Book Review: Snake Agent by Liz Williams

To retrieve his wife, a man journeys to hell. How many more times can this tale be told? It’s almost like a band choosing to cover Stairway to Heaven. It has been told perfectly a few times. Countless other writers have tried their hand at it, and most have failed. When I see a man-goes-to-hell-to-retrieve-his-wife story coming, I think to myself. “This better be good.”

Fortunately, it is. I love this book! It begins the way a normal detective novel does, with a vaguely downtrodden detective, Detective Chen. Detective Chen tries not to be cynical. As his police department’s “snake agent”, Chen is in charge of dealing with supernatural crimes. He is brought into a case involving a wealthy woman who has found that her daughter’s soul ended up in hell instead of heaven. Hoping for a simple bureaucratic mix-up, Chen investigates and discovers that someone is trading in souls. Soon he uncovers a conspiracy that may lead straight to the emperor of hell himself.

There are many charming things about this book. Not the least of which is the matter-of-fact way the book lays out its own internal mythology. For example, when asked about what happens when you die, Detective Chen tells it like it is: Souls take a journey through regions with names like the Sea of Night and the Night Harbor on their way to the afterlife, where they are processed by the bureaucratic departments of heaven or hell and then eventually reincarnated. Along the way they are shown their past life, what they will most likely be reincarnated as, and given a special drink which makes them forget everything before they are shuttled back to the living. It is in this sort of play that the book excels.

My only real complaint is that there are too many dues ex machinas. I personally enjoy a dues ex machina here or there, but when there are too many, I think it can be a suspense killer. On the other hand, I enjoyed that conventional detective fiction characters abound in Snake Agent. There is the oafish sergeant, the rogue cop, the captain who is beholden to local politics, and the vaguely threatened detective’s wife. Once the book builds up steam and really kicks into gear, though, a lot of these conventions are broken or twisted. For example, the detective’s wife goes from being vaguely threatened to being on an adventure of her own, and the rogue cop turns out to be a more complex character than one would expect. The book eventually stops being a detective novel and turns into a fantastic journey through hell.

Creepy Factor: 4 out of 5
Suspense Factor: 4 out of 5
Weird Erotic Tension Factor: 2 out of 5
Funny and/or Strange Factor: 5 out of 5

Final result: Great adventure, Chinese mythology, evil alchemists, soul trading, great cover art… This book has it all! Mmmmmm. Fans of dark fantasy such as Clive Barker’s Imajica will be excited to get their hands on some intelligent writing. Fans of detective fiction will be gratified to find a new series of novels with a fresh twist on the genre. The story is ancient, the plotting is Shakespearean, the humor is thick, and it’s a real page-turner. I love this book! I am simultaneously excited and scared to read the next one.

Snake Agent by Liz Williams – Night Shade Books – 2005
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Thanks for reading another one of my book reviews. See you next time!