‘Johannes Cabal’ sinister fun
The pretentious scientist travels to Hell to get his soul back from the Devil, but Satan, of course, will not simply hand it over. A deal’s a deal after all. However, Satan proposes that if Johannes collects 100 souls he will have his own returned. If he fails, he will spend eternity in Hell, which incorporates particularly creative tortures.
Lots of forms. Stacks of forms. An average of nine thousand, seven hundred, and forty-seven of them were required to gain entrance to Hell. The largest form ran to fifteen thousand, four hundred, and ninety-seven questions. The shortest to just five, but five of such subtle phraseology, labyrinthine grammar, and malicious ambiguity that, released into the mortal world, they would certainly have formed the basis of a new religion or, at the least, a management course.
This, then, was the first torment of Hell, as engineered by the soul of a bank clerk.
Satan is not without a generous side. He agrees to provide some help to Johannes and gives him a traveling carnival to aid the necromancer in his evil quest. Johannes wastes little time, raising a diabolical crew from the dead and hits the road, or the rails, as the sinister carnival travels by train.
Jonathan L. Howard’s clever “Johannes Cabal the Necromancer” is wickedly funny. The snobby Johannes and his snarky brother, who Johannes turned into a vampire, engage in witty banter that will have readers laughing out loud. Their creepy cast of reanimated workers are just as entertaining, but of course there is doubt about who indeed they are working for and how far they can be trusted.
Johannes is a despicable character, but one the reader will root for nonetheless. “Johannes Cabal the Necromancer” is one of those books that leaves readers sad when it comes to an end. But, there is hope for this dubious fellow. Howard already has completed “Johannes Cabal the Detective” and says there will be a third book as well. That’s good news for those who enjoy this necromancer’s devilish journey.
