bit of satisfaction from the fact that the authors are contractually obliged to read every comment left on here, even this one. If I had any energy left, I'd abuse a few adjectives and leave a longer review to get my own back. But I'm too tired. Nice work, you lot. Thanks a bunch. No, really.

This is one of the funniest books I have ever read.I really enjoyed this book the humour not to everyone’s taste but I found it enjoyable.Although a little bit predicable, the humour more than made up for it.Jeremy Clovenhoof got fired from hell, now he has to learn to live as a human, to say he’s not happy about that is and understatement.Ben his ordinary human next-door neighbour who runs a book shop and paints model soldiers re-enact battles. But he holds a secret, one Jeremey is thrilled about.Nerys lives her aunt Molly, she after the perfect man and will go to grate lengths to get one, though after an altercation, she’s soon realises what a fool of herself she’s made. She come through in the end though, helps the devil reclaim haven.Then there’s the arch Angel Michel who, gets on Jeremys nerves, won’t leave him alone. But the arch Angel is up to something, and for once it’s something not good.

Keeping this review short, I thought this was an interesting concept that was not so interestingly done. Set in Britain, Satan is exiled to Earth because he is not meeting his KPIs (Key Performance Indicators); an awful idea but it's one of the cleverer ideas in the book. Heaven is becoming more technically literate (does KPIs well) while Hell stays firmly rooted in the past (doesn't). Add to that, fewer people are arriving in Heaven because of stricter interpretations of "the rules" so Hell is getting rather overwhelmed and, in addition, Heaven has limited space for some biblical reason or other.The writing style is good, the plot less so because most of the time Jeremey Clovenhoof (Satan's earthly name) makes the same kinds of mistakes over and over and over, so much so that around halfway through the book I seriously considered ditching it. I persisted and the story improved towards the end, even became quite interesting again, indeed I felt the ending was fairly good.It turns out, as so often seems the case these days, that this was the first of a series (seven books at time of writing) and that was just too much for me to consider embarking on primarily due to the tedious middle section of the book.So, thanks but no thanks, it was a worthy effort, just not for me.

Several reviewers have evoked the spirit of Terry Pratchett in their comments. I think a better comparison would be the Wilt novels of Tom Sharpe. The book even has a sex doll...The setup (Satan in Solihull) is reasonably handled, and the best parts of the book are his unwitting flatmates. The book proceeds via a series of familiar fish-out-of-water set pieces, some of which are very well handled (e.g. Ben's arrest), whilst others are much less successful (the 'Dinner Party from Hell').One of the issues is that the writers want to eat their theological cake and have it after. They make a game attempt to invoke eternity and damnation, but Clovenhoof is far too weak a character to stand in for Satan. A minor imp, yes, but not Lucifer. They have had to shrink him to fit their comedy, and he can't bear the weight of some of their aspirations for him.In the end, this is a reasonable romp which doesn't outstay its welcome and has a good rousing finish.

The paperback is good quality. Smooth thick paper and bold print . . I am not kind to books but the spine only creased a little once . . robust, i would say.Having had a look at the other reviews, its the Kindle readers who struggled. There were no paragraphs, and the frieze that de-marked the scene changes are missing.I have never given a 4 star book review. I think if you didn't enjoy a book, then maybe it wasn't for you, or, go on , write one yourself. Ben and Nerys' characters feel dated, from the 80's or 90's in a sitcom akin to Spaced but with the narrow mindedness of the characters and stupid situations being even more painful, to the point that I had to put it down on quite a few occasions. I did laugh and I got to the end which had a conclusion. I would read another ( in the hope the characters have grown up a little ) The writing improved a great deal about 2/3 of the way through so maybe that is a good sign.