Review: A Twisted Tale
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 02 16, 2012
A Satan Carol written by Alan S. Kessler is a tale centered on Christmas and Satan trying to obtain the "golden soul" for his son who is dying. At first I found the writing a bit scattered and the jumble of characters confusing. I wasn't sure where the author was going with the first few pages of the book or why certain characters were involved. They seemed to have no connection to the rest of the story. By the end though, everything was pieced together nicely. It seemed as if Mr. Kessler thought the reader could read his mind so he left out a few details that may have removed some of my confusion.  It reminded me of watching a J.J. Abrams television series, confusing at times but worth the read for the sheer brilliance of the puzzle.  The writing did smooth out, the author settled in and the story flowed nicely.I loved the character development. All, especially the central ones, had a fair amount of depth. The author explored the good and evil sides that we all possess. Some turned out to have a bit more evil, one obviously being the devil. However the devil was amusing at times, constantly thwarted by the people he is trying to manipulate. His frustration grows and when Satan becomes frustrated the fun times begin.  A nice touch the author used to humanize the devil a bit was to make him have this need to be liked by the people he is using as puppets. He asks them to mail him greeting cards on various occasions as a small sign to show they appreciate all he has done for them. He makes this a part of their contract with him.Parts of the book may disturb some people. There are storylines involving abortion, animal mutilation and cannibalism but the title alone told you it wasn't about sunshine and roses. There is humor involved albeit twisted, my favorite kind. It was a fun, light read that I enjoyed thoroughly. Mr. Kessler has a lot of potential to become a bestselling author and I look forward to future books from him.