Author: Tiffany McDaniel
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Release Date: 7/26/16
Version Reviewed: digital ARC via NetGalley
Rating: ★★★★
Lawyer Autopsy Bliss put an add in the local paper welcoming the devil to the town of Breathed, Ohio. The only response came in the form of a pre-teen boy named Sal, who claims to be none other than beelzebub in the flesh. And if Sal hadn't been black and the weather unrelentingly brutal, maybe that would have been the end of it. But prejudice, fear and heat are a bad mix. Soon, a band of bad luck is moving through Breathed, and the townspeople know who's to blame.
The story is told from the perspective of thirteen-year-old Fielding Bliss, who is recounting that summer of 1984 as an old man. Fielding's life is never the same after Sal comes to town, and he never moves on from that fateful summer. It continues to haunt him seventy-one years later. Perhaps a dance with the devil will do that to a person...
This book isn't my normal cup of tea. I find most "literary fiction" books try to hard. I think that's true for this book, as well. However, the story is good enough to overcome a pretty heavy handed writing style and use of allegory that borders on excess. This book is a needed reminder of the dangers of mob mentality, cult of personality, and ignorance-- something that remains as much a part of society today as in 1984 Southern Ohio.
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