Book: Clovenhoof by Heide Goody & Iain Grant

After 27, I've gone and read another book based in Birmingham, or more specifically Sutton Coldfield. As the title suggests, demons of an entirely different kind feature in this book .Satan has been ousted from the role that he has had almost his entire life – the job he was born to do. Hell has been running too slowly and the lines to get in are simply too long so something has to change. Having been made redundant, he has been transported to earth – to suburban Sutton Coldfield – with the Archangel Michael making sure he doesn’t return to his evil ways but blends in with local society.But of course he doesn’t!Former #MeetTheAuthor guests, Heidi Goody and Iain Grant jointly tell us all the ways he just doesn’t settle on Earth without bringing his bad ways with him.Now named Jeremy Clovenhoof, we learn about Satan forming a heavy metal band – not realising you are meant to sell tickets – not buy them all yourself and give them away free.We witness Clovenhoof realising money doesn’t grow on trees when his generous allowance runs out after putting on a ’sold out’ gig at Birmingham Symphony Hall (see above).We then find out all the ways in which he obtains money – rather than having to work for it.

‘He had decided that if he ever returned to his old  job he would create a special level of hell…and then Nerys had taken him to IKEA and Clovenhoof realised that humans had once gain beaten him to it’.

And we hear how he makes friends/enemies/friends again with the other flat dwellers in his building.There is a fantastic cast including dead vicars, Joan of Arc and when the angel Michael says he has friends in high places, we know what he means.The story travels from what’s going on in hell, heaven (they have a monorail that takes you 500 miles in 30 minutes) and Birmingham and the latter is definitely the most interesting. I’m making the most of my time while I’m here on earth!A highly recommended read and now that I have caught up with this 2012 release, I’m moving onto others written by these amusing local writers.8/10Smile factor 9½/10Find out about MeetTheAuthor events here.