The art of Wheeling and dealing

I read a lot of books, and Deals with the devil are one of my favorite subjects. Hell, when I was in high school I wrote a paper titled Selling your soulf for a profit in which I posited how the sacrifice of one person could be used to achieve greater things, such as world peace. Not so here, as this is a slick reinterpretation of the Faustian concept in which each soul carries an inherent value; a value that dictates just how much you can get in exchange for it. So a jerk isn't going to get world peace, but a saint could apply for just about anything they wanted so to speak. This is the brilliance of the book, and I loved it.

I recently read a very similar book called Fostering Faust, in which the MC has to achieve a "deal" quota. Here the protagonist, Shane, has to achieve a score of three souls a month in order to get what he wants, but there are rules. He can't just sign someone up who doesn't believe certain criteria, for example, and he faces manymoral quandries. The book is a fun and interesting take on what you would do to stay out of Hell yourself, just how far you would go, and how that would affect you in the long run. I loved every minute of this book.

One big reason for that love is the way in which Joe Feldman-Barros handled the narration. He has a nice raspy voice that you don't often hear, and he keeps the story paced nicely and adds a lot to the story. He has a nice low key delivery that is perfect for this story. He doesn't try to over play a scene or stomp on your throat to get his point made, he handles this like a smooth member of the rat pack, a drink in one hand, a cigerette in the other, and warbling his way into your brain.

If you are looking for something new, different, and a little chilling then this is perfect for you. Even though I did receive a promo code for this review it in no way influenced my considerations of the material, and in fact, inspired me to be more honest. Getting a code generally makes me harsher as a reviewer as I am more often concerned what someone like Me will decide based on my review.

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3 people found this helpful

Such a great story

This book was great. I wouldn't classify it as horror, unless you consider selling your soul to Satan as scary. It was more comical to me. The premise was great. A salesman takes a new job wth an unknown company, and finds out that his job is to convince people to sell their sould to Satan. In return, they can get everything and anything their heart desired. I wish this book had been longer because I had fun getting to know his new clients and their wished. For example, would you sell your soul to prevent a spouse from a painful death? Or money? Or fame? The new salesman breaks the rules and gets more than he expected. This book was fun.

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2 people found this helpful

Entertaining and Thought-Provoking Story

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This story is a unique twist on making a deal with the devil. The main character, Shane, is a really good salesman, maybe even a great salesman, who is only interested in chasing after creature comforts for himself -- although superficially Shane states he wants to be financially set and stable in order to be able to marry his girlfriend Maggie.

So, Shane makes a deal with the devil by working at Perdition Investments, which comes with a set of rules. I enjoyed the wittiness of the world building -- Perdition Investments. Very quickly Shane breaks the rules and now he has to pay the price. This is where the story really came alive and "unputdownable" for me. I audibly gasped at the ending.

While this book is a stand alone, there could easily be a sequel or two dealing with the other salesmen working at Perdition Investments -- and those salesmen who no longer work there. And, of course, what happens to Shane, Maggie and his friend Dale.

This book causes you to think about your own spirituality, good v. evil, greed, and what wish, if any, is your soul worth. This was an entertaining and thought-provoking story.

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Good book

Was not sure at first when I bought this book now I'm super glad I did. Give it a read and I'm sure ull be pleased as I was.

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Fantastic Story!

I received this audio book for free in exchange for my honest review. I absolutely loved this extremely well written story. The narrator does an excellent job and the ending was a complete surprise to me. I'm positive that you will enjoy this one.

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A little predictable but awesome!

I really enjoyed this book.
It took me a while to get into it as some of the dialog is slurred, however, it actually adds to the charm of this book and it was worth to keep listening.
There are a few plot twists along the way that keep the story entertaining and fresh.
And yeah... what would you do if you could have everything!, for the low, low price of your soul?

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1 person found this helpful

Satan's Salesman

Good story!Narration by Joe Feldman-Barros was weak to start but picked up and was fine later on.I would like to see how this story could play out.I was given this book by the narrator,author or publisher free for an honest review.

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Definitely worth the read!

This is a great new and creative take on the old fables of selling your soul to the devil. Being in/around the sales world makes the story line that much more interesting and intreaguing. I listened to the audio version in my car, and repeatedly found myself sitting in my garage long after arriving home for the day.

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1 person found this helpful

A stellar light horror novel

SATAN'S SALESMAN is a novel by Matthew Davenport set in his Broken Nights universe while also functioning as a stand-alone horror novel. The premise of the novel is a simple but effective variant on the old Faustian pact. In exchange for your immortal soul, you can have anything you desire as long as it is within the "value" of your soul (measured in points). This kind of industrialized post-Wallstreet take on the powers of Satan. In this case, it reminds me very much of the Al Pacino movie THE DEVIL'S ADVOCATE which was very different from its novel.

Shane, the protagonist, loses a high paying salesman job to a failing competitor after she makes a deal with Perdition Investments. The somewhat on-the-nose organization makes him a counter-offer, though. They'd like him to get people to sell their souls in exchange for wishes, betting on the short sightedness of mankind versus the proof of the existence of souls. You have to believe in a soul to actually sell it and I think that's a nice twist on matters. Shane is immoral enough to believe he can game the system, stay out of hell, and yet send endless numbers of other people there. He only has a three soul a month quota after all.

Shane is an appalling human being but a believable one because the only people he does care about are his fiance Maggie, his friend Dale, and himself. He has such contempt for Dale's Catholicism that he can't bring himself to respect the idea of good vs. evil when he's dumped in the middle of it. There's a bit of a critique of capitalism going on in the book but no more than any other media which asks what happens when money is more important than people.

Satan's Salesman is a horror novel but it is a horror novel in the Stephen King sense that its' about how a "normal" human being can get caught up in supernatural events simply because he refuses to treat it as any different from any other job. At one point, he gets a good man to sell his soul for the "greater good" while blinding him to the fact he'll be devastating his family both living as well as dead. It doesn't take much of a pitch to get Shane to also feel like he's not REALLY at fault for the horrible consequences of the things he does. There's some Needful Things and Thinner influence in both, I think, and I wouldn't be surprised if Matthew Davenport drew from either.

The ending is great and I think it begs for a sequel or, at least, a continuation of Shane's story as a villain in Broken Nights or a second installment. This is a short book but definitely one worth the money. Infernalism is rarely given a good treatment in books due to how familiar it is to us but here, it works well because it is the banality of evil given just the touch of the diabolic and both made worse.

The narrator does a top notch job and I'm very impressed with the audio.

9/10

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this book was amazing,

I could not stop listening to this book it was amazing this is my favorite book by the author that I have heard or read so far I hope he keeps making them

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