Somewhere on Earth - 2090

It is the end of the 21st century and the world as humans know it is over. War broke out in 2060, and seventy percent of the Earth’s surface was destroyed. This paved the way for the devils and demons of Hell to walk the earth. To combat this, God sent his angels to keep an eye on these evil doers. God also decided that the angels needed help, and that is where the Tweeners come in.

Astra Q. Phelps is a Tweener, a half angel/half demon creature. She runs the Angel Network where she locates devils and demons that don’t play nice and destroys them before they can do any more harm. She has a partner, Emo the devil, who is Astra’s backup. She is working on a complicated case for a Mr. Deaver who runs the Church of the Twined Hands. He is scared because he believes a devil is going to kill him over a legal problem between them. But before Astra can go see her new client, she is forced into a dangerous situation that she would never have expected.

Prince Dialle is part of the Devil Court and the most handsome man...or rather, devil...Astra has ever seen. It takes all her willpower not to jump into his arms and kiss him senseless. Not that Dialle would mind, but he has more pressing matters to worry about at the moment. Nerull, a powerful demon, has kidnapped Queen Kaline of Dialle’s Court because Nerull’s oldest son has been taken by the devils that are at war with him. Dialle and his followers want Astra to find their Queen and rescue her. If she fails, Astra will be killed.

If that isn’t bad enough, Astra finds Deaver dead, the High Council of the Angel Court has summoned Astra to also save Kaline, and Dialle tries to seduce Astra in her dreams and seems to pop up in her apartment whenever she is in the shower or naked. A Tweener’s job is never done, and Astra has to figure out how to stay alive, rescue the devil queen, find who killed Deaver, and keep Dialle in check.

Sam Cheever has written an action packed futuristic tale with angels and demons who are both trying to take over the world. Set in 2090, the future looks bleak for the Earth, but with a cool chick like Astra, I knew things would turn out all right in the end. Astra is stubborn, strong and won’t be killed without putting up a fight. This poor Tweener goes through so much that all I wanted to do was give her a big hug. She is in between worlds and doesn’t know which way is up most of the time. Dialle, who is a definite love interest for Astra, is a very sneaky devil! He is Astra’s equal in every way, but he is also selfish and at times only looks out for himself. But their relationship is open ended so I would be interested to see where they go if Cheever’s finished sequel, ‘TWEEN A DEVIL AND A HARD PLACE, is published.

‘TWEEN HEAVEN AND HELL also has some other intriguing characters such as Emo, Astra’s funny sidekick who has secrets of his own; Myra, an angel who looks out for Astra; and the ultimate villain, Nerull, who is very delusional and power hungry. I was pleasantly surprised by this imaginative story and how the creatures of Heaven and Hell seem as if they are in control but they can’t even keep peace between themselves. ‘TWEEN HEAVEN AND HELL is one story that is devilishly good!

Kate Garrabrant